Working there,kids stay in school so you don’t have to work like a slave at US FOOD #badjob
I recently got out of a toxic job that was BAD, BAD, BAD! I had planned to leave once I knew that it wouldn't get better, but decided to wait until I got fired so that I could collect unemployment benefits. I was miserable long enough, i figured why not?! Now I'm looking for a new job and I don't know what to say about the whole thing. I've already lied to a few interviewers and said that I quit, but I don't know if this is the right path...or legal? I also feel pretty bad about lying!
…work a dead-end job you hate or not have a job at all? Apparently some researchers are saying that it’s worse for your mental health to be stuck in a horrible job than it is to be unemployed. I’ve always thought that it’s better to have any job than no job, but I’m curious to know what you all think! What’s worse?
After working 30 years in the packaging plant,Shell forced me to take a severance package or no money and no job. I worked at the Portland Plant where the Plant Manager Todd Colwell played favoritism with the younger and newer employees. I reported to the Shell help line but nothing ever happened. Shell does not care about their employees, if an incident happened they would ask "what did you do wrong" or say you were not following procedures. 5 employees were given severance packages who had 30 years and more, they kept employees with 4 to 5 years. I believe they didn't want to continue paying more vacation and sick leave to the employees with more years. I have been transferred from 2 other plants because they closed down, with my experience and knowledge they paid all my moving fees and kept me working. The Portland Plant is the worst! I continued to stay and work because the best thing was the pay and benefits. The beginning of my job career it was fun and I LOVED my job now all I can say is bye BITCHES!!
When a new potential job asks about your old one, it’s sort of like talking to your current significant other about your past relationship. It can be VERY uncomfortable, but it doesn’t have to be.
The breakup and/or relationship may have been UGLY, but remember you don’t want to bring that baggage into your new relationship. If you do then your new boyfriend/girlfriend/job might think you are crazy, negative, an angry person, etc. The breakup could have been for the best, you might still miss them a little, OR perhaps the moment things ended you broke into your happy dance thinking to yourself, “I’m freeeeee!!” I am also talking about your past job here ; )
So no matter how things ended, when your new potential job asks about your old one here are a few easy ways to handle it like a pro!
1- Avoid negative words, in fact take a few moments to remove them completely from your brain right now! Words such as “hate,” “horrible,” “couldn’t stand,” “lazy,” etc. do NOT translate well at all. Negativity is not something you want to project or share with your future employer, and they simply don’t want to hear it. As I use to tell my third grade students, “Save the drama for your mama!” Plus, they will likely perceive you as a negative person which is NOT how you want to present your best self.
2- Always say something positive about your past job. I know, this may be a struggle but you can do this! Even if you can only come up with one idea to stick to. Say something such as, “I really enjoyed (pick a part of the job you enjoyed) because… Keep it simple and don’t go into a long winded explanation about why you left, etc. remember positive is key here!
3- If they ask why you left, just simply say that you were looking for other opportunities, and again avoid the negative. This doesn’t need to be a long winded answer and when I have said this no one has inquired further.
4- I know it’s tempting after all they put you through to throw them under the bus, but avoid bad mouthing your past boss or any of the employees. If you say negative things then your potential boss will be thinking to themselves, “Wow, it won’t be long before they do the same thing to ME!” This will raise a major red flag! So if they happen to say something like “How did you enjoy working for your previous employer?” You can respond by saying, “I enjoyed working for him/her because they… and pick a few positive things.
They will appreciate that you took the high road. You’re awesome like that ; )
So, what was YOUR most difficult job and how did you handle talking about it during an interview??
So I had the worst job a few years ago. I was working on a farm shoveling...yup you guessed it, cow crap. I needed the job to pay for school and I was already working two other jobs when it was offered to me. I figured WHY not?! I didn’t JUST shovel manure, I also milked the cows which was definitely an experience let me tell you.
The smell was BAD guys, I mean really bad haha but you get use to it. I could even stomach waking up at 3am to go milk the cows. What I couldn’t stand was my boss most of the time. He was a mean old man. You know the kind you expect to see in Disney movies, the bad guys...yeah that was my old boss. He made my job miserable!
When he screamed at you I swear he could literally wake the dead it was THAT loud. He would just yell ALL THE TIME at you or worse call you stupid over and over. I have dyslexia so sometimes things get mixed up in my head and he would make it more stressful by insulting me. I would just take it on the chin and smile through it. I needed the money. It’s funny, but now that I have a new job all these years later and a totally different life, I can’t help but think how that job changed me even though that boss was a total jerk. It taught me that hard work is so important even if it’s difficult and also how to deal with those people that you really want to punch in the face, but you know you can’t. I had people depending on me and I had to make sure I was there no matter what, because unlike a big company a farm is more like a family than anything else. I think that bad jobs don’t necessarily have to be “bad,” we can learn from them and take a little something away.
What was your worst job and what did you learn from it?