I see so many horror stories here everyday about awful jobs and horrible bosses (hell, I even saw someone post about my last company on here), so I wanted to share a positive story.
Riding off the wave of resignations we’ve all been seeing, I considering leaving my current job despite being pretty happy with it. My reasoning was wanting a higher paycheck and living in a more desirable location (my current place of residence is my least favorite part of my job at the moment). We were also gearing up to go to a hybrid model and return to office part of the week, something I wasn’t too fond of. So I started applying to jobs despite not being 100% sure I wanted to leave.
After about a month I started hearing back and getting into the late interview stages. I had an offer on the table from one company and was also in my second round of interviews with Amazon, which isn’t my favorite company, but I figured the location and pay made it worth at least considering. I knew I probably wasn’t going to take the offer I got since it was basically the same amount of pay I currently make but in an even higher cost of living area, but I decided to tell my current boss that I was considering leaving.
I know, that was probably dumb, and I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about bosses flipping out. I probably wouldn’t have mentioned it had it been one of my previous bosses, but my current boss (let’s call him Dave) is a pretty swell guy. I told him I was applying and that I had an offer and instead of guilting me or freaking out, he actually sat down and helped me think through my options. He even said that he knew it was his job to retain me, but wanted what was best for me even if it meant leaving. We went over the pros/cons of leaving so early into joining my current company (just half a year), and I mulled it over a few nights.
My current job isn’t perfect; I don’t really like the location and the pay is decent but could be better. I’d also prefer to be fully remote. But after talking with Dave I honestly felt it wasn’t worth it to leave. Like I said, he wasn’t trying to convince me to stay, but it was so refreshing to have a boss care about me as an individual with aspirations and career goals instead of a drone he had to replace. We talked about what it was I wanted out of my career and how my leaving vs staying could help me. The other huge plus of my position was also largely due to Dave’s management style- incredibly lax. My team is trusted to get there work done, whether at home or in the office, so I’m allowed to pick and choose hours, leave early, and run errands during the day without needing to tell anyone. I know a job at a place like Amazon would pay more, but the culture would likely result in an absolutely AWFUL work-life balance.
All this together made me reconsider what it was that I really wanted from a job. Not trying to be a company boot-licker or anything, and I’d still jump ship if I eventually find something that gives me both more pay and more flexibility, but I realized that I had a job worth keeping. I don’t need to be working all 8 hours I’m at the computer, my coworkers are really nice people that I get along with, and my boss is practically the second coming of christ compared to the shit awful bosses I hear about on here.
This got kind of long, but I guess I just wanted to say that there are decent jobs and bosses out there. I got pretty caught up in the stories of this sub and felt inspired to also “do better” and change jobs. But honestly, despite not being perfect, my work-life balance is great and I realized a good work environment meant more to me than trying to find that “perfect” job that may or may not even exist.
That being said, I’m not trying to encourage people to keep a job if they want to look elsewhere, and anyone who works a hell job should absolutely get the hell out. But the grass is always greener on the other side, and for those of who have pretty standard work environments I think it can be easy to nit-pick. I hope this little story can help show that its still possible to find a half-decent job that doesn't make me want to drink bleach every morning!