Ironically Tough on Mental Health
Pros
Working under chaotic, hypercritical leadership will toughen you up. I can honestly say my current employer appreciates some of the habits I picked up at Presence, like triple-checking my work, reading between the lines, and self-educating. I mean, the nightmares still show up now and then, but hey, at least I got something out of it.
Cons
I’m in the first five years of my career, and for a while, I genuinely thought it was normal to cry over your job three nights a week. It took me longer than it should’ve to realize that wasn’t okay...mostly because the colleague I worked with every day was also having regular panic attacks. I figured our manager must be right: I was a juvenile, good-for-nothing employee, apparently always one mistake away from being fired. Every piece of work I submitted was “missing the spark," a quality no one could define. Every earnest question was met with a blank stare and “Why would you even think that?” And then there were the after-hours messages. So many. We’re talking 10 p.m. their time, cryptic and anxiety-inducing, each a little puzzle I had to solve before morning. Here's why I'm writing this now: I didn’t understand how toxic it all was until I got another job. Seriously, you guys. Spring has SPRUNG. It's like a weight has been lifted off my chest. My mental health has done a 180, and I will never (ever, ever, ever) let a job treat me like this again.
