Ask a Manager

It’s your Friday good news!

1.  “I worked for nearly 3 years in a clinic, 2 years of that being in this current pandemic situation. It was stressful enough working in healthcare during a global pandemic. It certainly didn’t help that my boss for the last little over a year of that time was a Bad Boss™️. Around November of 2020 upper management decided to offer retention bonuses to schedulers and medical assistants. So I signed my soul away to the company and for all of 2021 I was locked into this contract. If I left before Jan 1, 2022 I’d have to pay the entire bonus back, no prorating it based on how much of the year I stayed. It was all or nothing. It should have been a red flag for me but the money was just too tempting at at that time I didn’t have plans to leave.

But then at the beginning of 2021 some changes were made. My boss that I liked left. She was replaced with a supervisor who had never had any direct reports before and it showed. She made my life MISERABLE for pretty much the entire time she was my supervisor.

She had no idea what we, as her team of direct reports, did. She would constantly make mandates that didn’t work and when me or other senior members of the team tried to tell her why it wouldn’t work she wanted nothing to do with it and told us to do it anyway and then was shocked when things went badly.

She also had this bad habit of not providing support when asked and then would get on us about asking for support when we needed it as if we didn’t ask her a dozen times for the same support she told us we never asked for. She also just flat out made things up in order to make herself look better in front of her boss at the expense of others, myself included. Very toxic. I had to ride this out for over a year. It was bad for team morale and it was bad for patient care.

So 2022 came around. My husband and I had our honeymoon planned for late January of that year so after we got back I was determined to find a new job now that I was out from under that retention contract.

I used your interview tips from over the years and I landed an amazing new job that I started a little over a month ago! When I interviewed I immediately had a good feeling. It was one of those interviews where it didn’t feel like an interview. My new boss and I get along great and my team mates are fantastic! I even work from home for half the week now which makes up for my longer commute.

Not only is the management better but even the job itself is better. I’m introverted by nature so while I loved my work in clinic and our patients, it was exhausting being “on” all day. I took 50 phone calls a day on a slow day and easily spoke to 100 patients on any given day. I came home just completely depleted daily.

My new job I occasionally take a call, maybe 2-3 in a day tops. And it’s not on the patient care side of things. It’s more on the support side but not quite IT either. It’s SO much better for my mental health and my husband told me he really sees a difference in my energy levels at the end of the day. So thank you again for all your wonderful tips!”

2.  “I’ve been reading AAM on and off for years now for the laughs and to get some perspective on my not toxic, but not right for me workplaces as well as get some great tips.

I made a career switch from retail management in my early thirties, but still had to overcome many hiring managers dismissing my experience. I finally made a foothold in startups as a jack of all trades, but after a few years wanted to work at a larger organization with a more focused position and career growth. Covid hit, I helped pull the company I worked for through it, but still was looking for a different position. With all the resume and cover letter resources from AAM I was landing interviews left and right, but nothing worked out. Sometimes I wasn’t quite what they were looking for, but other times I recognized the red flags and decided to withdraw from the position. I wanted to find the right fit, not just another job.

So I took a break. I was able to phone it in at my job a little due to all the processes I put in place and started volunteering at an organization dear to my heart. I was pleasant with the other volunteers but certainly did not see it as a networking opportunity. However another volunteer approached me to apply for a position with their company. After a long hiring process due to another surge and the holidays, I was hired! This role is a big step up with amazing benefits and double the salary (yes double, I was so underpaid). I have an amazing team and I finally have the perspective to see my skills and accomplishments.

I want to thank Alison and the community for reminding me that I don’t have to settle forever.”

3.  “Someone earlier mentioned finding it hard to read the Friday Good News posts because they did not see themselves writing one. Until they did. That is also me!

My employer announced a raise plan that looked good at quick glance but upon scrutiny proved not only bad, but insulting. I wrote a letter to my boss and to HR for them to pass up detailing exactly what the problem was with very specific numbers. I think protests from those on my level may have been expected because within just a few hours, I was told in writing that I was going to get exactly the pay I needed and had put in the letter. I am not sure that would have happened if I had not protested or if I had not spent the weekend taking out the anger and just leaving the facts in the letter. It’s not exactly what I deserve (and maybe I could have asked for more. I will next time.) but it takes a huge load of stress off me, especially since there are few options in my area.”

4.  “My wife was laid off last month for the second time in a year and because I read AAM religiously I was able to support her much more than I could have otherwise.

The Magic Question made a huge impact with her interviewers. They were all very excited by it and she found the answers really useful. Additionally, it helped solidify in her mind that the interview process is a conversation with both parties checking for fit.

She had four job prospects: Job A was the favorite and she expected an offer on the Thursday, Job B had a final interview on the Wednesday, Job C was putting their package together and she’d already declined Job D (in person only and no Covid restrictions on site). She felt like she
was misleading Job B because Job A was so good and I knew from your site that until the contract was signed we had to preceed as if the Job A didn’t exist. It was a tense few days, but she got an amazing offer from Job A (fully remote, a 22% pay increase, they’re paying for her mobile and our broadband and they have provided some funding towards setting up her
home office) and signed the contract.

We’re over the moon and definitely credit you with helping us through it all.”