Job Hopping

[Sarbear25]

Hi everyone,

I am 25 with a bachelor of science in business. I could do well in school but the workforce is tough for me.

I am what many would call a job hopper. I stay at a job about 6
months before something happens that makes me have a nervous breakdown.

Working also means I have less time to attend therapy since Saturday appointments are so limited.

I just cannot deal with the office politics or if an older male gets angry with me.

I have a diagnosis of depression, PTSD from childhood
abuse and panic disorder.

My last job was working in medical billing/call center and I really liked the work.

However, there was a lot of noise around me because my supervisor was aways loudly watching TV in her office or swearing at her computer screen.

I asked HR for a reasonable accomodation and was required to provide
lots of documentation.

HR (1 person in dept) moved me to a different area that was even louder!

In this area, I dealt with constant bullying from other employees because they somehow found out about my depression.

They would whisper about me, laugh at me, hung a sign on my desk that said "insane asylum", would ask me if I was a crazy terrorist etc.

I reported these instances to HR about 5 times and was always told I needed to let it roll off or I was being paranoid or that the sign was appropriate since it's halloween time.

Fast forward to two weeks ago and I started vomiting profusely from the
stress.

Someone at my work called an ambulance for me and I was in the hospital for a day with an upper GI bleed.

That Sunday night I received a call from a blocked number that left a dead air
voicemail and when I picked up they said they were
my HR rep but it didn't sound like her so I didn't reply after she said "don't
come into work tomorrow because I heard you have been threatening
lives".

I called and called all week to confirm the authenticity of the call and the status of my job and left voicemails begging them to let
me get one of my meds out of my desk.

Finally I got a termination letter in the mail that said I was being terminated for missing a training session (I was in the HR office in tears and she was aware I was missing it). They also said my numbers were subpar. I was never told anything about my performance being poor when I was there. However it is hard to concentrate when you are being called a snitch and being told you will get stitches etc by 40 year old women.

I have been in bed for weeks. I don't know how I will get another job with
my history of leaving jobs and now I have been fired!

I never did get my meds back and feel like I was fired because I asked
for an accommodation. Why would I be moved to a louder area? How did everyone found out? I did mention that to HR...and the rep become irate with me.

Has anyone ever experienced this type of situation?

I know it sounds ludicrous because it kind of was/is. Do you think the EEOC would help at all?

How do you cope at work? And what are some good jobs for people with depression and a lot of panic?

This was the first time I asked for an accomodation and it backfired obviously.

[Ieris]

Hello Sarbear25,

I guess that job wasn't right for you, so in some way I'm glad you're out of there as they only would have picked on you and stressed you out even more. There are lots of characters in the work place, some people go in to work and some just enjoy the drama.

Job hopping isn't so bad, you just haven't found a job you want to stay in. Not everyone works in one place all their lives, they jump around for a bit at first until they find the right place for them. Something that may be of interest to you is "portfolio career". Definitely look it up to see if this would make your life easier. If you prefer to stick at one job, do a "career test" online which would you ask you about your ideal environment and many many questions which would help narrow down jobs that suit you.

All the best x

[100footpole]

What Ieris said.

One of my heroes is a lady I worked with at two different companies. I enjoyed talking with her at the first one. I was surprised when she joined the second one ... newly married ... with my last name. That made us cousins

She was a buddhist. At the second company her job was to be familiar with a set of "custom reports" and sell them to clients for additional fees. Ideally the company would "double charge" on the report. The reports were built to be as flexible as possible ... and her job was to individually configure the reports per customer requirements. In addition she would suggest ways to make the reports more flexible to get more customers.

Management looked at this as a form of "fine dining". We had a base application from which to derive the reports, but rather than embedding the reports into the application as improvements they would charge customers to get the reports. The company application had 40% of the market then. I believe that it's market share has decreased because of lack of satisfaction, although it is still big in the market.

My friend left the company after 6 months because she felt her job was stealing.

I have another friend who landed a job working remotely for a small company that is very mission oriented and customer-centric.

So I agree with Ieris ... reframe your job as a personal search. Take the good ideas from each place you work and your experience provides a benefit to the next place you work. Because you are sensitive, your mission can be one of a "cross-cultural" pollinator. My 2nd friend laughs because his ex-managers call him back whenever they start a new project because he provides a sense of hope to the project that upper management later devours based on the need to show a short term profit. There is a beautiful balance to the way that people in different organizations deal with the unnatural stresses of business. You just need to figure out a way to frame your path so YOU don't feel that switching jobs somehow reflects on your worth as a person .

I know that I would like to work with you My buddhist friend has remained a personal hero even though I haven't seen her in more than 10 years.

[NickStokes]

Just be patient. There are a lot of jobs out there and you will find just the thing for you!