I’ve been working as a director at an ad agency for two years. Two weeks ago, my manager informed me I was to undergo a four-week performance review. If it’s helpful context, I work in advertising. This is the start of week three.
Year one my review was good — and I did not get a raise but I was given a spot bonus.
Some of the points she raised was valid — I am not going to pretend as if everything that’s being raised here are unfair. Some issues are born out of office politics — an EVP on my account in another function that’s also going under a review has put me in her crosshairs. I work with her on nearly every project & she is criticized for being difficult to work with and breaking process to “be scrappy and fast” with results in projects taking longer to
Since June, my mental health has collapsed as a result of what’s going on at work. I’ve made my boss aware of this, but not HR. I have a sleep disorder, clinical depression & autism and about once every 7-10 days the stress impacts my sleep and end up not sleeping at all through the night. I have meds to manage my sleep, but due to the strength of them I can only take them 1-2 days during the work week.
When I asked if I could switch to an account in a category that is difficult to learn where I have previous experience, I was told no because finding a replacement for me on this account would be more difficult than filling the role.
Last week’s review went surprisingly well, but based on the structure of the PIP (loose measures of success, which I noted during the beginning of the PIP) I am not sure I am meant to survive it.
My boss hasn’t been totally cold with me — she’s generally understanding of how shitty the situation is — so it’s leaving me feeling confused.
Even if I meet the criteria of my performance review, I’m not thrilled about continuing to work on this client. Prior to the review, I’ve been seeking new opportunities (and am midway through the interview process on two of them) because the work I was brought on to do is vapid & the aforementioned relationship with the EVP above is exhausting. In addition — the business I work on is against my moral code. I took the role was it was a promotion and step in my career.
My partner is encouraging me to quit — she thinks it would be the best thing to happen to me (and the dynamics of work are impacting our relationship.
I am inclined to agree with her but I do not have a large safety net (15K in cash, about 150K invested) and am the primary financial contributor in our household.
My questions:
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What is the likelihood that I will be able to claim unemployment?
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My thought is that prior to my next review, I have a conversation with my boss to express the above and see if we can part ways in an amicable way.
I want to make sure I can collect unemployment and am granted some sort of severance — how likely is this? I would be willing to stay on until my replacement is found.
From what I can see, there are no job postings for my role on any company job board.
- In my job search — I think it would be wise to control the narrative and tell them I left of my own accord as opposed to being let go. Is this the right move?
Any and all advice would be appreciated. Thank you for reading.
Edit: I have never posted here before; did I do something wrong to merit the downvoting?