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If most of your experiences are bad, ask yourself what those experiences have in common. What do all your employment experiences / experiences with people have in common?
That's not victim blaming. There's no "victim" here.
I would find it VERY hard to believe that someone who has worked for 10+ years for 2-3 companies has managed to pick REALLY BAD companies each time. Even moreso if it's someone that has worked 20+ years for 5, 6 or 8 companies. Anyone in the workforce that long who has only have NEGATIVE experiences is clearly the common denominator in those situations...
I've been in the workforce for over 25 years and in all that time there has only been ONE company that made me miserable, and I left after a year of giving it a try to see if things would change. Did I just get LUCKY that the other ~10 companies were all outstanding over the years? No.
That's not victim blaming. There's no "victim" here.
I would find it VERY hard to believe that someone who has worked for 10+ years for 2-3 companies has managed to pick REALLY BAD companies each time. Even moreso if it's someone that has worked 20+ years for 5, 6 or 8 companies. Anyone in the workforce that long who has only have NEGATIVE experiences is clearly the common denominator in those situations...
I've been in the workforce for over 25 years and in all that time there has only been ONE company that made me miserable, and I left after a year of giving it a try to see if things would change. Did I just get LUCKY that the other ~10 companies were all outstanding over the years? No.
Agreed.
I've been working since I was 16. Now in my early 30s, I can only count with one hand the number of bad companies that made me miserable. And in regard to professional jobs, I've only worked for 1 company ever since I went into he professional world that made me miserable. Wasn't even a year before I left it for a much better company. I am currently with the best company I have ever known of, so I'm staying here no matter what.
At my first salaried job, I went above and beyond. I was working extra hours bringing in my projects under budget and ahead of schedule. This continued for my first year. At the first review, my boss gave me the highest grade available for all categories. He them told me I would be getting the maximum raise - 3%. I soon found out that my fellow employees who received the expected grades for their work got a 2% raise. The reward did not match the effort.
This was the best lesson for me. I soon switched to sales so I would benefit from my hard work. Most companies will pay as little as possible for as long as possible.
I've seen a couple cases of this in-person:
1) One coworker got a 6% raise after doing perf. rev. But he sent out resumes casually, and ended up being able to jump ship for a 50% raise. The manager tried to talk with him about how they have new programs coming up, but coworker didn't take too much of it. He didn't believe him, and in the end, it seemed like they really wanted him to stay around, but without being able to match his 50% raise, while only keeping the 6% one.
2) another employee did a great job and got a great PR the first year.
2nd year, he slacked off and got a worse one.
3rd year, he still slacked off, but since he did a better job of hiding it, he was back to having a great PR again.
His raises for each year didn't change much at all. He mainly stuck around since our boss was nice to us, but when he left, that was his cue as well.
Agreed that it is seldom rewarding in the corporate world. When I was early in my career, I attempted to always go above and beyond. I have found that I usually got punished for asking for more work. All it did was open up nit-picky bosses to my current work. They would use it grade harder on the pointless performance reviews.
I later realized that it's actually stressful for bosses to carve out new work and take the time to train you on it. So doling out new work is actually stressful for them. And since managers in most companies try and find that one negative to list about you in the terrible performance review process, this gives it to them. They start grading you against perfection on your current work, since you "don't have enough to do....." so the thinking goes.
Other times, the boss that I proved myself to left the company/position, and all the work I did was essentially worthless as the new person had no idea.
And will bell curve salary raises that are mathematically designed to bring everyone closer to the midpoint, the difference in raise, if there even is one, after tax might add up to an extra $100. Not hardly worth the effort.
You know that classic interview question that goes: "Name a time or two when you went above and beyond."
I just feel like every-time I go "above and beyond" I am either shot back down and/or put in my place. It's one thing to do a good job and put in a legit effort, it seems as its another to want to go out of your way to improve and enhance things that could use improvements.
Or perhaps it's the environment I am currently in?
If you have great personal skills and are able to convince people to trust your opinions/knowledge, then going above and beyond can shoot you up the ladder at a supersonic speed.
If you do not have those aforementioned things, then it's probably good enough to keep you at a middlin' level.
That's not victim blaming. There's no "victim" here.
I would find it VERY hard to believe that someone who has worked for 10+ years for 2-3 companies has managed to pick REALLY BAD companies each time.
In some professions this is common. There are a ton of bad companies in my profession. My whole family was shocked at how generally bad my offers were and how poorly I was valued and treated before my current position. The infestation of the profession with staffing agencies is just a further manifestation of that. My brother who is in management in a different profession told me he doesn't even treat low skilled workers like that and just p*ss away talent.
Although my current position is probably average or decent in most peoples' eyes compared to the awful experiences I had previously it is like Shangi La.
Last edited by MSchemist80; 10-05-2017 at 01:06 PM..
Didnt read much of the 8 pages, but all i can speak for is what i done. Their was times i went above and beyond, just to make a client happy, because i got good report from it and bonus. But every job fair has their pro's and Con's for above and beyond. Some will take it as a threat to their position, and others will take it as your trying to make the company look good. Goal is to go above and beyond and get something in return, say a pay raise or promotion. As with any job, its you vs everybody else. If your a threat to anybody in management, i be looking for Plan B or get to know their boss very well. They seem to hate that somebody "save the day" and they dont get credit for it.
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