I HATE my job. Advice?

[babyblue712]

I'm mostly a lurker, but I'm hoping someone might be able to give me some advice.

Like the title states, I absolutely hate my job. Like, it makes me depressed and want to cry when I think about having to go in the next day.

I'm a secretary in an office that deals with issues out of the scope of what they're supposed to be doing. We currently have a total of 4 people in this office. One full-time person, two part-time (me included), and one temporary person. My boss, the one full-time person, has a horrible work ethic. She shows up late at least a few times a week, because she "doesn't feel good." She calls in sick so often I can't even keep track, doesn't ever fill out leave slips for time-off, and spends most of her day on personal calls.

My hours are kept at just under what could be considered full-time, since they don't want to pay for benefits. So, one day a week, I am out of the office. When I come back after the weekend, there will be multiple emails in my inbox, telling me to do some time-sensetive task, requested on my day off the previous week. These are tasks she could EASILY have done on her own, but she's too lazy and chooses not to. Instead, she leaves it for me to do, making me look bad to whoever asked for the task to be done, even though I wasn't present at the time, and she was.

Also, my boss and the other part-time person claim to be "disabled" (which they're not. One has knee issues, the other has diabetes. Which, I know those issues suck, but they don't make the two of them the invalids they act like they are). So, any time something heavy needs to be lifted, furniture needs to be arranged, or any other manual task needs to be done, I have to do it. Alone. Sometimes our temp person helps, but he really IS disabled, and he is only there a limited amount of hours a week, so odds are, he won't be there when things need to be done.

There's other issues, like we have to park a half-mile away, and the temperature in the office is so cold my fingers and toes are like ice, and we're not allowed to have space hearters, and a few other issues as well. But, honestly, the biggest beef I have with the place is it's 100% boring work. Absolutely mind-numbing. The only thing keeping me sane is that I love working with our temp, but he's only there until the end of December, so I don't know what I would do after that.

I want to find another job so badly. The problem is, I'm taking part-time graduate classes about half an hour away. I've actually had a couple of interviews, but places offering a wage H and I could make work don't want to work around my class schedule.


My question is, if you were so miserable your job made you cry, would you just take any job you could find just to get out of there? Or, would you wait until something you love, that would work around your class schedule, comes up? I'm not going to lie, the idea of taking a job at Hobby Lobby for the time-being has definitely crossed my mind more than once.

Sorry this got so long. Thanks for making it through this, and thanks in advance for your advice.

[vanillacourage]

Oct 30, 2012 22:16:42 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

If you can swing a part-time retail job financially and it won't hurt your long term prospects, I'd do that. Life is too short to be miserable.

Agree.

[dexteroni]

I would take whatever job will work around your class schedule that pays as much as you need to bring home and that doesn't make you cry. It's not like this secretarial job is a career job, right? So a retail job is not that huge of a departure.

Look at openings closer to your school, too. Being able to get to class fairly quickly might open up more work possibilities.

[ellipses84]

My job has definitely made me so miserable I have cried, but not every day. I think today must be job hating day on MM

You need to weigh all of your options. Your job doesn't have a lot going for it, so use your day off to apply to other positions. If you financially can't just quit, set small goals for yourself, like I am going to stick it out until the end of the year and I will send out 3 resumes per week, then re-evaluate and set a new goal.

You may want to apply for true part time office positions that pay a little more or full time retail/hospitality positions that have full benefits you need, even if pay is less. See if you can get a low or paid intern position in the career you want to be in so when you get your degree you could move up in the organization.

ETA: Also, don't put so much pressure on yourself. You are probably doing a way better job than everyone else and that is why they come to you. It is impossible to do it all, so just focus on the most vital priorities. Turn your out of office assistant on when you leave for the weekend so anyone who emails you knows you are gone on Fridays. Post your work hours in a place visible to people who walk up to your desk.

[ESquared423]

If you are that miserable, you need to move on. Like a PP said, it is so not worth it to be that depressed every. single. day. I got to that point with my last job and I knew it was time to go, I quit a month later. You will feel like a new person once you get out of there.

Start looking for anything and everything that's close to school and works around your class schedule, as that is what's most important. You're bound to find something so long as you are not being ultra picky. Even if you take a job you don't necessarily LOVE or consider your dream job, it's better than where you are at right now.

[chance22010]

I always worked my grad school schedule around my work schedule. I often did M-Fri 8am-5p then straight to class. Grad school was temporary so I just powered through. In general though I would not stay with an employer who didnt appreciate me (wouldn't let me accrue benefits) and a job that made me cry. Job satisfaction has always been huge for me though it impacts my satisfaction in most other areas of my life