Q: Worst part of your j*b?

[Major Tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Options 1) Working in "human" resources. Period. 2) Knowing that "Leadership" makes two or three hundred times as much money as staff do. 3) Politics. 4) Not telling people what I really think of them or the organization (however, that is starting to happen more and more now as my FIRE date approaches). 5) Being sucked into a deposition next Thursday to defend the org against what I consider to be an immoral and unethical lawsuit. I'll say no more lest I start cursing. 6) Working at a well-respected, world renowned organization. One which houses much of its support staff in a crappy area. In a former warehouse. Painted sterile, hospital white. Containing row after row of cubicles. While requiring males to wear ties (I often won't). 7) Bureaucracy. Bureaucracy. Bureaucracy. 8) Hearing my name called again, and again, and again, and... Because yet one more person wants something. 9) Coming back to the warehouse after a magical time in the canyons by the Pacific ocean. 10) Getting up in the morning to go there.

But apart from that, the job's OK right?

[ER Eddie]

I was coming here to complain, but I don't feel entitled now. Man, that sounds rough. I especially feel for you about the deposition. I hate those things, and having to do it under those circumstances must be very frustrating.

And I know what you mean about #9, too. It is so hard to return to the sordid misery of office work, after spending time in the beauty of nature.

[jime444]

Here's mine:

Daily dealing with the dysfunctional, unrealistic, irrational, knuckleheads at megaCorp Central, while each of said megaCorp VP's (you know, of Chairs and Windows) deploys irresponsible and unachievable schedules making every molehill issue, into a mountain. It's like a continuous rapid fire of a machine gun; do this, do that, no do this first, spend less, no spend more, be safe, do quality work, hurry up, now finish that training, no stop that, work on your budgets, no cut budgets, hire some more, no, that's too many, fire some, we've got a new procedure for that, no not that one, this week's new one. All to made-up, completely nonsensical deadlines and schedules, continuously.
No wonder most employees today are so disenfranchised and disillusioned. I know we are.

[Walt34]

Wow, in the future if it ever crosses my mind to get a job I'll come back and read this thread.

[brett]

-downsizing...having to lay off employees on a recurring basis.

-the two years that megacorp tried implemented 'forced distributions' as it pertained to employee evaluations

-responsibility for results with declining authority for managing the inputs to those results

-seeing and experiencing a significant decline in megacorp's service level to it's customers

The rest was really good and on balance Megacorp was a great place to work for 25 years. I worked with excellent people-co workers and customers-and I consider myself very fortunate to have worked there. The pay/benefits package was extremely competitive. I came to understand and appreciate the value of the DB package as I approached ER.

[Options]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major Tom But apart from that, the job's OK right?

Sure it is...when I stay home like I did yesterday. Came in today and the total mess that some bureaucrat had created was already cleaned up...by someone other than me....

[Options]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ER Eddie And I know what you mean about #9, too. It is so hard to return to the sordid misery of office work, after spending time in the beauty of nature.

Yes sir...and that's why I chose not to go in yesterday!

[dvalley]

For me it's being stuck in the middle management- you're the punching bag for both your subordinates and your superiors. You're also their shrink and baby sitter. It's a thankless job. I sometimes want to go back to being technical/hands-on again.

[MDJO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvalley For me it's being stuck in the middle management- you're the punching bag for both your subordinates and your superiors. You're also their shrink and baby sitter. It's a thankless job. I sometimes want to go back to being technical/hands-on again.

1+

No decision making power, want you to fix problems with no resources and no fundamental change in the structure of the org that causes the problem

[dvalley]

^ EXACTLY!

Some days I feel depressed going into work knowing the team is going to resist when I ask them to do something in a different way (out of the box ideas) or make excuses that management needs to spend more money if I ask them to come up with some better ideas. Yet the upper management will ask why our spend is so high and our IT environment lagging in delivering projects. Those are the days I want to crawl under a rock and think about why I switched to management...sigh.

[ATC Guy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvalley For me it's being stuck in the middle management- you're the punching bag for both your subordinates and your superiors. You're also their shrink and baby sitter. It's a thankless job. I sometimes want to go back to being technical/hands-on again.

I feel like I could've written this! It is very thankless and you get the punches from both sides. You have to defend and enforce policies from the top you may not agree with and simultaneously provide a heat shield to the people below you to protect from the fire from the top when things don't go as planned. Middle management is the worst and I yearn for the day I'm able to go back to the worker bee level and leave work at work.

[chasesfish]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATC Guy I feel like I could've written this! It is very thankless and you get the punches from both sides. You have to defend and enforce policies from the top you may not agree with and simultaneously provide a heat shield to the people below you to protect from the fire from the top when things don't go as planned. Middle management is the worst and I yearn for the day I'm able to go back to the worker bee level and leave work at work.

Thank you for posting this. I'm in a situation where I feel passed up for middle management, but the rewards are really small relative to the crap that comes with the job. Maybe one day I'll stop aspiring for it.

[HFWR]

I figured out some time ago that I'm not megacorp management material. They figured it out as well...

[jime444]

Are you sure you guys haven't worked with me in middle management somewhere?

It appears (like I didn't already know) that it's the same all over.

If you're smart and a reasonable/rational person, stay away from MM. Be a individual contributor, I can almost guarantee your family and your mental health will thank you.

Cheers.

[sailor]

In my opinion rewards are small when comparing middle management with individual contributor roles. But management is definitely better paid in most companies.
A friend of mine went into the job arguing, that 15% pay raise with management position (about 12% after all taxes) allows him to triple his disposable income based on his current level of spending. That's a compelling argument.
At this time of my life I don't think I would go for MM, but I'm not saying never.

[brewer12345]

calmblueoceancalmblueoceancalmblueocean...

I just got an email stating that after the management team discussed it among themselves they all fell it would be just jolly to send me to a pointless 2 hour meeting across the country scheduled for a Friday afternoon in December such that I will be very lucky to get home that night at all. I am done being voluntold. I am pushing back.

They will be very lucky if I give them 2 weeks notice and unmolested data files when I quit.

Grrr..

[chasesfish]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brewer12345 calmblueoceancalmblueoceancalmblueocean... I just got an email stating that after the management team discussed it among themselves they all fell it would be just jolly to send me to a pointless 2 hour meeting across the country scheduled for a Friday afternoon in December such that I will be very lucky to get home that night at all. I am done being voluntold. I am pushing back. They will be very lucky if I give them 2 weeks notice and unmolested data files when I quit. Grrr..

I'm about to go with thirteen people in my office for more compliance training, even though we only have 11 (out of around 750) clients in my office that this type of compliance applies to....

[tmob]

Yes give into your hate for megacorp. It gives you drive and focus to save your money for ER.........

Well at least its proving to be a driving force for me lol

[Theseus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jime444 Daily dealing with the dysfunctional, unrealistic, irrational, knuckleheads at megaCorp Central, while each of said megaCorp VP's (you know, of Chairs and Windows) deploys irresponsible and unachievable schedules making every molehill issue, into a mountain. It's like a continuous rapid fire of a machine gun; do this, do that, no do this first, spend less, no spend more, be safe, do quality work, hurry up, now finish that training, no stop that, work on your budgets, no cut budgets, hire some more, no, that's too many, fire some, we've got a new procedure for that, no not that one, this week's new one. All to made-up, completely nonsensical deadlines and schedules, continuously...

I've been out of the office for almost a week now - not ER yet, just practicing. But that sure sounds like the place I'll be going back to next week.

[GalaxyBoy]

I'm wondering if it's also normal that most MegaCorps have a "standard" file structure on the server for each project, but it has so many folders (and sub folders and sub-sub folders ad naseum) that you can never find anything. Each project manager puts similar documents in entirely different places so that when you skip from project to project, you spend half the morning just locating the files you need to work on.

I shouldn't even get started on the intranets I've had to deal with. I'll spend an hour looking for the correct form (or whatever) only to find press releases, project announcements, look-how-wonderful-it-is-to-work here, how so-and-so in Bumfuddle got promoted, but nothing useful. When I go ask the manager where to find it, the response is always preceded with an annoyed "You know, it's on the intranet!" I think one day I'll take his paycheck and hide it under a pile of drawings in his office and tell him, "it's in your office!"