I used to work for a large corporation that sells location data and map data. They are owned by a group of auto manufacturers. I was a CSM for the local branch, working with another global auto manufacturer.
Now… this company probably has hundreds, if not thousands of products and services. On top of that, they go through tons of changes constantly, to a point where even if you ask a Director level person who owns what product, they usually have no clue….
Anyways, when I joined the company, my manager literally told me there's no onboarding or training. For a CSM, this is crucial, ESPECIALLY when you have such a huge product portfolio. She told me that I should “read emails” that go back and forth between everyone, and to join all meetings. I can then ask my co-workers if I have any questions.
Needless to say, it was a royal PITA to learn. Fine, I'll just work overtime. 16 hours a day isn't too bad, at least I get around 8 hours of sleep. On top of this however, my manager had a huge problem with communication. She often spoke extremely fast, and WOULD. NOT. STOP. to take a break between different ideas/requests/suggestions/questions etc…. And she would often ramble on for 10-30 minutes STRAIGHT. It was extremely difficult to understand her, because her train of thought jumped from one idea to another without sometimes even completing the prior idea, and then would jump back. Anyway, her lack of effective communication got me very stressed, and confused. Obviously I can't stop her every 10 seconds to write down everything, and because of this chaotic nature, I once missed a meeting that started at 10pm by 5 minutes. Guess what, she went on to harass me for being late, for 4 weeks. That's right, not 4 hours, or 4 days, I was still hearing her complain about it 4 weeks after it happened. Fine, since I made a mistake, and even though I apologized and made sure it never happened again, I decided to man up.
Then one day, probably from the stress I was getting from her, I got a really bad stomach ache, and severe diarrhea, and had to go to the bathroom multiple times in the morning, while preparing to go to work. Now just some background info., due to the Corona Virus situation, 90% of the company all work from home, 5 days a week. That's right, they don't EVER come into work. Now, on that fateful day, (which was raining btw), I was in a taxi going to the subway station, since I was late from going to the bathroom so much. On the way to the subway station, I can feel it coming back, and I ask the taxi driver to stop by a small mountain.
So there I am, getting soaked by the rain, taking a sh*t out in the middle of god-knows-where. After I'm done, I head back to the road, call for another taxi, and start heading back home. I text my manager to tell her that I'm not feeling well, and I'd like to WFH today. Well she's not happy about that, and start going OFF on the text application. She *again* brings up the fact that I was 5 mins late to the meeting, and proceeds to harass me, until 4pm that day. lol. I literally laugh it off, since I'm too lost for words.
This goes on for 3 months, and then I find out she's leaving the company because she got an offer for a better opportunity. Now at this point in time, I'm literally doing a WHOLE TEAM's worth of work, since I need to get 30+ people from Europe, Asia, and the US to hold meetings due to a huge request form the customer. This request probably needs a whole team of people on it, but I'm doing it by myself, without any training, while getting harassed by this manager. I'm sick and tired of the work, and the harassment, as well as the lack of help I'm getting from some of the other members in the company. I find out from my doctor I have high blood pressure for the first time ever in my life, but still, I need the money right? Well… the B*tch manager decides to give me one small “farewell” present, by telling me that the country director has also been telling her that I wasn't doing my job properly. And even though I could've waited 1 more week for her to leave, I said right there on the spot, “you know what? If that's what you both think, I'll do you a favor and leave the company”. Leaving that company, even though it's the highest I've ever been paid in my life, has been the best thing I've done. I took a couple of months off just playing games, travelling, and enjoying life. Even better, some really good things have happened professionally, and I'm just ecstatic. And yeah, the salary was pretty high, around 90k USD in a country that averages 30k, with some crazy benefits (which I never got to see).
Money, although a necessity, really does not make you happy, especially in a toxic environment. Do what you really love in a supportive, respectful environment, even if it pays less, and you will SUCCEED. Success is NOT about money, and if you have to sell your soul to get paid more, trust me, your soul is worth saving more than anything else in the world. We only live once right? Think about it this way, if someone paid you 100 billion dollars, but you had to die in a week, would you do it? Hell no right? That means your life is worth more than a 100 billion dollars.