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If you are happy with your job and supervisor—don’t read any further!
In my past articles, I have shared that bullying in the workplace is not illegal, but discrimination is illegal according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). If you find that it’s hard to get out of bed and go to a miserable job where you are treated with incivility, it may be time to consider your options.
A lady I will call Connie shared with me that she is mistreated every day in her job. Her supervisors and peers talk to her like she is disposable and not a valuable employee. Connie is a highly educated and trained individual. She wants to work five more years so she can retire with health benefits. So, she goes to work with a sick feeling in her gut every day. She is predisposed to daily harassing comments about her health and how she carries out her duties when she is at work.
It is likely that her peers and supervisors are jealous of her because she had a prestigious career in another field of work. Insecure bullies try to dominate others so they can have power over them. They get a rush of adrenalin knowing they are pushing someone’s buttons and making them unhappy. I will share a couple of options that could support Connie.
She could find another job.
She could do her best to stay in her current job until she found another job. Many jobs are posted online with companies such as Indeed. Federal jobs can be found at USA Jobs. When you apply for any job—online or offline, it’s important that you read the job description before you apply for the position. If you are qualified, be sure that you use the verbiage in the position description in your targeted resume.
For example, if a job or position description wants you to have experience with planning, developing, supporting and optimizing server hardware, you want to ensure that you write a resume that supports those “key” words. Otherwise, you may get overlooked—intentionally or unintentionally. Some recruiters use software that will look for “key” words in your resume. Other recruiters must make pain-staking efforts to review resumes.
The benefits of finding a job that you love may be that you have better engagement with your supervisors and peers, you are spending less time visiting a mental health professional, and you are rewarded for your talents and skill sets. Mental health professionals play a very important role in supporting people, but if you are constantly making an appointment to see your primary care doctor or mental health practitioner because you are mistreated in your job, you are spending money and time that you can never get back.
Another option is leaving an unhappy job and work for yourself.
In order to do this, you must be able to sustain yourself financially. People who chose to become entrepreneurs feel more secure when they have savings in their bank account or some other measure of income to support them. I always suggest putting money away for a rainy day. Wouldn’t it feel great to walk out of a job that is unfulfilling or where you are treated with disrespect?
There are many organizations that offer free consulting to help you become an entrepreneur. SCORE is the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, with more than 10,000 volunteers in 300 chapters. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is a resource partner of SCORE. They have helped 10 million entrepreneurs through their mentoring, workshops and educational resources for over 50 years. I love having an experienced volunteer SCORE representative tell me what they like about my business plans and how I can improve them.
Always know that you have choices in how you make money through your work. See more articles on safe, healthy, and respectful workplaces.
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