Have you ever had a terrible job where it feels like almost every hour of your work day is hell?
Have you ever worked for managers that did not even bothered to teach you but expect you to know everything from the get go?
Have you ever felt yourself isolated in the workplace?
What is the point of all these questions, right? Well, my answer is yes to all those questions. Curious? Read on, as I’m going to tell you the time I was first laid off work.
Fun Fact: I’ve been working since I was 16 years old. I started working a week after coming here to the US, so I never really had the chance to do any sight seeing or anything of that sort. I’ve been working mostly in the customer service/retail industry for as long as I can remember. I took all the jobs I can get my hands on to. One code I live by is that “there is always a first time for everything.”
Back in November of 2017, I was on my final quarter of school, on my quest to attain my most coveted degree. As I’ve stated on my previous blog posts, I have a bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Administration, with focus in Human Resources and Accounting. Since I was on my last quarter of school before I graduate, I was already looking for a new job, so I can leave the gas station I was working for (yes, I also worked at a gas station for 5 years). I sent out my resume to a lot of hiring companies but heard nothing back from them. So, I asked my friends and classmates if the company they’re working for were looking for anyone for any entry level position.
I have this classmate in one of my accounting classes and she told me about an accounting assistant position that will be vacant soon in their company. Turns out that the current assistant back then was leaving since she’ll be moving away. My classmate (let’s call her Girlie), told me that she’ll recommend me for the position. Of course, I was ecstatic! If I snag the job, then that means I’ll be saying good bye not only to the gas station, but to the whole customer service industry!
And then, I was interviewed for the position. And when the news came that I got the job, I literally cried with tears of joy. Yes, I was happy that day but then, there was also this feeling… this part of me that was a little bit skeptical about everything. I shrugged it off and tried to bury it deep down in me because I was happy, right? I got a new job and will be starting on a new position after I graduate, and everything will be smooth sailing. Of course, I wouldn’t let that tiny bit of skepticism ruin my celebration that day.
Fast forward a little bit. School was done, and I passed final quarter with flying colors. Even though I won’t be receiving the actual diploma until June of 2018, I was happy and proud, nonetheless. At that time, I can proudly say that I am a college graduate. In the last month of 2017, I started a new job at *bleep* as an accounting assistant/contracts manager. Pretty cool, right?
My first day on my new job, I met everyone in the company. It’s a small company, but they’re a part of the construction industry and have million dollars project. I was soooo intimidated by that fact alone, and since I’ll be the new accounting assistant/contracts manager, I would be seeing not only a few thousand dollars, but hundreds of thousands of dollars, right? You can’t blame me, though. I’ve worked for bakeshops and gas stations, but the most money I’ve seen from those shops are not even a quarter of the figures I’ll be seeing at my new job. The girl who I’ll be replacing (let’s call her Em) was the one tasked to train me (Nice, someone is going to be training me!). Yes, I’m a fast learner especially if my trainer/mentor is patient with me. I ask a lot of questions, but that is because I’d rather ask and double/triple check than make a mistake that would cost us time and cause inconvenience to the company.
I was happy that I have Em to train me. However, I was also told that she only has 1 week to train me because she’ll be leaving the following week.
My jaw dropped. I’ll only get training for a week?! I couldn’t believe it. And with the company transitioning to a new computer software and all, they expect me to learn everything in a week? Okay, okay. I told myself that I could do it. I’ll do my best to learn everything from Em in a week. I’ll do everything to keep the job. After all, it was a stepping stone to success.
I trained for a week with Em. Then Em left and I was left alone. There were four of us in our department (all girls) but I never felt as if I was part of the group despite all the efforts I made to join in. I felt so isolated. I asked questions, double and triple checked everything when money was involved, and did my best to keep up with them. But all I got was a condescending attitude from them.
My classmate, Girlie, told me that I was lucky to be trained for a week. Apparently, the office manager and the controller were hired only a couple of weeks before me and they only got a few hours to be trained for their position. I felt so bad when she told me, and I felt so stupid because I was trained longer than them and yet, I was unable to do my job properly. But then again, in the back of my head, I was thinking: it was stupid to even compare my position to their position in the first place because that’s like comparing apples to oranges. An office manager doesn’t have to worry about any of the accounting side of the business. And as for our controller? She’s been doing that gig for a fucking long time. Of course, she’ll know what to do. But me? I was a lowly entry level accounting assistant/contracts manager and the only experience I had with accounting was working on our books for our class project in class.
Fun fact: I was given the title of contracts manager, but no one even trained me how to do it. Hell, when I asked the general manager, he told me that he doesn’t have any idea about the position because they created it for me. Wonderful, right? *insert sarcasm here*
The entire experience I had with them was a complete horror. I was miserable every day and I don’t feel like getting off my bed when work week came. I leave home early when it’s still dark and I get home late, when it’s dark. I cry out in frustration and stress every night. Hubby did his best to comfort and console me, and even suggested leaving the company. But I didn’t listen. I told myself that I was not a quitter and hey, maybe everything will be better soon, right? It’s only hard in the beginning because everything is new, and the learning curve is steep.
But all of those happy thoughts were shattered, as stress took its toll on me. On that one particular day while I was on my way to work, everything seemed to just be out of hand. The morning train was delayed getting to our station and when we were on our way to the city, there was another major delay for almost an hour. I was already late for work and I thought to myself: do I really want to deal with that kind of commute every day? What if all the delays and inconveniences were God’s way of sending me a sign that enough is enough? (I’m not a religious person but I do believe in God). That’s when I decided that that would be my last day in the company.
I was about to talk to the manager in the afternoon to officially tell her that I will be quitting. I didn’t care anymore; I figured that I should take care of myself. The general manager came up to me and invited me to talk in the conference room. And what did we talk about? He said that unfortunately, they have to let me go and that they underestimated the position they gave me and that they need to find someone more experienced. You know, all those stuff they say when they let you go. I wasn’t sad or angry or whatever. I actually felt relieved when he said that. It felt as if a thorn was plucked out of my chest. I smiled at the GM and told him that I was also planning on quitting that day and that they only beat me to it.
As soon as we’re done with our talk, I got my last paycheck, packed up my things and gave back their office keys. I didn’t even bother finishing the pending tasks that I had that day. I said goodbye to everyone and left as quickly as possible. The controller caught up to me and we walked together to the station while she gave me a pep talk. We parted ways as she got on a different train and I soon as I got on mine, I heaved out a relieved sigh. I watched as the train passed by the city, its lights grew faintly and fading into the horizon as we travel back to our small town. I couldn’t stop smiling and I may have been grinning like an idiot on the train. I got off the train when we reached my stop, run down the stairs, jumped on my car and drove home. My husband was waiting for me when I got home. I I couldn’t contain my happiness when I came up to hug him.
I was finally free.
Moral of the story: You don’t have to put up with a job that doesn’t make you happy.
Everything happens for a reason.
This experience soon paved the way for me to land the position I’m currently at. And that? That would be another story so please like, comment or subscribe if you liked this post! 😊
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