Career Horror Stories: I Gave Honest Feedback at Work
“I couldn’t help myself. They sent out a link to an “anonymous” employee survey at my job, and I used it to disclose some serious dissatisfaction.
“A few days later, they called an all-hands meeting where my boss talked to the team about the responses to the survey. She said there had been a lot of concern over ‘a few of the comments’ (mine) and encouraged us to talk to her directly about any issues because she felt uncomfortable leaving these issues lingering out there. She said it was affecting our ‘company culture’ and that communication was important to getting things resolved.
“That’s where I took the bait.
“She got me feeling like I was doing something wrong by leaving things hanging, so I scheduled a one-on-one with her to talk about it. I guess I was just feeling some anxiety over stuff I couldn’t control and I felt like it would help to get it off my chest.
“During that meeting, we talked about the issues I brought up at length. For the most part, the problems stem from one of our team supervisors having an unhelpful attitude. My boss seemed concerned, asking for details and letting me talk. But at the end she said ‘I’m not trying to force you out, but I’d really like you to take some time to think about whether or not you really want to be here. There are a lot of opportunities out there.’
“I didn’t think it was going to go like that.
“The truth is, I do want to leave, but I’ve been applying to jobs for almost 6 months and have only gotten one interview, and they didn’t even bother to send me a rejection letter. Seriously, no one will hire me. I have some savings, but I’ve been trying to keep that so that I can invest it and actually have something for retirement. I’m making under $40k at this job as it is.
“Is this a sign I should just up and quit my job without another one lined up? I’m actually depressed. I guess I could move another city over and live with my parents again, but Jesus, I’m 28. And I just signed a new lease. Someone please tell me it gets better.”
