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What's the worst job you've ever had?

jlucas

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Following on from last week's discussion on our members' engineering origin stories, this week we'd like to hear about some of the more regrettable chapters of your careers. Whether it was a bad experience with an employer, a project that went badly off the rails or something your heart wasn't really in, use the comments section below to tell us about the worst working experiences of your career.

 

  • How did you find yourself in the role in the first place?
  • What made it stick out as a particularly negative or unfulfilling experience?
  • Were you able to resolve the issues, or did you simply have to walk away?
  • Were you able to take any positives from the experience?
  • What would you do differently if you found yourself in a similar situation today?

 

Now, we don't want to be responsible for any lawsuits, so be mindful to avoid "naming and shaming" if discussing a specific employer. We'll be looking for the best, funniest and most interesting answers for a future feature.

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  • 0

    Worst job interview : )

    I applied to some firm that made something related to video (I can't remember the detail). They were really happy I knew Z80 assembler. Which was worrying!! : )

    Anyway, they made an offer during the interview, but it was a disappointing sum of money.

    I told them I'd already told the agent I was looking for about £500-£1k more than that, and it was important to me, for reasons x,y, z.

     

    The interviewer got really offended! and said that everyone started at the lower salary, and in a year it might increase. He (literally, not figuratively) crossed his arms and stopped talking to me!

    I'd never seen people-skills like that.. I'd hoped for a compromise (like "let's see how you do for the first few months") or a simple "unfortunately, we really only have this much budget this year".

     

    Since we had reached an impasse, I eventually had to let him know I ought to leave, and shake hands and say goodbye. Later the agent called and said they would provide the requested sum.

    But there was no way I could accept it because I would have got hostile treatment from day one, and I could imagine the response if I had worked there, and a year later I really needed a pay rise..

     

    Anyway I then had an interview for an easy-going Canadian firm whose interviewer was wearing shorts and a T-shirt! The work was interesting, but importantly the atmosphere was friendly with everyone in the team!

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  • 0

    Worst job interview : )

    I applied to some firm that made something related to video (I can't remember the detail). They were really happy I knew Z80 assembler. Which was worrying!! : )

    Anyway, they made an offer during the interview, but it was a disappointing sum of money.

    I told them I'd already told the agent I was looking for about £500-£1k more than that, and it was important to me, for reasons x,y, z.

     

    The interviewer got really offended! and said that everyone started at the lower salary, and in a year it might increase. He (literally, not figuratively) crossed his arms and stopped talking to me!

    I'd never seen people-skills like that.. I'd hoped for a compromise (like "let's see how you do for the first few months") or a simple "unfortunately, we really only have this much budget this year".

     

    Since we had reached an impasse, I eventually had to let him know I ought to leave, and shake hands and say goodbye. Later the agent called and said they would provide the requested sum.

    But there was no way I could accept it because I would have got hostile treatment from day one, and I could imagine the response if I had worked there, and a year later I really needed a pay rise..

     

    Anyway I then had an interview for an easy-going Canadian firm whose interviewer was wearing shorts and a T-shirt! The work was interesting, but importantly the atmosphere was friendly with everyone in the team!

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  • 0 in reply to shabaz

    Shabaz,

     

    I read your comment about the bad interview. The interviewer was dreadful and foolish. I always tell people that the potential employer may be interviewing you, the job applicant, but YOU are interviewing the potential employer. It was a lousy company. I'm glad you turned it down.

     

    Perhaps things are different here in the U.S. than where you are, but salary negotiations often are taken up later in the hiring process. Also, what an employer says is the salary (or range) is not necessarily the "real" salary. Everything depends on their need and your competition -- supply and demand.

     

    By the way, did you ask for a sign on bonus?

     

    I once helped a young man right out of college who was on his first job search. He didn't know how to play "the game." I taught him a few of the basic tips in salary negotiations. In the end, he was handsomely paid a 6-figure salary in his first job out of college plus a sign on bonus. Two years later, he started looking again. He came back to me for help. I told him stop fooling around and ask for much more money and to play tough and ask for a bonus. Result: he got a 40% increase in salary plus a $40,000 (US) sign on bonus. Needless to say, he was very happy for my help:)

  • 0 in reply to rscasny

    Hi Randall,

     

    Wow, you did incredibly good for him!!

    A sign-on bonus is new to me, but it does make sense, after all people have to relocate to work, etc. As you say, it was unusual to discuss the salary in the interview.

    It was my first job, anyway after that I did a bit of contract work for not very long, and then found a company that was willing to instantly add 30% to my base salary, and

    then various bonuses (even a paid-for ISDN line at the time!) , so I was very happy about that.

    There are so many little things that make for employee productivity, but knowing that you're going to be in an uncomfortable environment like that would be the last thing to help the employer or the employees.