I am in the process of interviewing and applying for other jobs. I started my current job a year ago and aside from it just not being the right fit for me, the culture is absolutely toxic and it is very difficult to not let it get to me–my boss trashes me to my colleagues and has turned upper management against me, another department director (boss’s friend) lied about me in a public way that has harmed my reputation, and there is tremendous pressure to work around the clock (even on weekends), family and personal life be damned.
I am reading your How to Get a Job e-book to prepare for my interviews (it’s really helpful) and in a few parts you talk about making sure the job is the right fit for the job-searcher. I definitely want to find a place that is the right fit for me, but I need to get out of this job as soon as I can because it is causing stress in all aspects of my life. What do you say about taking the first job that gives an offer, even if it may not be the best fit?
Well, you can and I totally get why you’d want to, but you should balance it against these factors:
* If you’re not screening jobs thoroughly to ensure they’re the right fit for you, you could end up in another situation that’s just as bad as the one you were fleeing, or even worse. Knowing how unhappy you are now, do you really want to risk repeating that at the next place?
* If you do end up in the wrong place again and want to leave again fairly quickly (and the one year at your current job does count as leaving quickly), you’ll now have a pattern that makes you look like a job hopper. You basically get one freebie on leaving quickly — which means that you really need to make sure that the next place is somewhere you’re willing to stay long-term.
* Not screening jobs well doesn’t just mean that you might end up in a job where you’ll be unhappy. It also means you could end up in a job that you’re not good at and get fired from. Then you’re unemployed, with a firing to explain, and an unhelpful reference from your most recent employer. That’s inflicting a lot of damage on yourself just to get out of bad job a little more quickly.
All that said, there are times when despite the above, it could still be the right choice to jump at the first job that comes along. But those situations are really, really rare — like where you’ll be out on the street if you don’t take the job, or your health is in danger at your current job and you need to keep affordable health insurance by staying employed. Ideally it’s not just “this place sucks and I hate it,” as compelling as that can feel. I think your situation falls closer to the latter category, although I can’t say for sure without knowing more.
By the way, sometimes when this topic comes up, people get frustrated that they have to cater to employer perceptions — “why shouldn’t I be able to job hop if it’s what’s best for me?” and so forth. But the point here is to understand how to get the best outcomes for yourself and the greatest chances of long-term happiness. Employer perceptions are certainly part of it, because those are part of the reality of earning a living — but ultimately all of this stuff is just about understanding trade-offs and realities, and acting in a way that’s aligned with the things that are most important to you in the long-term.
I have forever seen recipes on TV and around the web for something called Mexican Lasagna, a giant layered casserole that contains pretty much everything we love and cannot get enough of — tortillas, beans, salsa, cheese and then some — but couldn’t bring myself to make one because I make bad decisions based on trivial things, such as the name, which made me cringe (must we blame the people of Naples or Mexico for the unholy ways we Frankenstein their cuisine?) and the fact that I hadn’t exactly run out of excuses to eat tortillas, beans, salsa and cheese yet and thus didn’t need to enlist another one. Don’t worry, Deb is going to see the error of her ways in the next paragraph.
There’s something about the guys in The Lonely Island that makes them seem like a perfect match for Saturday nights. Maybe it’s the fact that all of their music has the same cool vibe as a totally rad Saturday night? Or maybe it’s because most people coincidentally heard their biggest hits for the first time on Saturday nights? Whatever the inexplicable connection between The Lonely Island and Saturday night is, Fox is going to take advantage of it by letting the Lonely Island boys produce their very own sketch comedy show that will air—you guessed it!—on Saturday nights.
The show will be titled Party Over Here, and it sounds like Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone will be strictly working behind the scenes instead of actually starring in it. The actual stars are three different funny people: Girl Code’s Nicole Byer, Riot’s ...
A bicyclist that apparently didn’t yield to traffic at S. Big Bend and Flora Avenue Saturday afternoon was struck by a car, according to two witnesses that emailed 40 South News, asking about his condition. “He was hit pretty hard!” Michelle Gibson said. “I don’t know what he was thinking. He darted right out in front […]
As soon as Nick Offerman grew a mustache to appear on Parks and Recreation, he became America's 'Man's Man'. Now it seems like that honor applies to him in India too. His face has been spotted on a bathroom in Madurai, India as a representation of all men.
Deandre Brimer, 19, and Demario Jordan, 23, both of St. Louis, have been charged with first degree robbery — class A felonies — in an armed robbery at Galleria Parkway and Brentwood Boulevard on Oct. 24, 2015, according to police and court records. Brimer and Jordan stole a wallet, recently purchased clothing and a phone […]
A tiny male Eastern Black-and-white Colobus Monkey was born at the Saint Louis Zoo's Primate House on January 10. The little one was given the name Ziggy as a nod to rock star David Bowie who passed away on the day the infant was born.
Colobus infants are born with all white hair and a pink face. In contrast, adults are primarily black, with white hair encircling their faces and half of their tails. Adults have a distinctive mantle of long white hair extending from their shoulders around the edge of their backs. Infants will change gradually until they reach adult coloration at about 6 months.
Photo Credits: Saint Louis Zoo Primate Keeper Ethan Riepl
Mom Cecelia (age 16) is the dominant female in the group, and she is an experienced mother who is taking great care of her newborn and 1-year-old Simon. Her 3-year-old daughter Kivuli is an eager "babysitter." Also in the family is 28-year-old matriarch Roberta, mother to 3-1/2-year-old daughter Pili, and 2-year-old daughter Binti. Nine-year-old father Kima watches proudly over the family.
"Everyone in the Colobus Monkey family has a role in caring for newborns," says Joe Knobbe, Zoological Manager of Primates at the Saint Louis Zoo. "Cecelia allows the young females some time with the infant, holding or even carrying him. They are learning important skills that will help them become great mothers, too, someday."
The family can be seen at the Zoo’s Primate House. Visitors can see the infant poking his head out to look at his new world.
The Eastern Black-and-white Colobus Monkey (Colobus guereza) is found throughout the forests of east and central Africa.
Colobus Monkeys grow to a max weight of about 15-30 pounds and a length of about 30 inches. They are strictly leaf-eaters and spend most of their time in treetops. They live in troops of about five to ten with a single dominant male and several females with young.
Gestation for the Colobus is about six months. There is no distinct breeding season, and females will typically give birth every 20 months. The entire troop may play a part in caring for the newborn. He will cling to the mother, or others allowed to care for him, for the first seven months of life. After that time, he will begin to play more with other juveniles.
The Colobus Monkey is currently classified as “Least Threatened” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. At one time the monkey was hunted for its beautiful fur for use in making dance costumes, capes, and hats. Today, their biggest threat is habitat encroachment by humans for the development of agriculture, housing and roads.
The birth at the Saint Louis Zoo is part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Colobus Species Survival Plan (SSP), a program created to manage a genetically healthy population of Black-and-white Colobus Monkeys in North American zoos.
Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman was suspended indefinitely by the NHL on Thursday, after his bizarre attack on linesman Don Henderson.
Wideman took at hit along the boards from Miikka Salomaki of the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night. He got up slowly and skated to the Flames’ bench. Inexplicably, Wideman then raised his gloves and stick, plowing into the upper back of Henderson and knocking him to the ice. Wideman calmly stepped back onto the bench and sat down, looking dazed.
“I took a pretty hard hit down in the corner. Had pretty good pain in my shoulder and my neck. I was trying to get off the ice. I as kind of keeled over. At the last second I looked up and I saw him,” said Wideman, who wasn’t penalized on the play. “I went over to Donny and apologized on the ice. I didn’t know how to get out of the way of him.”
Eric Francis reported that Henderson was at a local hospital until 5 a.m., dealing with nausea and neck pain. He was given a concussion protocol.
Was Wideman? He wouldn’t say after the game if he was suffering from any symptoms, and said he would be surprised if the NHL took action against him.
But they are, with a hearing targeted for Tuesday, according to Darren Dreger.
There wasn’t going to be a ruling on this around the All-Star Game, for obvious reasons: The Flames don’t play until Wednesday and the NHL doesn’t need bad press around its festival of frivolity. And, frankly, this buys the NHL more time to suss out a tough call.
The incident brings up a couple of uncomfortable things. First is that Wideman’s going to have a hard time avoiding a 10-game suspension. From the NHL rulebook:
“40.3 Automatic Suspension – Category II – Any player who deliberately applies physical force to an official in any manner (excluding actions as set out in Category I), which physical force is applied without intent to injure, or who spits on an official, shall be automatically suspended for not less than ten (10) games.”
It would be a reach, but hockey operations might also buy into Wideman’s claim and reduce the suspension to not less than three games under Rule 40.3 — category lll, even though that category is intended more for threats where contact is generally applied in breaking free from an official during an altercation.
The other uncomfortable part of this is that Wideman’s defense is basically that he didn’t have his wits about him after the Salomaki hit. Yet he was back on the ice 2:05 later for a regular shift, and finished the game. After, you know, basically assaulting an official.
Would the NHL excuse this momentary lapse of reason because Wideman got his bell rung? Because if they did, wouldn’t the Flames’ medical and coaching staffs look completely incompetent in dealing with Wideman’s mental state?
The prediction: 10 games. Can’t imagine that’s avoidable.
Dane Gallion, 29, told officers he took the gun to Regal Cinemas 14 at the Landing on Thursday night because he was “concerned about recent mass shootings in public places,” according to a police account in a probable-cause statement released Saturday.
That same anxiety prompted him to keep the gun unholstered in his waistband, the statement says...
Police said Gallion told them he had taken medicine for anxiety in the morning and that he’d had a pizza and a 22-ounce beer before the movie.
I'm going to close comments for this post because I know what they will be.
I'm waiting to see whether he and his family will pay for the medical expenses of the woman he shot and whether he will be punished with anything other than a severe reprimand and a requirement to attend gun-safety classes.
I know this wasn't just built but for people who remember the checkerdome it still seems new.
The St. Louis Blues want local governments to renovate their city-owned downtown arena as part of a project that will also upgrade the city's convention center and former home of its recently departed NFL team. Blues officials and the regional St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission met with city and St. Louis County leaders last week to discuss a $100 million renovation of the 21-year-old Scottrade Center, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (bit.ly/1OMLJ2G ) reported Tuesday. The proposed project also calls for remodeling the America's Center convention complex and the adjacent Edward Jones Dome, which was home to the St. Louis Rams before the NFL approved the team's move back to Los Angeles.
The gaffe: On Wednesday, a group of pre-schoolers in Des Moines went on what was billed as a field trip to the botanical gardens. Instead, they somehow ended up seated directly in front of Carly Fiorina and a large anti-abortion poster at a rally. The Guardian suggested Fiorina had herded the class in. “The kids went there to see the plants,” said one father. “She ambushed my son’s field trip …. I would not want my four-year-old going to that forum—he can’t fully comprehend that stuff. He likes dinosaurs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Transformers.”
Why it matters (or doesn’t): It’s ironic that a candidate who believes fetuses are autonomous human beings has no hesitations about drafting unwitting pre-schoolers into her rally. It’s not Fiorina’s first headscratching moment on abortion; last fall, she described a video that did not exist, insisting it did. But hey, she could use the attention, however it comes.
The lesson: It’s best to handle divisive issues like abortion with kid gloves, not kid props.
Ex-SNL cast member and creator and star of The Last Man on EarthWill Forte showed up at a Fox All-Star party at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena, California, on Friday, with the left side of his head (and probably rest of his body) shaved.
One forgets how very young he seemed at the start of his presidency. One wonders what some of the current candidates might look like at the end of their term.
Before-and-after comparisons of ten other presidents here.
I can't believe the asking price for that small gray house with no landscaping is $219K
Hermann London Real Estate Group sends information on area homes for sale to 40 South News for publication. Read more about these listings. A one-time registration is required for details. This is a sponsored post. 2123 Parkridge Avenue, Brentwood, $425,000, 3 beds, 3 baths, age: 78 8530 Rosalie Ave, Brentwood, $209,900, 2 beds, 2 baths, […]
This is long but interesting about how GM got caught with their whole ignition switch issue. I can't believe how soon people forget about this sort of thing. "What kind of car do you think was so poorly engineered that it would turn off so easily?" (big dumb guy answers 'Ford")
After Brooke Melton died in a car crash, her parents approached attorney Lance Cooper to investigate. What he found in her 2005 Chevy Cobalt would lead to GM’s 30 million-vehicle recall.
I thought this was really interesting, especially as I think about my forgotten mammogram recommendation, the people I know who have had cancer diagnoses who have maybe been through treatment they didn't need, and the few friends who really needed the treatment whose lives were saved or prolonged by early detection.
This is just as awkward as it looks. (credit: Selenia Dimension)
In a bracing op-ed published yesterday in the British Medical Journal, researchers questioned the idea that cancer screening "saves lives" as many PSAs for these services promise. Cancer researcher Vinay Prasad and his colleagues warn that cancer screening has "never been shown" to affect general mortality rates, arguing that patients are being over-screened and often misdiagnosed.
The problem they highlight is a common one in the medical field: statistics on how cancer screening affects mortality rates have been widely misunderstood and misreported. Prasad and his colleagues explain that studies show cancer screening can lower mortality rates for people who already have specific diseases such as lung cancer, but the general mortality rate has remained unchanged since the advent of common tests for breast cancer, colon cancer, neuroblastoma, and prostate cancer. In other words, screening may be slightly improving mortality rates for people who have a disease, but screening is not improving mortality overall. As the researchers put it in their op-ed, people are "simply...trading one type of death for another." More simply: even if you're screened for cancer, your risk of dying every year remains the same.
This wouldn't be cause for concern if it weren't for the fact that cancer screening is expensive for both patients and the healthcare industry. On top of that, screening can itself cause health problems. False positives, which are common, can lead to extreme anxiety, unnecessary treatments, and even death.
Do like garlic? Do you like chicken? Then you’ll love garlic chicken, a classic recipe of chicken parts that have been browned in olive oil, then cooked with white wine and garlic. It’s also known as “40 Clove Chicken” because that’s how many garlic cloves you’ll use to make the dish.
A group plans to open a Twin Peaks franchise restaurant in Maplewood this year, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. An operating partner told the Business Journal they expect the Maplewood location to open this summer, along with one in Chesterfield. The Maplewood location will be housed in the former Olive Garden at 2351 Maplewood […]
