OT: Corporate Hell! (Long Post)

Sorry for this off-topic post, but I needed somewhere to vent.

I have been working for a large company for the past 17 years. The industry is kind of specialized. I have worked my way up since I started - 5 Years in one department, 3 years in a second and 9 years in my present position. I have had promotions and named Assistant Vice President. Things should be great, right?

In my present position, I have seen myself basically be demoted since "The Donald", not THAT Donald, but a person hired from another firm has taken control of my department. "The Donald" has tried to become "The Emperor" in the company, by not refusing to take on any project, whether it belongs in the department or not.

"The Donald" has hired people from the outside for any open positions. No one has been promoted to a position from within. I was promoted to AVP under "The Donald," but was told that for his benefit. He needed to make a promotion and I was the likely candidate. The AVP was a title only, no changes in duties.

I have been basically regulated to a support person for other people in my department and the company as a whole. I am basically doing about 15 people's jobs, as other departments, who don't think they should be doing their work, basically dump it on me. "The Donald," afraid of confrontation, thinks I should do it, so I end up doing other department's work.

As a support person for my department, I am expected to turn projects around in 15 minutes or less constantly. These people have other support people to assist them, but I end up doing 98% of the work. The managers asking for the work are unorganized, ask for things multiple times and are developing a "superiority" complex - you work for me. Do as I say and do it right now attitude.

This led to a rather ugly confrontation today between me and one of the "newer" hires, 3 years at the company and thinking she is superior to me. Words were said and it was ugly.

I immediately told "Emperor JR," my boss, who always takes "The Donald's" side, but at least this year has been more willing to listen and go to bat for me. "Emperor JR" was actually supportive when I told him that I am working in "Romper Room!"

"The Donald" just got 3 more positions approved, so I am thinking the situation is only going to get worse. I would love to get a new job, but the field is specialized and where I live has never really recovered from the loss of the Steel Industry in the 80s. It's always a recession here.

Any thoughts on how to make this situation tolerable?

Quit.

Preferably the way Jennifer Aniston does it in Office Space. "Here I am expressing myself!" In fact, watch Office Space. Get the DVD if you don't have it.

Then find a better job somewhere where they will appreciate your contributions. They don't deserve you.

Try paying for health insurance with the proceeds of teaching 18 private lessons a week (oops, six of the kids cancelled) plus playing three grueling weddings on Saturday and Sunday.

My wife works in the corporate world, so I do sympathize with your plight. The only way out in the situation you describe is to look for another job. If that's not possible you've just got to weigh how much your sanity is worth, giving some consideration to my first point.

can you stop taking on other peoples work?

Would it be possible to make a sort of quota for jobs you take on, and when someone approachs you with more crap to do just say "hey guy {censored} you, come back later"

Congratulations - sounds like you have a career, and not just a job. I just finished up a 17-year career at a large company, ending up as an executive VP for the last 6+ years. I survived many regime changes.

A "specialized" industry sounds like opportunities elsewhere could be a bit sparse.

Sounds like your Donald is out to prove himself and is not concerned with departmental boundaries. I, myself, prefer to hire managers who think that way. Maybe he is someone you should hitch yer wagon to.

Very typical - he wants to build his own team. I am surprised you haven't previously encountered this - it happened repeatedly where I used to work, at all levels of management. Get used to it.

VP titles are relatively difficult to come by - your Donald must have some admiration for you and your work to single you out with the title.

This sounds to me like an opportunity make yourself completely invaluable to your company. I worked my way up by doing other people's jobs for them, assuming responsibilities outside of my job description, and earning a reputation as a "go-to" person.

Well, if these other managers indeed outrank you on the org chart, regardless of length of service, intelligence, or anything else at all, then you need to play the game if you want to stay. And your work must be pretty damn good if they're always coming to you.

At three years she is no rookie. 17 years does not automatically make you "superior" to someone who has only been there for three. And if Donald (and/or other higher-ups) like her, ugly confrontations will likely not serve you well.

Well, depending upon your personal financial situation you just may want to cool your jets and be a team player, even if you're not especially fond of the team. Who cares if you're 110% right but out of work and financially hosed? Also, if additional positions are being approved, it sounds like business is good. Many people at many other companies are in situations where "downsizing" is the word of the day.

17 years is lots of time to invest in a company. If remaining is your best option, embrace the change, make yourself invaluable, prove that you're worthy of a VP title, forget about departmental responsibilities and job descriptions, become a senior and trusted member of Donald's team, quit whining, and kick some {censored}ing ass.

Just my two cents.

Any chance of going freelance?

What is the SPECIALIZED INDUSTRY (even generally), if I may be so bold to ask ... ???

I would suggest you get your job objectives in writing, then use that to determine what work you do and what work belongs to others.

I would suggest sitting down with your boss and tell him (nicely) about the situation as you see it:

-- You seem to be assigned work from other departments/groups

-- You run into conflicts when people from your department want assistance at the same time as others outside your department do

-- You feel others are dumping work on you that for which they should be responsible

-- You are getting crushed under the work load

-- You are happy to work hard for the company, but you feel the work load should be shared

I would also suggest you have a "plan of action", specifically details about how you would like your boss to help resolve the situation. It is alot easier for your boss to take action if you have done all the thinking for him, rather than just stating your problem and forcing him to come up with a solution.

In the end, if you can get clarity about your specific responsibilities and the relative priority of the various tasks you do (e.g. supporting your department might always take priority over helping other departments), you can use that to push back.

I would also recommend creating a resume and look for a different job. You might be able to be more effective if you have other job opportunities you can turn to. Good luck.

Life really is too short. Either hang in there and wear your flip-flops to work or hit the eject button.

I recommend picking up one of Dan Miller career books. 48 Days is good. Right now I'm reading No More Mondays. Pretty inspirational.

The best thing you can ever do if you are unhappy with a job is leave and find another one. Think how much time a day you are spending there. Happiness is everything.

Been there, done that, got the company logo-ed T-shirt, burned it.

+1

All what you have to replace is the career for a job! I get my happiness from other things than work. I might be proud of what i am doing but I am not the idiot who is playing all these corporate games. I can live with less money or title as long as I have time for the important things in life.

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I've come to the realization that I do not have any opportunity for any further advancement here. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of opportunities in the area either. It can be a good job on some days.

I am going to take MartinHines advice and try to get specific objectives and duties outlined in writing. This is the only hope that I have of trying to streamline some things. I am not in a position to turn the other department's work down. I am expected to do it, regardless. So, a clear job definition may help, but I'm not sure if "The Donald" will provide one.

Regarding my "co-workers" with the superiority complexes, I am working on a few things that will hopefully address this situation, too. I can get pretty creative.

Thanks again, and now let's get back to talking synths and music!

big corporate environments blow

The problem seems to be that you depend on your company more than is good for your own best interest. They are able to take unfair advantage of you as a result. It used to be that 17 years at a company = valued, trusted, and experienced employee. Today it = someone who's stuck in their job and can't afford to lose it.

You need to quietly get your personal and professional life arranged to find a better job elsewhere at the right time. You need that paycheck, right? How long can you live without that paycheck? If you live paycheck-to-paycheck then you've created your own little financial slave bondage agreement. Start building up a cash reserve, if you don't have one. How much cash depends on your financial burn rate and the difficulty of finding another job in your area or moving elsewhere. It helps a lot to reduce your burn rate by eliminating monthly obligations like expensive car or credit card payments.

Striving for financial independence from your company will make it much easier to find work elsewhere. I have found that when you "need" your job, it's harder to find other jobs that you can take. When you don't need it, better options present themselves frequently because you are free to choose them. Funny how that works. I've also seen that you will get less appreciation for the work you do when you feel unfairly obligated to do it. Everyone at your workplace knows that you need your job too much, so that's why they don't need to appreciate your efforts. They see no serious chance that you could leave even if you wanted to. And you do want to leave. You just can't. Fortunately, you have the complete power to change that situation. You can make them need you more than you need them. That puts you in the position of real power. So what if you complain to your boss? You're dealing from a position of weakness. You don't hold the cards to back up your bluff. Let's say you have a year's worth of cash in the bank and a standing offer for a better job at another company, but located in a different city that would require you to move. That would still put you in the power position to negotiate with your company, since you now have the ability to leave them if you can't make them bend your job to make it work for you. On several occasions I've seen companies make large offers to retain a good employee after they have received credible offers from elsewhere. Having that cash reserve also protects you in case they fire you if they discover you're looking for work elsewhere, but before you find a new job. Cash reserve = personal unemployment insurance.

Your company is specialized, but that doesn't mean that YOU have to be so specialized as to only be able to work at ONE company. You can expand your value to other companies by generalizing your skills and resume. 17 years at the same company makes it harder to find work elsewhere, so that makes it paramount to find a new job to eliminate that problem. You will be worth a lot more in the job market in 5 years if your resume shows 17 years at your current company + 5 years at a new company, than if you have 23 years at your current company. In fact, if you change jobs every 5 years, showing advancement from position to position, that would greatly increase your future marketability. It shows that you have a career, not just a job. Right now it seems that you have a job with no career.

couple other thoughts beyond the excellent advice already given:

* you are basically backed into a corner with no way out in your current situation, sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

"The Donald" sounds like a typical corporate psychopath. And you sound like the typical victim of a corporate psychopath. He doesn't respect boundaries, doesn't even know they are there. Asking him to more formally define your job function and cut down on the volume of stuff that lands on your plate just will not work.

He's built his own career out of intruding on someone else's turf, and he will only scorn you if you try to limit your own sphere of influence. From his standpoint, that's not how you get ahead in life and he will simply not respect your desire to scale down.

The other part of his success is finding someone to actually do all the work he takes on. The deal with people like that is, he gets the credit, you do the work. If you don't agree to do the work, he has no further use for you and he will go to great lengths to get rid of you.

On a broader scale, you currently have a good degree of job security, but it is ENTIRELY based on letting everyone else dump their own jobs in your lap. That is where you add value to the organization, that is why you still have your job seventeen years on. For some reason every human organization needs someone to exploit, and every human organization winds up with one or two people doing all the work while the "cool school" people network. You are not one of the cool school employees in your firm, and it's far to late to think of being one. You are the worker bee.

My guess is that the minute you start asking your bosses to limit the dumpage, they will start making decreasingly subtle hints that there are a lot of other people out there (with far less seniority and probably with far less of a compensation package) who can do your job just as well as you can.

And if you have been in a "niche" industry for seventeen years, especially all at the same firm, chances are that your skillset is pretty obsolete in today's job market. So from a job-search standpoint, not only do you have the "corporate lifer" stigma but you also may not have demonstrable experience with the skills and technologies that are in demand in today's job market.

None of that is remotely fair. But that's your world, based on what you have told us here.

My advice would be to either suck it up, get through the workdays as best you can and be thankful you have a stable job, or realize that you now have a second fulltime job reinventing yourself. When you get home from work, on weekends, pretty much anytime you are not sleeping or at your day job, your number one priority is going to have to be learning a completely new vocation. You can hopefully use a lot of what you currently do, but you are going to have to be very diligent to translate that into demonstrable skills in a totally different context than your current job. And you will probably have to find a way to learn entirely new skills that you don't currently need, but will if you change jobs.

Take evening classes, buy training manuals, do volunteer work that will let you learn new things and make new contacts. Start a home business based on skills that are in high demand in the market. Go to the networking meetings for the job you want to move into, and meet the people curently doing that job or those hiring that job. Find out as much as you can about what the job involves and what is needed to get hired and be successful in the job.

At the same time, save up enough money so that you can afford to be out of work for six months. You will probably be out of work longer than that if it ever comes down to it, but a half-year cushion will help you survive.

Hope this helps. You've gotten yourself into quite a situation, but with a lot of hard work and persistence you can get yourself out, or alternatively you can find some peace and acceptance that this is your career and it is what it is.

when you break things down, MartinHines really is the best member here. Oh how that pisses off the majority

good luck with this

[YOUTUBE]7Sq-HYGfnIo[/YOUTUBE]

it's time to run when people start talking about being a "team player." this is business, not baseball.

my dad was a successful grocery store manager for 30 years (for Kroger) and not once did he ever use that metaphor.

it sounds like you're already a "go to" person and indispensable, and you're not treated right. there's really no way to deal with this situation other than to go. are your cash reserves in check? how's your debt load?

I sympathize with your situation. I'm also a go-to-guy at my job and I admit, it is partially my own doing. There was a workload void that needed to be filled and I did everything I could to fill it, given that I was a fairly new hire at the time and wanted to be seen as a team player by others.

A year and some months later I'm still pulling 10-12 hour days regularly and am clearly burnt out of my mind. Meanwhile management pulls a guy out of our-then 4-person sub-group to cover another gap in the main department, making the strain worse on us. That was a clear sign that it was time for me to go (which I will be doing at the end of this month.)

That said, I still think keybdwizrd's comments are pretty on point. My decision to leave was heavily based on a previous desire to move out of state... and while my situation at work wasn't completely terrible, it was bad enough to push me over the edge and decide to cut my losses. If you want or need to stay where you are, it would probably be best to play nice and continue making yourself an invaluable part of that team as you have already done - at least until you have enough money and/or incentive to change gears.

imho and experience, corporate life is essentially part theatre and part warfare conducted by other means.

unless you are at the top, it largely sucks.

to get to the top is a process that largely sucks, too, unless you enjoy that sort of thing

essentially it is all about power, rather than the ostensible thing which, at any given moment, it is supposed to be about

A lot of good advice here already. Here are a couple more things to think about.

1. What are other skills you have, things you do for fun (besides music) ? Think about what might become a new line of work for you. Computer repair--hardware tech support--is {censored}-hot and expected to remain so for forseeable future. This is what I chose to retrain for (A+ certification) when my machinist job went to China 3 years ago, because I had always enjoyed tinkering with computers. It's a great gig.

2. Have you thought about starting a business/becoming self-employed ? You might want to join the 1099 army and work for yourself, on your own terms, instead of theirs. This is why I chose computer repair over being a radiology tech--same money, more freedom.

Check out the gov't Bureau of Labor Stats www.bls.gov site. They have job outlooks and data on hot careers, and not-so-hot. IT, healthcare, post-secondary ed are the 3 big areas. Also monster.com for salary info.

Keep an open mind, above all. Reinvention is a process, you have to lean into it and enjoy the trip. Chances are you have an old itch to scratch, and this can become your new life if you let it.

Good luck with it

just a single thought...I am also in a highly specialized business and I just moved from Berlin (which I absolutely loved!) to Zurich..which...well it just has to prove itself a littlebit. So, when you are specialized, be flexible to move somewhere else. Or...realise that your special knowledge might be the wave of fresh air for another company in another business. You know, in moving companies I even considered Native Instruments!

In terms of workflow and projects: make sure you are NOT a "go-to" person. Well, of course it is nice to help other people and their projects. But make sure you do work that helps the company -move on-. Work with a planning, get yourself onto a track that leads to the future, instead of losing yourself in solving the loose ends of other projects. DONT MAKE THE PLANS ON YOUR OWN! talk them over with your superior and don't avoid him because you can't but make "big plans" together, or make him feel like he creates the big plans for you that you pre-cooked in a set of nice powerpoint slides...Just presenting good plans and plannings got me further than actually doing things, I believe.

Good luck and keep smiling, better times will come!

Props to keybrdwzrd, MartinHines, and xmlguy for their posts!