I never realized it, but corporate people are very uptight. (work, office)
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The corporate environment just seems so phony to me( at least where I am). I have people right next to me that complain about the boss all day, then as soon as he/she comes by they firmly plant their lips on his/her ass. How do you sleep at night, having to be so fake and pretentious? It's really quite sickening to watch.
Me, I stay in my cubicle all day and do my work. I don't have the kind of personality that grovels, or converse about meaningless BS like the bosses' golf handicap. It's not like I don't speak or occasionally engage in talk, but I just don't play office politics very well( the looking over your shoulder, whispering about colleagues then smiling in their face, etc). Not my style at all.....
I hated it, though I was in a particularly bad/disorganised company. Judging by some of the posts on here though, I think it's a common thing.
The accounting department I worked in was made up of the following characters:
- The corporate ice queen Controller. She was mid 40's, she talked about nothing but work and her house, she also had one of the most annoying laughs I've ever heard and she would pop chewing up really loud at regular intervals, which made my skin crawl (along with her laugh).
- My supervisor who was in her late 30's, but had the mental age of a 16 year old girl, aside from the fact that she talked about her kid literally non-stop. She was so passive-aggressive that she could never directly reprimand you, but she would huff and puff like an idiot. I also caught her blatantly making fun of another employee's illness (an employee that was harmless, but an outcast and the butt of all jokes).
- A senior accountant, mid-late 30's who had the most annoying squeaky voice and used the word "like" several times in every sentence. She was very mousy looking and sounding, but she was another ice queen underneath who would throw you under the bus at any given second if she chose to.
- A junior accountant, mid 20's who was constantly either kissing her bosses ass or complaining about the noise in the office, even though her blabbery voice was one of the most distracting. She talked about nothing but work and getting her CPA.
- Some random guy in our department, late 40's who was constbstly coughing and hacking, or stomping around the office while breathing heavily.
- The lady in the next cubicle, early 30's who had so much jewellery on that I was continually distracted by the sound of metallic objects hitting her desk. Add to that, she was always on personal calls and did not care to put her cellphone on vibrate to avoid us from having to hear her god awful ringtones that were either Rihanna or similar garbage.
- The older lady they forced me to work with who was so set in her ways and convinced that only her way was the right way, it made the so-called "project" they gave me virtually impossible.
- My supervisor's deputy - a guy who was 26 going on 46, also very passive-aggressive, but could be very snippy and demeaning towards me. I once overheard a conversation in which they were talking about people who buy clothes at Walmart and have wardrobes only worth $800 - he replied "I have suits worth more than that" in such an awful manner.
The rest of that department were lazy, incompetent and dull. No one seemed to know what they were doing or why they were doing it. They leaned on me too much as a lowly contractor, expecting me to train other temps, even though I'd only been there for a few weeks.
There was a lot of backstabbing, whispering and cliquish behaviour on the part of management. Because the company were so cheap, they were substituting permanent employees with temps, so as to avoid paying benefits and giving them the freedom to say "goodbye" at any given time and for no reason. There was never any praise, even though I worked my hardest and achieved high levels of accuracy. Training was non-existent, so I made a lot of mistakes early on and naturally, was made to feel stupid as a result. Any mistake you made was heavily scrutinised.
There was no sense of "team", virtually all communication was done via email or IM. I was in a dark cubicle in the noisiest / highest traffic part of the office, opposite the office of the gum popping controller with the annoying laugh. There was little or no banter, people were so dry and soulless. Most of them were married with kids and made no secret of that. A few were even surprised when they found out I had no kids, which was none of their business.
The final straw was being dumped with the impossible project that they gave me because no one else would do it (I even recall the supervisor's manservant jokingly saying "ha, they try to do this every year", referring to the so-called "project"). I ended up leaving because the job + the 1-2 hour commute each way was too much. Companies should not rely on temps the way that I was leaned on, paying me zero benefits and no vacation time, blatantly lying to me about taking me on permanently 5 moths ago, when they had no intention of doing so.
It was a bad experience and I know it's not an uncommon one. I feel for anyone trapped in the same situation. It was a miserable place filled with miserable people who were constantly on guard and trying to cover their asses. Next time I'm hard up, I think I'd rather work in a warehouse.
I worked most of my post-college working life in corporate America. I left for about 4 years and now I am returning.
I've been interviewing a lot and I've been feeling "out of place" during the interviews, I could not put my finger on it but it dawned on me today.......the environments and people are very uptight and are like robots.
I guess I never noticed it while I was working in the corporate world but after stepping away and now retuning, I was able to clearly see it.
Hopefully my e-commerce websites will do well and I will not have to spend to much more time working for anyone else.
Needless to say, the feeling I had was "creepy".
Where to start....I was a Senior Administrative Assistant for most of my working career which means in essence, I was a "gopher" for many different corporate executives and YES they are uptight. Execs are faced with all sorts of responsibilities with the staff they supervise, they are responsible at some point for reporting to someone higher up than they are and do have to make all kinds of decisions that effect other people's lives. There is hiring decisions, firing decisions, spending decisions, business plans, employee issues, salary decisions..it is endless. I have walked into an execs office and had him simply stare over his glasses at me and not say a word...I left!! I have also had an exec, female, tell an outside vendor that her secretary ME had her head up her butt and didn't answer the phone...she and I went behind closed doors at my choice and I let her have it. She was by far the worse exec ever worked for.
Because for the most part, the execs I worked for were in the Financial areas of large companies the stress was double and most didn't last more than say 4 years perhaps 5 at the most. I lasted the longest 15 years at one place then faced a layoff and ended up being in a customer service type area and loved it. Retired now and love that more.
If you can find a great paying job without having to resort to going back to being an exec, by all means go for it. If you do have to go back to being an exec then find some time to wind down with some sort of recreation for you..golf, hiking, biking, boating..something to keep the stress at bay. The job market is tough enough without you having to settle for a job that will make you nutz if you let it.
I hated it, though I was in a particularly bad/disorganised company. Judging by some of the posts on here though, I think it's a common thing.
The accounting department I worked in was made up of the following characters:
- The corporate ice queen Controller. She was mid 40's, she talked about nothing but work and her house, she also had one of the most annoying laughs I've ever heard and she would pop chewing up really loud at regular intervals, which made my skin crawl (along with her laugh).
- My supervisor who was in her late 30's, but had the mental age of a 16 year old girl, aside from the fact that she talked about her kid literally non-stop. She was so passive-aggressive that she could never directly reprimand you, but she would huff and puff like an idiot. I also caught her blatantly making fun of another employee's illness (an employee that was harmless, but an outcast and the butt of all jokes).
- A senior accountant, mid-late 30's who had the most annoying squeaky voice and used the word "like" several times in every sentence. She was very mousy looking and sounding, but she was another ice queen underneath who would throw you under the bus at any given second if she chose to.
- A junior accountant, mid 20's who was constantly either kissing her bosses ass or complaining about the noise in the office, even though her blabbery voice was one of the most distracting. She talked about nothing but work and getting her CPA.
- Some random guy in our department, late 40's who was constbstly coughing and hacking, or stomping around the office while breathing heavily.
- The lady in the next cubicle, early 30's who had so much jewellery on that I was continually distracted by the sound of metallic objects hitting her desk. Add to that, she was always on personal calls and did not care to put her cellphone on vibrate to avoid us from having to hear her god awful ringtones that were either Rihanna or similar garbage.
- The older lady they forced me to work with who was so set in her ways and convinced that only her way was the right way, it made the so-called "project" they gave me virtually impossible.
- My supervisor's deputy - a guy who was 26 going on 46, also very passive-aggressive, but could be very snippy and demeaning towards me. I once overheard a conversation in which they were talking about people who buy clothes at Walmart and have wardrobes only worth $800 - he replied "I have suits worth more than that" in such an awful manner.
The rest of that department were lazy, incompetent and dull. No one seemed to know what they were doing or why they were doing it. They leaned on me too much as a lowly contractor, expecting me to train other temps, even though I'd only been there for a few weeks.
There was a lot of backstabbing, whispering and cliquish behaviour on the part of management. Because the company were so cheap, they were substituting permanent employees with temps, so as to avoid paying benefits and giving them the freedom to say "goodbye" at any given time and for no reason. There was never any praise, even though I worked my hardest and achieved high levels of accuracy. Training was non-existent, so I made a lot of mistakes early on and naturally, was made to feel stupid as a result. Any mistake you made was heavily scrutinised.
There was no sense of "team", virtually all communication was done via email or IM. I was in a dark cubicle in the noisiest / highest traffic part of the office, opposite the office of the gum popping controller with the annoying laugh. There was little or no banter, people were so dry and soulless. Most of them were married with kids and made no secret of that. A few were even surprised when they found out I had no kids, which was none of their business.
The final straw was being dumped with the impossible project that they gave me because no one else would do it (I even recall the supervisor's manservant jokingly saying "ha, they try to do this every year", referring to the so-called "project"). I ended up leaving because the job + the 1-2 hour commute each way was too much. Companies should not rely on temps the way that I was leaned on, paying me zero benefits and no vacation time, blatantly lying to me about taking me on permanently 5 moths ago, when they had no intention of doing so.
It was a bad experience and I know it's not an uncommon one. I feel for anyone trapped in the same situation. It was a miserable place filled with miserable people who were constantly on guard and trying to cover their asses. Next time I'm hard up, I think I'd rather work in a warehouse.
This describes many corporate environments out there - simply staffed by misfits, losers, *******s with disorganisation and chaos everywhere. The environments are soulless, dry and miserable - Most of these people are economically dependent on these environments and there is no escape for them.
Your having to spend one third of your life with people you would cross the road to avoid - you get dragged down by the toxic, negative mindsets around you.
Its best not to get too personally involved with work, or invest any emotions - just try to keep yourself sane with the toxic people your surrounded with, and look at it for what it is - A way to earn some cash, nothing else, nothing more.
This describes many corporate environments out there - simply staffed by misfits, losers, *******s with disorganisation and chaos everywhere. The environments are soulless, dry and miserable - Most of these people are economically dependent on these environments and there is no escape for them.
Your having to spend one third of your life with people you would cross the road to avoid - you get dragged down by the toxic, negative mindsets around you.
Its best not to get too personally involved with work, or invest any emotions - just try to keep yourself sane with the toxic people your surrounded with, and look at it for what it is - A way to earn some cash, nothing else, nothing more.
Honestly, it wouldn't have affected me as much if I'd had a job in which I had clear guidelines, a clearly defined set of responsibilities that I "owned" and could have at least tuned out the characters I mentioned above. I've worked in smaller offices in which there was at least some degree of banter.
Ultimately, you spend 8 hours or more of your day (plus commute time) at work, 5 days a week. You would think that it would be beneficial for not only the employees, but also productivity to try to reduce the toxicity levels of many offices. The work wasn't stressing me out per se - it was the people.
I don't particularly like cubicles either. They're nowhere near as common in my country of origin and now I see why.
I'll detoxify myself by watching Office Space a few times. The Controller at that place was a female version of Lumbergh.
Honestly, it wouldn't have affected me as much if I'd had a job in which I had clear guidelines, a clearly defined set of responsibilities that I "owned" and could have at least tuned out the characters I mentioned above. I've worked in smaller offices in which there was at least some degree of banter.
Well this is what employers/managers do - many avoid giving your job descriptions, clear guidelines on your responsibilities, what is not your responsibility - then all sort of line managers, project managers add little bits and pieces here and there - and your left feeling well if I refuse to do this, or turn down that then - then they will report me, or I could lose my Job. Your line manager won't stick out his neck and tell you to refuse to do this, refuse to do that.
Therefore instead of specializing in the are your employed in - you end up becoming a dogsbody, doing a little of everything - However this can become a good way of keeping yourself in a job if you build up a large portfolio of work.
I think its done in a way by corporate management to foster competition between their employees - plus they can always get you in trouble for not being "proactive" or going the "extra mile" - for basically not doing things which are outside your area of responsibility, or you were never employed to do in the first place.
Most Corporate offices, peer below the surface and its chaos.
This describes many corporate environments out there - simply staffed by misfits, losers, *******s with disorganisation and chaos everywhere. The environments are soulless, dry and miserable - Most of these people are economically dependent on these environments and there is no escape for them.
Your having to spend one third of your life with people you would cross the road to avoid - you get dragged down by the toxic, negative mindsets around you.
Its best not to get too personally involved with work, or invest any emotions - just try to keep yourself sane with the toxic people your surrounded with, and look at it for what it is - A way to earn some cash, nothing else, nothing more.
I know that is why many are on some type of anti depressant, anti anxiety drug or similar (Prozac & Adderall works wonders). I find I don't get as upset or worried about such stuff or people anymore since I have been taking such medications. A few years ago, I always felt like in a perpetual state of hysteria or extreme anxiety due to much of the above
I know that is why many are on some type of anti depressant, anti anxiety drug or similar (Prozac & Adderall works wonders). I find I don't get as upset or worried about such stuff or people anymore since I have been taking such medications. A few years ago, I always felt like in a perpetual state of hysteria or extreme anxiety due to much of the above
Good points. I honestly believe that most, if not all of the characters I describes a couple of posts ago were most likely highly medicated. Quite a sad state of affairs, really. Pretty soon they'll have anti-depressant dispenser machines in the lunchroom.
I hated it, though I was in a particularly bad/disorganised company. Judging by some of the posts on here though, I think it's a common thing.
The accounting department I worked in was made up of the following characters:
- The corporate ice queen Controller. She was mid 40's, she talked about nothing but work and her house, she also had one of the most annoying laughs I've ever heard and she would pop chewing up really loud at regular intervals, which made my skin crawl (along with her laugh).
- My supervisor who was in her late 30's, but had the mental age of a 16 year old girl, aside from the fact that she talked about her kid literally non-stop. She was so passive-aggressive that she could never directly reprimand you, but she would huff and puff like an idiot. I also caught her blatantly making fun of another employee's illness (an employee that was harmless, but an outcast and the butt of all jokes).
- A senior accountant, mid-late 30's who had the most annoying squeaky voice and used the word "like" several times in every sentence. She was very mousy looking and sounding, but she was another ice queen underneath who would throw you under the bus at any given second if she chose to.
- A junior accountant, mid 20's who was constantly either kissing her bosses ass or complaining about the noise in the office, even though her blabbery voice was one of the most distracting. She talked about nothing but work and getting her CPA.
- Some random guy in our department, late 40's who was constbstly coughing and hacking, or stomping around the office while breathing heavily.
- The lady in the next cubicle, early 30's who had so much jewellery on that I was continually distracted by the sound of metallic objects hitting her desk. Add to that, she was always on personal calls and did not care to put her cellphone on vibrate to avoid us from having to hear her god awful ringtones that were either Rihanna or similar garbage.
- The older lady they forced me to work with who was so set in her ways and convinced that only her way was the right way, it made the so-called "project" they gave me virtually impossible.
- My supervisor's deputy - a guy who was 26 going on 46, also very passive-aggressive, but could be very snippy and demeaning towards me. I once overheard a conversation in which they were talking about people who buy clothes at Walmart and have wardrobes only worth $800 - he replied "I have suits worth more than that" in such an awful manner.
The rest of that department were lazy, incompetent and dull. No one seemed to know what they were doing or why they were doing it. They leaned on me too much as a lowly contractor, expecting me to train other temps, even though I'd only been there for a few weeks.
There was a lot of backstabbing, whispering and cliquish behaviour on the part of management. Because the company were so cheap, they were substituting permanent employees with temps, so as to avoid paying benefits and giving them the freedom to say "goodbye" at any given time and for no reason. There was never any praise, even though I worked my hardest and achieved high levels of accuracy. Training was non-existent, so I made a lot of mistakes early on and naturally, was made to feel stupid as a result. Any mistake you made was heavily scrutinised.
There was no sense of "team", virtually all communication was done via email or IM. I was in a dark cubicle in the noisiest / highest traffic part of the office, opposite the office of the gum popping controller with the annoying laugh. There was little or no banter, people were so dry and soulless. Most of them were married with kids and made no secret of that. A few were even surprised when they found out I had no kids, which was none of their business.
The final straw was being dumped with the impossible project that they gave me because no one else would do it (I even recall the supervisor's manservant jokingly saying "ha, they try to do this every year", referring to the so-called "project"). I ended up leaving because the job + the 1-2 hour commute each way was too much. Companies should not rely on temps the way that I was leaned on, paying me zero benefits and no vacation time, blatantly lying to me about taking me on permanently 5 moths ago, when they had no intention of doing so.
It was a bad experience and I know it's not an uncommon one. I feel for anyone trapped in the same situation. It was a miserable place filled with miserable people who were constantly on guard and trying to cover their asses. Next time I'm hard up, I think I'd rather work in a warehouse.
You do realize when all these people you talk about put their list together you would be on it as well. I wonder how they would describe you.
You do realize when all these people you talk about put their list together you would be on it as well. I wonder how they would describe you.
I really wouldn't care what any of those people thought of me. Since they made fun of other introverts who kept their heads down and worked as I did, I'd imagine they talked all kinds of s**t behind my back. I didn't partake in the backstabbing, brown nosing or fakeness. Low key is the word to describe me. Some people love to be the centre of attention and are too competitive.
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