I Hate My Job!

Here’s what to do about it

If you find yourself thinking ‘I hate my job’ on a regular basis, then you need to do something about it!

You spend a lot of time at work, so it is really crazy to stay in something if your heart sinks every Sunday evening at the prospect of going to work the next day. If your misery at work is becoming all consuming, then it is time to take action.

So what is to be done?

First of all it is important to stand back and work out exactly what it is that is causing you to say ‘I hate my job’.

No job is 100% bad, even though you may have persuaded yourself that this is the case! It is important that you stand back for a moment and unpack what it is that is really bugging you.

Look at your job from different perspectives and assess them individually. Here are a few different ‘angles’ you can take on your job. Look at each one in turn and rate it on a 1-10 scale in terms of your satisfaction.

Work itself
What about the tasks you have to carry out. Are they too easy, too routine, too challenging? Have you just got too much to do in the time available or too little?

People you work with
Consider the people you work alongside – your colleagues. How do you get on with them? Are they generally OK with one or two exceptions, or do you feel you have nothing in common with any of them?

Management
How supported – or unsupported – do you feel by your immediate managers? Do you feel they are concerned about how you are coping with your job and offering advice and help where needed? Or are they just after their pound of flesh, wanting to get the maximum out of you for the company without considering your needs as a person?

Location
Where your job is located can be a significant issue too. Have you got a long commute to work in a crowded train or queuing endlessly in traffic jams? And what about once you get to work – do you have a pleasant working environment or are you stuck in a soulless open plan office leaving you feeling like an anonymous drone rather than an individual?

Customers
If you are in a public facing role, who are your customers and what help are they looking for from you? Do you care about giving them the help they need or are they really just an irritation you would rather you didn’t have?

Pay & Conditions
Does the pay in some ways make up for the negatives of your job or is the pay the main problem? Would earning more make it easier to tolerate the job? Are there other aspects of your conditions that frustrate you, such as limited annual leave and restrictions on when you can take it?

So how did you score?

1. 
   
   From the exercise above, acknowledge where things are not as bad as you thought and focus your attention on the more interesting or rewarding aspects of your job. Commit to identifying at least one good thing about each day as you travel home.
2. Promise yourself that you will not becoming another one of the Moaning Minnies – sitting together and complaining ‘I hate my job’ all day only spreads bad feeling. As far as you can, keep away from the negative influences and do your best to counter negativity by bringing a more positive outlook to work each day.
3. However heavy your workload, take your breaks and get out of the office. Just taking a brisk walk round outside will break up the day, give you a new perspective and help keep you fit too.
4. Leave your work at work. When you go home, commit to turning your mind to other, more interesting things so that you retain some balance in your life – even if it is just playing with your kids in the local park or going to a movie with your girlfriend. Make sure you have a life outside work too.
5. Make your place of work a bit more fun by having some pleasant things around you – a picture of your kids on the wall, a pot plant or some flowers. And build relationships with colleagues by organising an activity you can do with your co-workers after work.
6. Be honest with yourself about your stress levels and seek help if you need it. You might just need a bit of pampering once in a while or if your stress is reaching serious levels, do go and see your doctor. Just soldiering on is not the answer.
7. Remind yourself that this is not for ever – you do not have to stay in a job you hate. Make a quiet promise to yourself that you will be out of that job within the next 12 months and start acting on that promise.

If ‘I hate my job’ is still your overwhelming feeling about your current role, then the longer term solution has to be to move on. Yes, I know that is easier said than done, but it is not impossible.

Do you need to just change to a new job with a new employer but stay in the same field? Then take a look at the sections of this site on Job search, CVs & Resumes and Interviews.

If is it time to do something totally different, then you are in the right place. The whole of this website is dedicated to helping you discover a new career. So use the buttons on the nav bar to work through the exercises on this site. If in doubt, start with taking stock of your career to date.

Bottom line, just staying stuck and moaning ‘I hate my job’ will not help anyone, so take stock and take action to find a better working life.