• Was offered a job at a slightly lower salary than I was hoping for. I took it because of a promise of a raise at my 6 month review (RED FLAG)
• The job was actually really easy. On my first day I figured out all their systems and managed to do about 3 times more work than they expected me to do
• Of course this became the norm – I was expected to perform at this level the rest of my tenure
• I got the hang of the job within a month and found ways to simplify my work process. I even shared my efficiency methods with my team because I thought it was a good deed
• My team was now more efficient, but to the outside departments it looked like we were doing less work. Owner got upset and began thinking we were underperforming (Even though we were more productive than ever) and saddled us with busy work
• At my 6 month review I was told times were tight and my raise would be had at my 1 year review
• About 10 months into my tenure a team member left. Since I was so good at what I did I was tasked with doing my job AND THEIRS. I ended up working 2 people's jobs for the salary of one while getting stellar reviews from clients
• At last, my 1 year review!!! Maybe I could FINALLY get a raise and someone else to backfill the position
• I was praised for doing all this extra work and was rewarded….With what equalled out to about $1 extra per hour, or a 2% raise. Oh yeah, they also really weren't looking to backfill the vacant position
• Around this time a family emergency happened and I had to move back home. 85% of my work could be done remotely, so I offered to stay onboard, and also bring in someone else who could do the 15% that needed to be done in-office (It would also allow me to do less work)
• My wish to work remotely was granted….But my raise was taken away before it even went into effect since apparently working from home isn't real work. The owner went from praising me to acting like I killed their dog
• I helped in the hiring process and we hired a new employee within 2 weeks. She was great and efficient and would do nicely in the office
• I moved back home and was immediately micromanaged by the owner (Someone who I had never directly worked with). I had to CC them on all my emails, send written progress reports at the end of the day, and they wanted me to put a tracking program on my personal computer to make sure I was actually working (Of course they didn't offer me a company laptop)
• Being away from the office was amazing, I could get so much done without all the bullshit office drama and pointless meetings. But again, I was so efficient it looked like I was doing nothing since I could finish my work in 3-4 hours' time.
• The owner had a hate-on for me being remote, and eventually made a company policy that anyone working remotely (Just me) was now a contract employee and would be paid hourly on completion of projects and lose their health insurance
• I was doing the same amount of work, but now had to log my time spent working down to the minute and had less perks than when I began. My morale went down the tubes as I was getting at least one phone call a week with veiled threats about letting me go
• Being the optimistic twit I am, I decided to take on a MASSIVE project to prove I was dedicated. I was given no direction. Any email I sent to my manager, the owner, or other department heads was met with silence
• I ended up creating the project using my executive decision-making, which was so valued in the past. When it came time to present it I was just told it wasn't what they had in mind and it was scrapped
• I was in limbo again until I was told one week that the following Friday would be my last day. I worked my ass off again and got a stellar 5-star review from a major client, who CC'd the owner about my skills. 10 minutes later I get an email from the owner – “It was nice having you here, please relinquish all credentials”
tl;dr: I gave it everything I had at a job and was given the opposite of a reward by losing money and benefits.
I've since learned from personal experience and this sub that it's better to pretend to be busy than actually be busy. If you give it your all right off the bat they'll expect it from you day in and day out – That's how burnout happens.
I've also learned to keep all my efficiency secrets to myself. I wanted to help my team with my “job hacks” since I liked them on a personal level, but doing so just made them more efficient and made me look average in comparison.
And lastly, customer/client reviews don't mean shit. To the client you're a nice person, but to the company you're a number on a spreadsheet. When times get tough they'll let you go if you make too much money, no matter how much revenue you generate for them or how much money you save them.