You have a job that you hate. No, “hate” is too soft a word – you despise it! If you have another job lined up, you’d quit today and not even bother to give notice.
We’ve all been there. And with the increasing frequency of job changes these days, it’s more likely than ever that you will have such a job – sooner or later.
Is there a constructive way to deal with a job that you hate? Absolutely – and here are some recommendations.
Plan An Exit Strategy – Now!
I’ve always thought that one of the worst responses to having a job you hate is one of the following common justifications:
- “I’m tough – I’ll just dig in and work through it.”
- “I can’t afford to leave.”
- “Maybe it’ll get better if I just wait it out.”
- “Maybe I’m the problem – I’ll try to do better.” (This one could be legitimate!)
- “I can’t leave; I have too much time invested in this employer and besides, I have seniority.”
- “I don’t want to give up my vacation time.”
On the surface, each of these responses sound noble, or at least beneficial. But each probably also misses the mark!
If you have been feeling uncomfortable on your job for a long time, chances are the negative feelings that you have do have a basis in fact. There are several possibilities:
- Your boss or other significant co-worker(s) may not like you – and they’re not trying to hide it.
- You’re doing work that doesn’t fit your personality and talents.
- The company is going nowhere.
- The company is very dysfunctional (no matter how long you “wait it out”, it will never get better).
- The job may not be a good fit.
- You’re not particularly good at the job you have.
- You could be doing better somewhere else – and deep down you know it.
If any of these reasons – and it’s usually a combination of several – play a part in the fact that you hate your job, staying there won’t improve the situation.
Do some deep meditation in regard to your job, and make sure that you can articulate the reasons why you hate it. Those reasons are probably totally legitimate. And that means it’s time to plan an exit strategy from your job.
An exit strategy will serve at least three purposes:
- It will enable you to quit your job – at least eventually.
- It will give you a purpose, given that your job probably doesn’t.
- It will create a positive focus, to help offset the negative energy flowing from your job.
An exit strategy may not give you a chance to quit your job tomorrow. But it will point you in the right direction, and give you something to hope for.
Continue To Do Your Best Work
Once you decide that you are going to leave your job, continue to do your best work. This is particularly true if you are a Christian:
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters…“ – Colossians 3:23
In addition to the fact that we are all ultimately working for the Lord, there are several reasons why you need to continue to do your best work:
- If you don’t, you may develop a bad attitude that could carry over to the next job.
- You want to do all you can to get a good reference from your current job.
- At a minimum, you want your coworkers to think positively about you – you never know if you might be working with some of them in the future.
- You need to keep your skills up – the best way to do this is by applying them conscientiously each day.
- Your work is a reflection about who you are – make sure that your work continues to reflect the person you want others to see.
- Our work is one of our best faith witnesses to the rest of the world.
Do your best work until the day you walk out the door – everything will go better with you later if you do.
Be Ready To Take A Step Down
If you really hate your job enough, you should be prepared to take a step down in either pay or position, or both. A very good friend of mine used to say from time to time, “Sometimes you have to take a step back to go forward.” Most of us want to believe that we can continue going forward no matter what the obstacles are. But sometimes you have to step around obstacles if you can’t go through them.
This is usually the case with a bad job. You may have to work for less elsewhere in order to get out of that job. No matter how much you want to avoid taking a step back, it may be the cleanest, easiest way to get out of the situation you’re in now.
If you hold out for a better paying and higher position, you run the risk of self-destructing on your current job. Never assume that your boss and coworkers don’t know that you hate your job. Very few of us are so poker-faced that we could pull that off. Sooner or later, you could end up getting fired – and then you’ll have no job.
Also, taking a notch down on a new job could be a necessary step in order for you to gain new skills that will help you to go forward. It may also help to get yourself in a situation that you feel better about your work. The better you feel about the work you’re doing, the more progress you can make.
Plan To Exit Gracefully
Even if you are planning to leave your job, be at peace with everyone in your workplace. And once you leave, keep any negative opinions about the company and its employees to yourself. If you really hate your job, this can be especially difficult to do. But you need to resist the urge.
Jobs today are something of a revolving door. It’s no longer something that you “own” – but rather an experience that should last only as long as it’s necessary. And when it’s time to move on, we should do it with the grace and humility befitting followers of Jesus Christ.
I’m glad that I really never hated a job. I had a few jobs that I disliked and left. I had other jobs that I grew out of and needed a better challenge that they couldn’t offer.
I do agree with your points especially in continuing to work as hard as you can on the job even if you “hate” it. Doing your best will only help you and slacking off does not “get back” at a job or boss you dislike.
No that’s true Jason. All it does is cause you to focus on the negative. No good will come out of that.
Yes. Anger only hurts one person. I remembered an old coworker of mine who would complain about how much she hated her job. It actually began to cause her to be sick and call out often. the best is to remain positive and proactive.
I love how you call people to “continue doing your best work” even when you are in the midst of a job that you hate. Just because we are miserable we don’t get to take that out on our employer, find a new job but leave a good taste in the mouth of your current employer. You might need their recommendation in the future.
Hi Jon – If you think about it, if you “quit” on your job before actually leaving, it’s a form of theft. We shouldn’t even want to flirt with that idea.
You know I hadn’t ever thought about it that way, but I think you might be right. That would be especially true if you had mentally quit on your job but you were still collecting that paycheck. In some organizations/companies it takes months to remove someone who has given up on their job. I too don’t want to ever come close to that.
It’s not even good for an individual to stay at a job they hate so they can just continue to get a paycheck. They really are just hurting themselves.
I’ve seen some folks actually really take advantage of being in this type of situation.
1) They hate their job so give up
2) Decide to do very little work
3) Learn while at work for next job or start their own business while at work
4) Now they don’t hate things so much because they have a light at the end of the tunnel and something to keep them busy
5) Continue to collect paycheck
6) Leave when the time is most advantageous for them!
A person really can begin to improve their situation if they get creative and are willing to take a risk. Heck, even folks that do what I’ve outlined above are in some ways taking less risk than the person that just outright and quits because they hate their job.
I often describe doing just that with a side business. You start the business while still employed, and build it up until you’re ready to go full time. It’s a much lower risk way into self-employment.
But then, I never advocate just “putting in your time” on the job, as in floating along until the day comes when you leave. You never know, if the business fails, you’ll be back to relying completely on your job. You don’t ever want to burn that bridge.
I struggled with this for some years. I am still in the current job, but things aren’t so bad for me any more. I’ve gotten better by trying a couple of things:
1) realize that you don’t need to take things to seriously. Your job is NOT who you are.
2) learn to accept things for what they are. Most people are unhappy in their job because it doesn’t fit their ideal mold of what they should be doing. Learn to let go – it is what it is. Don’t try to make it into something it isn’t.
3) look for other constructive ways to be a better person outside of work.
4) help others to succeed or get ahead and it will usually come back to you.
5) work on self improvement and line up something that you feel will be a better fit.
6) the grass really isn’t always greener. I had a job that I hated with a passion when I first started into the work force out of college. I thought that it was too easy for me. Looking back on things now, that was one of the best jobs I ever had. It’s 99% what you make it in your own head 🙂
Hi Derek – Your advice is spot on, where ever we’re at we have to make the best of it. However I do think that if you feel a deep sense of disconnection, you need to make other plans. You can go stale on a job you don’t feel positive about.
I learned also to look outside of work for other ways to make life fulfilling. Many companies offer services that help employees enhance their skills. I find that when you hate a job it’s good to make the most of what they offer to make you better at a skill.
It’s definitely 99.99% mental. The more we say we hate our jobs the more we create situations or look at a personal level.
That’s why I went back to school to get my MBA. The company pays for it, and it’s expanding my horizons orders of magnitude more than I’d be able to do without it.
I have more options internally to move or to look external (plus, it’s like getting a temporary $55K raise)!