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My first job burnout

niki.zone

71–80 of 92 posts

Re: My first job burnout

#71

Sorry for the kids today! post... I find it weird that so many young people get burnt out, in relatively simple jobs with no responsibilities (on the job or with kids/family). A couple of people at my office have had to take a couple months of sick leave because burnout. And they had simple responsibilities and no overtime etc. I myself have worked normal "IT days" for over 15 years, sometimes it's hectic and sometim…

Millennials (aka the crybabies you refer to) have not bought into the Protestant Work Ethic as you have. So while you think it's OK to slave away, work for free and abuse the State sponsored drug, they don't.

Re: My first job burnout

#72
post #48

My first true burnout came working at a "lifer" job, enterprise engineering for an organization everyone has heard of. It was good for a long time. Then a new manager and a change in organizational direction came at about the same time. What should have been a very fun new project instead became miserable. But I was a "lifer", and wasn't going to leave. Eventually, I got fired, and it felt like someone had cut my cha…

I was in a very similar situation with a full-time permanent government job. They were restructuring the organization and had an offer to leave with a nice severance package. I left and have been some form of self-employed ever since.

I had been planning a career change at the time to something not computer related. This gave me a good chance to try out consulting and I realized that I didn't hate computers, I just hated my job.

Re: My first job burnout

#73
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not interviewing people, I'm someone with a suspicious hole in their CV that they still have to try to justify in every interview over 15 years later.

> 15 years later Oh, come on now. Things aren't that bad. If that's a snag, it's probably best to not work there.

"You're a lot older than we thought you would be" Whether it's a snag you never know but you do end up having to talk about it every time

Re: My first job burnout

#74
post #4

> After spending a few weeks away from work catching up with movies, I started feeling better. Once I got my thoughts back, I decided to quit. By that time I didn’t like my job at all, I couldn’t imagine going back not even for a day. If I knew it was a burnout at that time, and if I got help in time, I might have been still at the bank working as a branch manager :) This is one of those interesting "stay vs leave" s…

It is very interesting. I recently had burnout get so deep that I couldn't hide it anymore and had to react, I asked for a week off because I was burnt out. Got given that weak off, 3 days in was fired. 1.5 years 10+ hour days, 7 days a week with only 2 days off after my daughter was born.

Yet another piece of evidence of why working extra hours for the company is never worth it.

Re: My first job burnout

#75
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is very interesting. I recently had burnout get so deep that I couldn't hide it anymore and had to react, I asked for a week off because I was burnt out. Got given that weak off, 3 days in was fired. 1.5 years 10+ hour days, 7 days a week with only 2 days off after my daughter was born.

> 1.5 years 10+ hour days, 7 days a week with only 2 days off after my daughter was born. Why did you do that? (not an accusation, genuinely curious)

I was given equity in the company, told it was my company too. I felt me working extra would contribute to the success of the company. I was often pushed by the CEO when I was feeling tired and that I couldn't work anymore. I've ruined friendships with some of my closet friends because of the company... In the end, the equity I got wasn't worth the trouble I went through. I will never accept equity anymore. Pay me my salary, or find another shmuck. You're not creating the next Google, Facebook or Dropbox. The equity isn't worth it.

Re: My first job burnout

#76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is very interesting. I recently had burnout get so deep that I couldn't hide it anymore and had to react, I asked for a week off because I was burnt out. Got given that weak off, 3 days in was fired. 1.5 years 10+ hour days, 7 days a week with only 2 days off after my daughter was born.

Sounds like getting fired was for the best

I felt like a thousand pound gorilla made out of stress was literally lifted off my chest 2 days after I was fired, and my anger subsided and I thought about everything.

It was a godsend. I had my head buried so deep into that company I was deluding myself. Now I'm free from the shackles that stagnated me, and I can advance my skillset and do what I love because I'm not being forced to work in an archaic codebase of spaghetti and feature creep.

Re: My first job burnout

#77
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People get burned out because something in their life is causing them too much stress for too long a period. It might be the employer's fault, or it might be the combination of a perfectly fine 9 to 5 job with a bad social situation at home or a health problem. I'm not advocating trying to ignore it, but putting it out on the internet in a way that it's the first thing a potential employer will see when they google y…

You keep using the phrase 'perfectly fine 9 to 5 job' .. as though that's a perfectly fine thing.

What's wrong with it?

Re: My first job burnout

#78
>"I started 7.30AM in the office finishing up around 6-7PM."

Stopped reading there. Whoever is in charge of HR at that place needs to be taken around the back and shot by the shareholders. Even ignoring the labour issues, I seriously doubt they saw a significant advantage in productivity over a conventional 8-hour day, instead they lost what was probably a very valuable employee. Hope they're happy.

Re: My first job burnout

#79
post #26
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Happened to me a couple months ago. Fainted on my desk, had to go to the hospital by ambulance. Almost 8 weeks at home. Don't wait for it to happen.

> Don't wait for it to happen. Sounds so much like what's happening to me here, yet how to distinguish between the "real thing" and confirmation bias?

2 weeks off can go an awfully long way to both seeing the problem more clearly, and correcting it. I've gotten to the point, several times, where I was ready to quit my job and tour the world with a backpack rather than go in for one more day. In each case, I opted for a short leave of absence instead, telling myself that I could quit for real if I needed to after that. In each case, 3-4 weeks vacation was more than enough to satisfy me.

Re: My first job burnout

#80
post #63

Sorry for the kids today! post... I find it weird that so many young people get burnt out, in relatively simple jobs with no responsibilities (on the job or with kids/family). A couple of people at my office have had to take a couple months of sick leave because burnout. And they had simple responsibilities and no overtime etc. I myself have worked normal "IT days" for over 15 years, sometimes it's hectic and sometim…

"And they are crybabies, also." Funny thing I've discovered in life, understanding and compassion are free. They don't cost a thing, but they're still some of the hardest things to get out of a person. Have you talked to the people who got burned out? What do they say about it? Your post doesn't sound so much like a "kids these days!" post as, to be frank, an "I'm an asshole" post.

Well sorry for the Louis CK style commenting :) It hits a nerve because part of it is true :)

Further down is a funny post about youngsters "understanding" that you don't actually have to work ("So while you think it's OK to slave away, work for free and abuse the State sponsored drug, they don't.") for life to be good. Sure, if somebody wipes your behind and burps you regularly.

Well I work, my life is good, I'm not complaining (about work at least!).

But really, quite the problem people have these days. 8-16 work days in a comfy office with no responsibility whatsoever and they get burnt out at 25 (2 years out of school). I think that's a pampered crybaby.

And I'm not now talking about people with some medical issues, those you can't of course help.

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