Help — My Job Isn’t Perfect!

Every so often I speak with someone who’s having a hard time at work. Sure the pay is okay and the benefits exist, but lately the boss is a bastard, the schedule is a mess and no one appreciates them. I want to quit and I want to quit now, they say.

I listen to this and my thought is: You’re kidding. Suck it up and look at how the world really works.

First, you have a job and you have benefits. At a time when the rate of unemployment is rising and some very good people have been forced to take some awfully bad jobs, you have a job and you have benefits. Even worse, some very good people can’t get any jobs at all.

Second, if you think this job is a mess then consider the alternatives. You just don’t know that the next job will be any better — or that there will quickly and easily be a next job.

Third, maybe you’re not seeing the whole picture. The boss is human, and just like you he has a bunch of problems and irritations at work and at home. He may be getting on you because he wants the best from you or because he doesn’t know how better to communicate. Notice that he “lately” has been difficult, meaning that he has the capacity to do better.

Fourth, there some bosses who think that yelling and screaming is good leadership. Maybe if they’re big and scary you’ll produce more. Maybe if they yell and scream they think they’re important and powerful. This is idiocy. If your boss yells and screams, don’t take it personally and don’t just quit. Instead, just find a different job — then exit. Try to give your boss as much notice as possible so he or she can find a replacement for you. Don’t say things you will regret and don’t be negative, there may come a time when it will be valuable to have a friend at the old workplace or to be on good terms with your old boss and co-workers.

The Rules

Here are rules for the real world:

1. Never quit your job without a new and better position in hand. If you don’t follow this advice then you’ve made a mistake, you’ve traded down. In this economy you can’t leave your job without consequences. There might there not be another job, but if there is another job it may not be as good or it may represent a host of new and worse problems. It’s not just that the grass may incorrectly seem greener on the other side of the fence, even if it is greener it may quickly wilt and die.

2. You’re not the center of the universe. I know, I know, this seems unfair. Mom and dad liked you, your significant other thinks you’re great and golly you were so popular in high school but — sorry — everyone has their own problems. Sit back a moment and try to look at the world from the boss’s view. Maybe sales are down, maybe there have been complaints. Maybe something has happened at home that you don’t know about. If the boss has been a generally good guy or gal, think about how you can help them and make their lives easier.

3. You can be replaced. Never assume that the company or a client will fold if you walk out the door. The job you hate is coveted by others, people who don’t have a job, people who have housing and car payments to make. Believe me, they will be happy to take your leftovers and some of them are as good as you or me. A few might be better.

So buck up. Things could be worse. Start looking at the world as if the glass were half full, not half empty. And don’t give up because a job is imperfect. There are no perfect jobs — but a job with problems is much better than no job and a stack of unpaid bills.

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