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Cannot deal with work stress

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
Start interviewing now. If nothing else it gives you something positive to focus on and believe me that helps you cope better.

Trust me, I've had this problem many times before.
 

Paul98

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2010
3,732
199
106
Time to find a new job

Unless you expect to be making a lot more money soon, or you don't think you will have to deal with all this shit for much longer. It's not worth it, you can find an employer who will be happy to have you and treat you like they should.
 
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nickbits

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2008
4,122
1
81
I don't think you should expect special treatment because you are inexperienced but they should know your limits. Voice your concerns to your boss and if you don't like what he has to say start looking for a new job.
But don't quit until you have a new start date.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,612
13,816
126
www.anyf.ca
I would start looking for another job. Do the best you can meanwhile, but really start looking, even if it's a demotion. It can be a tough decision to make to leave a job especially if it means moving companies, but sometimes it's the best thing to do.

I was a server tech at a hospital for a few years. The job itself was exactly what I wanted to do from day 1 when I got out of college. I was a contractor but stationed there full time so the IT manager was essentially my boss and I never talked that often to my real boss other than the occasional meeting. That IT manager was the biggest asshole I've ever met. First year was not so bad, then things just got worse, he was harder and harder on me (well all of us), and overall was poisoning the environment. There was constant tension. I could write a book on him, so I wont go into details here. It got to a point where I kept asking myself why I'm dealing with that crap and had to do something about it. I came really close to booking a meeting with the CEO (really nice guy) to talk to him about it. But I was scared it could backfire given I'm not even a real employee there, so never went that route.

I had seen a NOC position come out in my company at one point and thought about it, but never applied. Maybe a year later another NOC position came out. I figured, know what, I'm applying. I applied for it, and got it. A year later, the only thing I regret is not applying sooner! Best job ever. Low stress, flexible hours, and actually higher pay than the last due to shifts, more overtime, etc.

Dealing with that kind of stress just builds up on you after a while, so it's best to look into moving away from it before it eats you alive. Just don't jump ship too quick either, make sure whatever job you find will still last. Don't jump on a good job only to find out it's temporary.
 

SeductivePig

Senior member
Dec 18, 2007
681
8
81
I don't think you should expect special treatment because you are inexperienced but they should know your limits. Voice your concerns to your boss and if you don't like what he has to say start looking for a new job.
But don't quit until you have a new start date.

I'm not expecting special treatment. This is abnormal no matter how experienced somebody is.

Either way the industry I'm in (power) has a big shortage of people and there are a lot of people planning to retire. Couple that with the fact that the vast majority of programs out there do not teach power engineering, and my inexperience isn't even a factor.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,612
13,816
126
www.anyf.ca
But don't quit until you have a new start date.

This. Ensure any new job you get is determined and that you have a start date. Most should be flexible to know that you need to give 2 weeks notice to your current employer anyway so they probably wont want you to start right away.

As much as it would be fun to just say "I quit" and not give 2 weeks notice it's best to do it anyway. Your life will be a living hell for those 2 weeks, but at least you have a new job to look forward to. your GAF index can be set very low.
 

SeductivePig

Senior member
Dec 18, 2007
681
8
81
The thing is that I was pushed hard from the beginning - nobody who looks at my resume would actually believe I accomplished everything on there within 1 year. I could easily branch out to a different company but the issue is that this was my 1st job so maybe it's just a tough learning experience.

There is really good job security and the pay is ok, but there's no benefits and I'm not learning anything and don't have much of a work-life balance.
 

Smoblikat

Diamond Member
Nov 19, 2011
5,184
107
106
It sounds like you have them by the balls:
Hiring freeze + low staff + hard worker = leverage in your favor, demand a raise or better working conditions or you are out.
 

brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,627
6,011
136
if you are working in tech, most positions will be stressful

i hated the stress of my previous position, so after a year i talked to my boss and said i really liked my old position better. they said, "ok we'll give someone your position and get you another one". a couple months later i got transferred to another team much bigger than my original one - as the team leader. as expected it is much more stressful, and i hate driving to work most days.

pays a little better though :(
 

brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,627
6,011
136
Work to live, not live to work. Once you get that down the rest all becomes easy :)

most tech jobs want you to be on call 24/7 and/or be able to support systems and apps that are 30 years old

keeping everything straight makes it almost impossible to get work out of your head
 

mammador

Platinum Member
Dec 9, 2010
2,120
1
76
Get a hobby.

Meditate.

Go to the gym.

Spend all night watching comedies.

These are things everybody can do to sustain mental health.
 

Leros

Lifer
Jul 11, 2004
21,867
7
81
I used to have some troubles dealing with stress. It was mostly from pushing myself too hard. I'd work ridiculous hours in order to finish everything that people wanted me to do. Then I decided it was ridiculous and started working a normal week. I'd push tasks off weeks or months into the future. Everybody understood that I couldn't get to them due to time constraints and I've still been getting good reviews/raises/bonuses.

I also had this problem in college. I worked my ass off to do the best I could in all my classes. As a result I made mid to high 90s in all my classes and had a pretty good GPA, but I was neglecting my social life and mental health. In my last semester, I decided to slack a bit and only put about 50% of my normal effort. I made almost exactly the same grades as I did before when I was working my ass off.

tl;dr most of my stress has been self-induced
 
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