“I Hate My Job”: What to Do When You Hate Your Job

Jokes aside though, being stuck with a job you hate can be extremely stressful and generally destructive for your health and personal life. An average American spends about a third of their waking hours working, which is a long part of your life to be miserable for.

However, thanks to the wonder of the internet, today you have easy access to numerous job opportunities online and you don’t need to stay on a job you hate. So, stop stressing and read on.

Paint a Clear Picture of Your Situation

First and foremost, you need to get clear about what exactly you hate about your job. Is it the people, the company, the hours, or simply the nature of your work itself? The course of action you need to take would depend completely on the exact reason you hate your job.

For one reason, something as simple as reaching out to HR would be enough while for another reason, nothing less than quitting would be suffice.

So, do what you have to get a clear head first. Take a break if you can, use up all your leaves to get some quiet time off and be able to think about your situation in a more detached and objective manner.

Try to articulate your feelings accurately. Talk to close friends or relatives or write it down, as putting your thoughts and feelings into words can be really helpful to get clarity about them. But refrain from talking to your colleagues about it.

Common Reasons Why People Hate Their Job

Usually, when people hate their job, it is due to one of these three reasons:

1. You are in the Wrong Profession (You have a higher calling)

In this case, quitting would be the obvious solution but before you make up your mind to take such a drastic measure, just take a minute to ask yourself just why you think you are in the wrong line of work.

For most of us, we only feel we are not in the right line of work if we have something else, something better to hope for. For instance, it makes a lot more sense for someone who wants to be an athlete or artist, etc to quit their sales job than someone who just doesn’t like the pressure of the sales job.

The point is, if you think you are in the wrong profession, you should have an alternate profession in mind if you are considering quitting your current job. If you don't have something that you would rather be doing, chances are, you haven't got the wrong job, just the wrong attitude.

2. You are in the Wrong Organization

Maybe you are not in the wrong profession but just in a company with a terrible work culture. Especially if this is your first job in your current profile, it is very easy to confuse a bad workplace with the wrong job.

To rule out this possibility, reach out to other people in the same work profile on LinkedIn and even non-professional social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook and ask them about the problems you are facing at work.

If you have colleagues in the same profile who have worked at other places before, ask them how it was at their previous places of employment.

If the issues you are facing at work don’t turn out to be a universal thing in your job profile, you are probably just in the wrong company, in which case, you just need to leave the company for a better one.

Refer to these articles to land a job interview at a company of your choice: How to Write a Resume, How to Write a Cover Letter.

And, make sure to find out about the work culture of the company this time around by reading up on it on Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and Google My Business listings of the organization.

3. You Have Inadequate Social Skills for the Job

For instance, if you just have a problem with your colleagues or managers, the smart thing to do would be to use this opportunity to learn how to deal with difficult people at work.

Maybe you need to learn how to stand up for yourself or how to set boundaries. Maybe you need to learn how to say "no" and how to call people out on their exploitative behavior.

After all, quitting just because of some toxic colleagues is not exactly an adult response. I mean, what is the plan, are you just going to quit every time you end up with awful colleagues? It's not very practical, is it now?

However, if you have already made up your mind to quit, consider these points.

Things to Keep in Mind if You’re Thinking About Quitting

#Reconsider Your Decision One Last Time

Think about what would have to change to make your stay. Oftentimes, your situation is not as helpless as your anxiety makes it look.

Maybe you are just going through a rough phase right now. Maybe a pay raise, change in the work hours, change of departments/teams, or any less drastic change than quitting would suffice just fine. Talk to HR about your options, who knows, there may be a provision for your needs that could save you the trouble of changing companies.

A lot of the time, all it takes to resolve your issues at work is having a difficult conversation. It may be the last thing you want to do, but it is like they say, if you want to have an omelet, you need to break some eggs. Approached in a constructive and professional manner, a difficult conversation at the workplace could help salvage your job.

#Keep It Discreet

You don’t have to make a public disclosure of your disdain for your current job before looking for a new one, now, do you? You may feel overwhelmed and may want to talk to someone, which is very understandable, but you need to be careful about who you talk to.

As a rule, don’t vent to anyone from the office no matter how close you feel with them, you’ve got friends and family for that. And besides, you never know who might tell on you, your confidant may turn out to be Judas.

#Find Another Job Before Quitting

Don’t quit your job spontaneously, no matter how many times you have fantasized about doing so. No matter how confident you are about your value to potential employers, you should never submit your resignation before you actually get the offer letter from the other company.

Don't take the blessing of having a job to complain about for granted, the economy could shake anytime to make it hard to get hired. Who saw covid coming, after all?

Even if you have got a bunch of money put aside that you can live on till you find a new job, the smart thing to do is to hang in there a little while longer. As they say, better safe than sorry.

However, if you just can’t stand to stay in your job till you find another job and just have to quit right away, try to have a financial backup for yourself. Our Synkdup Headhunter program should be a good option if you have got a good social media following. You could make money on commissions by sharing job openings online while you find a job for yourself. Read this article to know how.

#Say Goodbye with Class

Try to give at least two weeks’ notice before making the exit so they can find your replacement. Have the person trained under your wing, that’s another thing to add to your resume if nothing else.

Say goodbye without any hard feelings or burning any bridges. Exit the organization on good terms with everybody as you never know when your time at the organization could come in handy in the future.

What Not to do When You Hate Your Job

#Never Half A $$ Your Job

Hate it as you may, you should try to always do your job with sincerity while you are doing it. Not for the job, but because it is your job and you are not the kind of person to cheat.

You can even put it on your resume … I don’t think I can do justice to my work anymore and think it is better to leave the job for someone to take than do it halfheartedly..., in case you are looking for ideas for what to put on your resignation.

#Don’t Talk Trash About It On Social Media

Though it's very common these days, resist the urge to go on social media and vent about how awful your job is. It can negatively affect your chances of getting hired at another place as recruiters tend to check the social profiles of the candidates during the vetting process.

They may be dissuaded to hire you thinking tomorrow you could bad mouth their organization as well. So, try to resist the urge to turn your anguish into social media content before you get a new job.

#Don’t Take It Out On Your Personal Life

When you hate what you do the most time of your day, you are not very likely to be fun to be around. So, take care you are not embittered and treat your loved ones poorly as a result of it. It is far too common for spouses and parents who hate their job to subconsciously develop resentment for those who they provide for with the job which manifests in their treatment of their loved ones.

If you find yourself growing alienated from your family as things get worse at work, take it as a sign to pull back and reflect on the source and outlet of your frustration.

#Try Not to Abuse Substances to Cope

Burning the candle at both ends is not so cool when you are relying on substances to handle the pressure. And besides, it hardly makes any sense to sabotage your health for a job you don’t even like. So, try not to let how much you hate your job be an excuse to be reckless with your well-being.

Final Word

If it has come to you reading articles like this, it is probably time to exit the organization. Don’t beat yourself up over it, it happens to the best of us. Yeah, there will be some disruption in your career goals but, as they say, there is hardly ever a situation so bad that you can’t get something good out of it.

So, try to make the most of your time on the job while you are still there any way you can. Also, take care that the negative experience doesn’t make you cynical and affect your new job.

Hope you find this article helpful and best of luck!