10 Signs That Your Job Sucks

The dull roar of irritation and dissatisfaction with a job that flat out sucks comes about slowly but surely. One week, you may be fine with coming to work to collect a paycheck without any real enjoyment in your workdays. The next, you realize it’s not a sustainable way to live the rest of your life.

Whether you’ve been working in your position for years or just started a new job that clearly isn’t the right fit for you, it’s important to recognize the signs that your job sucks, and it’s time to do something to change this fact.

Key Takeaways:

• One big sign that your job sucks is if you are miserable thinking about going to work and being miserable at at work everyday.

• If your job doesn’t have opportunities to move up or get promotions can cause you to lose motivation and eventually hate your job.

• Before quitting your job because it sucks, try to remedy the situation and meet with your supervisor

10 Signs That Your Job Sucks

1. You’re miserable every day at work. The first glaringly obvious sign that your job isn’t working out is that you are miserable at work every day. Most people have experienced the shuddering feeling that accompanies going into a job that they’re unhappy at. It makes the entire day a drag and slows productivity.

   This sense of misery and apprehension at the mere idea of your job is often the first noticeable clue that tells you something is amiss. There’s no sense in committing your hard work to a position that brings you so much distress.

2. You hate working with your co-workers. Besides your family, co-workers are the people that you’ll spend the majority of your time with.

   Having an unhealthy or ineffective relationship with them has a negative impact on your work performance and overall mentality. Realizing that feelings of disdain for the people you work with have grown to the point of hatred means that there’s something seriously dysfunctional about your workplace.

   It’s time to reflect and reevaluate.

3. You’re jealous of friends with better jobs. Someone happy with their position in life doesn’t look into the worlds of their friends with envy. When you find yourself jealous of your peers because they have “better jobs,” it’s probably coming from a place of dissatisfaction with your own position.

   Think about why you consider the professional lives of your friends to be better than yours, and what changes could be made to improve the situation.

4. You don’t have upward mobility in your position. This sign might not become apparent unless you’ve stayed at a lousy job for many years, but it sure is aggravating.

   A job lacking upward mobility means that your employer isn’t giving you any opportunities for advancing from your current position. This behavior is usually accompanied by a failure to provide adequate raises.

   Sticking with a position that doesn’t provide opportunities for growth can eat away years from your career advancement. If you’re worrying that your job doesn’t have upward mobility, it’s time to find a new job.

5. You’re putting in more than you’re getting back. Unfortunately, many employees are familiar with the feeling that they’re giving their employers more effort than they’re being compensated for. It might start as a nagging unappreciation for your work now, but it has the potential to affect your finances eventually.

   While putting forth your best work is a good thing, it should be for a company deserving of this effort. When you’re putting in more than you’re getting back at work, start job-hunting.

6. The job description and responsibilities aren’t as described initially. Interviewers are supposed to accurately describe what the daily tasks of the job will entail before a job offer is accepted.

   When you’ve started working at a new job, and the responsibilities aren’t ending up as what was originally portrayed, it can quickly create tension in the workplace. Beginning work at a job that was misrepresented feels like being cheated by the employer.

   Recognizing that a job isn’t what you initially thought it would be when you accepted the offer is grounds for establishing work-life balance boundaries and potentially drafting a letter of resignation.

7. You feel you’re showing up to work just for the paycheck. Although the salary is a massive part of being happy with your job, it shouldn’t be the only reason that you’re coming in to work.

   When this becomes the case, it means that you’re numbing yourself to the reality that your job stinks. A job that’s only value is earning you money is detrimental to your career in the long-run.

   Approach the situation with the proper caution to avoid being left jobless without pay, but seriously think about whether the misery is worth the money.

8. You aren’t making as much money as you deserve. On the flip side of the previous sign, a job that isn’t paying you as much money as you deserve isn’t a good place to stay long either. It demonstrates that your employer doesn’t care about you on the most basic level that they should – monetarily.

   A good salary based on your experience, education, and field isn’t an ambiguous number. There’s an agreeable range offered as a market standard for your role available to find through a simple Google search.

   Finding out the average salary of someone in your role gives you an advantage if you decide to bring these concerns to your supervisor and ask for a raise.

   It’s also helpful if you decide to quit and find a new position because you already have salary requirements in mind for the future.

9. You feel uncomfortable in your work environment. There are many reasons why a work environment can be uncomfortable. Some reasons are minorly irritating, such as a condescending co-worker or micro-managing boss. These types of issues often are solvable through strong communication and conflict resolution.

   Other reasons for being uncomfortable in the workplace are much more severe. These include things like sexual and non-sexual harassment. While problems like these can be solved internally through a human resources department, they require much more litigation than simply talking it out with a coworker.

10. You’re not doing the best work possible because of the interferences. The most significant sign indicating your job sucks and you need to move on is that you’re not doing the best work possible due to the catalog of obtrusions.

    While you shouldn’t automatically assume that your subpar work is your employer’s fault, you know firsthand the circumstances of your professional environment.

    If your job issues have boiled over to result in your work heading towards a steady decline, it’s a serious problem.

    Take time to reevaluate the career path you’re on and the shifts you need to make to improve your working conditions – whether that means redefining your terms with an employer or leaving your job.

Options for What to Do if Your Job Sucks

You’ve read through the list of unmissable signs that your job sucks, and unfortunately, you’re convinced. Whether this is new information or an understanding that’s been looming for a while, there are options for what you can do next:

1. Think about the situation logically. The astonishing realization that your job sucks is a blow that hits hard, especially when you’ve been working in the role for a long time. While it’s a little devastating to end up dissatisfied with your job, try not to let these emotions cloud your good judgment.

   Evaluate the situation logically and decide on the best course of action after careful contemplation. This includes establishing a clear understanding of why you’re unhappy in your position and formulating a way of communicating these concerns to others.

   Acting hastily when it comes to your employment can leave you in a tough situation.

2. Try to remedy the reasons for your job sucking. Each circumstance of a dreadful job is unique.

   The steps for handling an unruly coworker are different from dealing with an employer who’s not paying you appropriately. Despite their inherent differences, many employees’ first step is to attempt remedying the reasons for their job sucking.

   Once you’ve formed a list of concrete and provable reasons why you’re dissatisfied with your job, create a strategy for remedying them.

   Quitting your job comes with a lot of unforeseen consequences, such as losing a steady paycheck and health insurance. Sometimes it’s best to try and fix your current situation before moving on to more drastic measures.

3. Organize a meeting with a supervisor. You’ve tried your best to fix the situations that make you unhappy at work to no avail. The next step is setting up a meeting to discuss the issues with a supervisor. A manager who has a higher ranking in your company might be able to affect the change you need to make the workplace better.

4. Go job-hunting in your spare time and begin the interview process. When you’ve been mulling over the possibility of quitting your position for a while, it’s best to just jump right into the job search. Beginning a job-hunt before quitting your current position makes the transition less stressful and keeps your eye out for opportunities in your field.

   Job-hunting can be as simple as touching up your resume and searching online job boards for available positions in your area in your spare time. Once you’ve heard back from potential new jobs, start setting up interviews, and be prepared to speak about your current job.

   If possible, try to hold off on putting in a two weeks’ notice until you’ve found another position. It puts job-seekers in a difficult situation when they’re jobless and having trouble getting hired.

5. Quit your job. The final action to take when you realize that your job sucks, and you’ve gone through steps one through four, is to quit your job. It’s recommended to begin your job search and secure a position before this measure is taken, but sometimes, that’s not an option.

   It’s never easy to begin searching for a new job, but it’s very possible to find an opportunity that’s better suited for you and provides a healthier workplace.

Author

Sky Ariella

Sky Ariella is a professional freelance writer, originally from New York. She has been featured on websites and online magazines covering topics in career, travel, and lifestyle. She received her BA in psychology from Hunter College.