How do you feel about your former employers?

[k3am]

I've only left one truly professional job in my life. The rest were all small jobs that didn't last long. 

I ran into a former coworker yesterday, and he had... nothing but terrible things to say about the company we worked for previously. I also have.. nothing but terrible things to say about them. As is the case with just about everyone I know who worked there that I know well enough that they'd ever disclose anything to without trying to remain politically correct. 

But it got me wondering... how do most people feel about their prior employers? Is this usual and it's pretty bad feelings across the board, or did I just spend 8 years of my life working in an absolute cesspit?

[waverly]

Well not terrible. The last place was academia so I was treated like less than even though I had the degree. Less money and benefits. However it wasn't a terrible place to work. Some of the people were terrible but only 3 out of 15 maybe.

My previous job before that was hard but not because of my co-workers. They treated me like family, but one of the bosses was a bully, so that was a hard. My clients were the main ones that drove me crazy.

[sacattack]

In my adult life, I've had a handful of jobs and this is what I thought:

Job 1 - New company - venture backed - Place was fine, boss was a backstabber.
Job 2 - Tech company - Place was fine, boss #1 was fine, boss #2 was a jerk.
Job 3 - Private middle school - Place was antiquated, boss was fine. 
Job 4 - Tech company - Loved my work - loved my boss.
Job 5 - Tech company - Loved the company - loved my boss and coworkers.
Job 6 - Catalog company - Terrible company - terrible boss.
Job 7 - Tech company - Fine company - fine boss.

Writing this out makes it seem like I jumped around a lot and I guess I did at the beginning but in the 18 years I've been working, I've been at 2 companies for 12 years of that time. 

[akafred]

I've only worked for 3 companies (professionally).

First was a huge international company. I worked there 7 years and had a meh boss. Not the worst imaginable but pretty bad. I should have left that department at least much sooner but I was married to my controlling ex and one of the things he controlled was whether I could apply for other jobs (no, not even internal). I might have really loved it. Good company, just not the best department.

Second was a much smaller company in kind of a niche industry. Terrible company. Good manager, but terrible president, terrible culture, terrible all around.

Currently I work for a very large international company also, and have worked here for almost 10 years. I've worked in 4 workgroups in that time, we'll sort of 5 since my last mgr left and they didn't backfill so I have a new boss, but it's still the same organization. The first department sucked. Terrible culture. Since then it has been much improved but nowhere near "good" until now. This reorg scares me lol.

But I would only say I hate one company. And one manager at my current job. Even after I leave this company I am pretty sure I won't hate it.

That said, talking smack is also just part of what you do when you meet other former employees. Even if you were generally happy there lol. Human nature.

[traveltheworld]

I've worked at two firms. While I didn't like certain partners in both places and both had some pretty obvious management issues, I enjoyed my time there. I got totally burnt out at my first firm, but learned a ton and got some amazing experience, and the people were generally nice. I had no real complaints about my second firm except that it wouldn't make me partner, but I was well treated, well compensated and I loved most of the people. I feel like I've really lucked out.

[mae0111]

I've worked at 3 places in my professional career.

1. Great place with a great boss, but he got shoved aside and I wound up with this awful woman I called the Dragonlady (before Danerys, that is). So I recommended the place, but not the dept.

2. Good place, but not the right place anymore. I started working with awful people, and my entire dept left, took our clients, and set up shop elsewhere. Place fell apart a short time later, so clearly not s great place.

3. The company I just left. See TWERKS. It was awful.

DH has worked at several companies. It's about a 50/50 split as far as his opinion goes. He still does a lot of business with his last 4-5 employers, and in most cases, he left to run toward something great, not to run away from something awful.

[covergirl82]

Oh my goodness, don't even get me started. I still regret not filing an EEOC claim on my former employer (my only other employer in my professional career)for pregnancy discrimination. I actually walked past my old manager last week at a seminar (she was the one who told me that I needed to decide between work and family as to which would be my priority) and I really just wanted to let her know exactly how I feel. But I didn't, because even though I work in a decent-sized metro area, the HR community feels small.

My current employer is good (health care industry), and I love my manager, director, and teammates. Lately my perspectives on health care are changing, so I am feeling like I'm starting to get disconnected from our mission. I'm trying to decide if it's time for me to seriously start looking for other jobs. Right now I'm passively looking.

[2chatter]

I consulted, mostly through connections with college friends (Greek system plus here) and would work full time happily for most of those clients.

My first employer was a hot mess. But I was fresh out of college and 21 so it didn’t really matter.

My current employer is OK - but my former boss was truly crazy. She really messed with my head and I think some of her misdirected coaching will stay with me forever, unfortunately. My biggest complaint is here they say “be creative and modern” and then “oh, not like that, we can’t do that, think smaller scale” or “I like the way this looks” (but it lacks all design integrity and we lack the software). So it continues to be a mind fuck - I am sure if I depart there is more negative to positive to remember.

[sandandsea]

I️ feel indifferent towards them. It was a great place to start my career and grow but demanded way too much and wasn’t a good fit long term. I️ made some great friends and am grateful for that. The work life imbalance was unbearable. I️ still work with my old employer through mutual clients and am always sooooo thankful I’m not there. My side is much better.

[welly01]

I've had 4 employers in my professional career.

1. Company was fine, coworkers were fine, it just wasn't a good fit for my family at the time.

2. Small, private equity backed company. Loved company, coworkers and boss. Got sold to a major corp.

3. Major corp had great benefits. I already knew my coworkers because they were from my previous job. Loved my job and truly felt like coworkers were family. Got laid off.

4. Currently at a new private equity back company and ended up working with several people from company 1 & 2. Benefits are not as great but I'm still satisfied. Boss is good, coworkers are good. Overall, I'm very satisfied with my job.

[saraml13]

I left my first employer of 3 years on good terms. I left to relocate back to the Chicago area and go to business school. I had a few nit picks with the company, but generally enjoyed the people and the company.

My previous employer paid me off a week after I returned from ML, so obviously there is no love lost there. It sounds a lot like your previous company. Looking back, I can’t believe how dysfunctional the organization was and that I stuck around so long. When I was networking for a new job, I met with a bunch of other former employees who had moved on. To a one, they all had very negative views of our former employer and were so much happier in their new companies.

[ECB]

Ok. So thinking back”

1st professional job - left because we moved so it wasn’t really about the company or the people.

2nd - Worked in a couple different capacities. Ultimately left because of my last boss. But I LOVED the company and the other people. I made a lot of friends there who I still see over 10 years later. I miss the social aspect of the job the most. Would go back in a heart beat if I could.

Present job - it’s boring but the work/life balance is GREAT. My boss.... he’s.... o.k. It’s hard to describe. He’s vERY business focused, not very personable. I’ve reported to him for a year, heard a lot of “OMG - you have to report to Mark now? Good luck!”.

My experience - I’m cautious with him but all in all - if you push a little and ask questions, he’ll open up a little and tell you about his life. He has a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor. I don’t entirely trust him but I do feel that he largely stands behind his employees. And he brought me into his department considering me to be a part of his management team (although no one directly reports to me). He’s pretty inclusive with including me in meetings and decisions.

And he’s a HUGE advocate for working from home and he’s not a micromanager. (It’s because of him that I now work from home 2 days a week when most everyone else under him just gets one day)

But - I don’t love my job, the social side of it is pretty much non-existent. I kind of keep looking for another job. I’m writing all this to say that when/if I do leave, it really won’t be because of any one specific issue OR my direct boss (HIS boss, though, our CIO? That’s another story.). I won’t leave hating it or bad mouthing it.

That’s my experience across the board, TBH. Good and bad with all the jobs. Some were better than others, some offer better perks than others. But none were horrid.

[olenka]

I feel pretty good about all except two of my former employers. One was a university department and one was a startup run by ex Microsoft people. Lots of tyrannical behavior; I lasted two weeks and three months respectively.