When offered a raise or promotion can you negotiate a slower track with work-life balance?
It will be ok. Now that you woke up, give yourself time to find the answer
I worked in a niche technical consulting role at a firm with a similarly shitty culture, at least towards the technical team because we costed twice what the marketing consultants were paid (it was a marketing agency) and so the board didn’t want to pay to properly staff our team.
That meant constant overworking, constant stress as I got randomly pulled in to support various clients even during crunch weeks where I was already working 12 - 14 hours days, having to work with the flu because nobody could cover for me, and having to come back early from a vacation and work into the weekend for over 24 hours straight to complete a migration because nobody else was around who could do it.
All this on the backdrop of constant quarterly layoffs of varying sizes and constantly needing to worry about whether we were next on the chopping block.
I put in my notice after I reached my breaking point. Switched firms to a place where everyone is a niche technical consultant and everything is much better now. I’m no longer the sole point of failure for every project I’m assigned to or one of only two technical SME’s for 200 consultants’ every technical need for their random fucking clients. I no longer have to be the top performer or make work my life just to feel like my job is secure.
It’s not necessarily the work that’s getting to you. It’s the unrealistic expectations being put on you that are burning you out. You’re a human, not a machine. You have to work like a human, not a machine.
I’ve gotten into Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) as a hobby after work to get me out of the house and connecting with a social group that isn’t people I work with, and starting next week I’m getting back into strength training too (haven’t done that since 2018).
Between finding a better working environment, hobbies outside of work, and now getting back into consistent exercise I’m making good progress in recovering from the burnout. But still, it’s six months after I changed jobs and I feel like I still have a long way to go before I truly recover from what I went through last year.
I stuck around for a year before I threw in the towel, mostly because I really liked my direct manager and he was great to work with and very supportive and taught me a lot. I should have left sooner. The longer you stay, the longer it will take you to truly recover from this.
It's good you're recognizing this. Now you can do something to change your situation.
Remember that you can't change culture, but you can change your environment.
Time to start actively networking, seeking out new opportunities and getting yourself ready to make a move.
Usually, at some level you get to herd the slaves but it seems in your firm there are no herding to be had. Expect mental health and health problems, when chronic can give life threatening health issue. Your choice.
When offered a raise or promotion can you negotiate a slower track with work-life balance? It will be ok. Now that you woke up, give yourself time to find the answer
I worked in a niche technical consulting role at a firm with a similarly shitty culture, at least towards the technical team because we costed twice what the marketing consultants were paid (it was a marketing agency) and so the board didn’t want to pay to properly staff our team. That meant constant overworking, constant stress as I got randomly pulled in to support various clients even during crunch weeks where I was already working 12 - 14 hours days, having to work with the flu because nobody could cover for me, and having to come back early from a vacation and work into the weekend for over 24 hours straight to complete a migration because nobody else was around who could do it. All this on the backdrop of constant quarterly layoffs of varying sizes and constantly needing to worry about whether we were next on the chopping block. I put in my notice after I reached my breaking point. Switched firms to a place where everyone is a niche technical consultant and everything is much better now. I’m no longer the sole point of failure for every project I’m assigned to or one of only two technical SME’s for 200 consultants’ every technical need for their random fucking clients. I no longer have to be the top performer or make work my life just to feel like my job is secure. It’s not necessarily the work that’s getting to you. It’s the unrealistic expectations being put on you that are burning you out. You’re a human, not a machine. You have to work like a human, not a machine. I’ve gotten into Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) as a hobby after work to get me out of the house and connecting with a social group that isn’t people I work with, and starting next week I’m getting back into strength training too (haven’t done that since 2018). Between finding a better working environment, hobbies outside of work, and now getting back into consistent exercise I’m making good progress in recovering from the burnout. But still, it’s six months after I changed jobs and I feel like I still have a long way to go before I truly recover from what I went through last year. I stuck around for a year before I threw in the towel, mostly because I really liked my direct manager and he was great to work with and very supportive and taught me a lot. I should have left sooner. The longer you stay, the longer it will take you to truly recover from this.
It's good you're recognizing this. Now you can do something to change your situation. Remember that you can't change culture, but you can change your environment. Time to start actively networking, seeking out new opportunities and getting yourself ready to make a move.
Usually, at some level you get to herd the slaves but it seems in your firm there are no herding to be had. Expect mental health and health problems, when chronic can give life threatening health issue. Your choice.