sellicksSince we’re all friends around here – unless you’ve been culled, in which case go away – I’m going to ask you, my gentle readers, for some advice.

Many of you know that I work two jobs. Nearly a year ago, a couple of months after our arrival in Australia, I took a part time job as a scientific writer for a company that is loosely a part of the pharmaceutical industry. Shortly thereafter, I was offered a short-term lectureship at a local university. I figured I could do a job and a half for a little while especially since Dr. O’C hadn’t found one yet.

Well, the company folks liked my writing and increased my hours. The university liked my teaching and asked me for another year. Again, I figured that I could do both for a finite period of time. The university contract was finite and the writing job seemed to be going places, so what the hell. And I have managed for about six months of so.

But things are becoming unmanageable.

I’m not comfortable getting into specifics – there’s a scary confidentiality clause in my writing contract. But to put things simply, the writing job is driving me pretty quickly insane. Here are some of the reasons:

  1. The founder and CEO of the company is an insufferable bully.
  2. His wife, and the CFO, is a passive aggressive sneak.
  3. The VP in charge of operations is a maniacal micro-manager.
  4. The company is infected with a demoralizing culture of blame. You never know from day-to-day whether you will be on the spot for losing a contract that you had nothing to do with.
  5. The management is quick with criticism but loathe to squeeze out a compliment.
  6. Company policies change with the whims of the husband-wife team that run the place.
  7. I’ve been asked on multiple occasions to fudge data or to lie on reports.
  8. When those inconsistencies have been caught by QA or a client, I’ve gotten the blame.
  9. There is no opportunity for advancement within the company. The always do outside hires. Largely because their current employees are dissatisfied and demoralized.
  10. The company is as tight as a duck’s ass when it comes to pay rises, but flies upper management around the world first class.

I could go on, but shan’t. All of these things are very disappointing, because this was a dream job for me. I’ve always wanted to work as a writer – even a scientific writer. When you take away the office politics and all the other garbage,  I love the work. My coworkers are great fun and the job affords a flexibility (or did until recently) that really suits my lifestyle.

But I can’t take it anymore. I’m beaten. This isn’t the first time I’ve complained. I’ve stood up for myself – fought the power. But I’m tired. That list above just keeps getting longer. Yesterday for example, the passive aggressive CFO suggested that I had been lying about my hours. (I haven’t been, but maybe should have been). There’s a paranoid voice in my head telling me that they’re trying to get rid of me. No company could be this disfunctional,could treat its employees with such contempt. If they are trying to get rid of me, then well done.

I’ve called in sick today because I’m 100% certain that I’ll quit if I go into the office and I want another day to think things through.

My number one priority is to support my family. But even without this job, I’ll still be pulling in a full-time salary from the university. At least through the end of the year.

Dr. O’C’s valid concern is that after my contract is up with the university, chances are that I will be jobless. The university is extremely unlikely to offer me further employment unless I establish a research program – something in which I have absolutely zero interest. She worries that, in this economic clime, we may find ourselves in a real financial pinch come 2010. This is one of the things that I love about Dr. O’C. She’s a planner, the sensible one. She’s a nice counterbalance to my tendency to fly by the seat of my pants.

Here’s the thing. I spent the last couple of years that we lived in Britain in a job that I loathed. I was unwilling or unable to take the risk of putting myself out on the job market – a market flooded with  unemployed Ph.D.’s. I swore that I wouldn’t do that again. That I would take the chance if ever I found myself in a similar situation. Well here I am.

I’ve probably made too strong an argument for quitting because clearly that’s what I want to do. So, I’m asking you not to be too swayed by my persuasive powers.  Don’t tell me what I want to hear. Tell me what you think, tell me what you would do.

UPDATE:

Clearly I haven’t made my case well enough. How about this. Quitting one of my two jobs will give me the time to do the remaining job better and thus improve my chances that the uni will look after me. OR quitting one of my two jobs will give me more time with my son and we can take him out of day care another day each week, thus saving us money. Come on people, I’ve changed my mind. Tell me what I want to hear!

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I’ve been finding some solace in the past couple of days from the sparsely beautiful music of Me and the Horse I Rode In On, a Danish one man band. You can get his debut EP “Ghost Hospital” free from his MySpace page. If you like that, buy his latest “Home and Other Places I’d Like to Visit” from Me and the Horse I Rode in On - Home and Other Places I'd Like to Visit - EP.

Image credits:

Bully boss

I quit

You can train your replacement

 
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