Current Events > Have you ever gotten a promotion and regretted accepting it?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Been working at this restaraunt for a pretty long time now, will be 3 years in February. I started as just a food runner, but back in May they offered me a salaried manager position. I had no restaurant experience prior to this job, but I decided to give it a go, and the pay and benefits they offered sounded solid.

Fast forward to now though and I think I'm just... not happy. The pay and benefits genuinely are really good. I'm gonna end this year with making at least twice as much than any other job I've had. I get insurance through them, including dental and vision. And it took me a minute, but I've learned all the ropes of the job and would like to think I'm doing pretty well. But the stress levels are a lot more than I anticipated, I don't particularly enjoy a lot of the day to day elements of the job, I feel fucking exhausted all the time, don't feel like I have time or energy for anything outside of work, and hell, at this point most of my dreams and nightmares are about the job and I hate that.

When I first started working here, it was meant to just be a "pay the bills" job while I pursued what I wanted to do, film and writing. But then the pandemic hit and I got... I don't wanna say trapped necessarily, but it was a stable job in a tough time so I stuck it out a lot longer than I intended. Then I got the position offer, and said "fuck it, I'll give it a go"

There's parts of the job I really like. I like a lot of my co-workers and employees, the pay and such is solid, etc. But I just already feel kinda burned out with it and I've barely had the position for 6 months. But I'm also at the point where I'm scared to just abandon such a well paying job for something that's not a guarantee. Like, if I left I'd probably try to find something in film, but that's a lot of competition for significantly lower pay starting out. Or hell, even a job where I have a little more free time so I can devote some more time and energy to writing would be nice, but again, I'd be sacrificing pay and benefits for that.

I guess I just kinda don't know what I want right now, but I know I don't want to do this forever. But I also don't wanna just bail on something that is consistently paying my bills and for things I need and want.

IDK, I get that I'm whining about having a solid job, something that I know a lot of people would kill for, but I also can feel that this isn't what I want to be doing every day indefinitely. I feel like I'd be happier doing something else, but I also know I'd be less happy making less than I currently am. :/

idk, just kinda venting I guess.

Yes any time Ive been promoted to management it has made me hate the job

managing other people is so stressful

VampireCoyote posted...

Yes any time Ive been promoted to management it has made me hate the job

managing other people is so stressful

It really is. I don't like it. :(

I havent, but Ive turned down several promotions over the years. Im quite selective about them, which some of my bosses didnt understand.

One got really funny with me and kept on pointing out that it was more money and in the end I told him that Id money was my main motivation I would be working somewhere else. He got deeply offended by that but it was completely true.

https://youtu.be/bcHTUZMQsbU

not really a promotion, but I served as the temporary financial person in my program (on top of my other job), and I hated it.

just working with money brings me anxiety since I'm always worried about miscalculating, or something like that.

that's why I left my previous job.

I turned down a promotion recently because I knew it would be marginally more money and a much worse job

I've turned down every promotion opportunity for 4 years now. The additional responsibility, and anxiety that comes with it, just isn't worth the extra pennies to me. I'm in a spot where it is manageable, although stepping down sounds amazing, so I'm trying to avoid it altogether.

Bump

yes and no. the $30k raise was nice. everyone's problems being mine now, are not so much.

I've never gotten a promotion :(

krazychao5 posted...

yes and no. the $30k raise was nice. everyone's problems being mine now, are not so much.

Yeah, that's the big trade off that you don't really think about when they offer the job to you.

You just hear the money increase and think "fuck yeah, let's do it" without realizing that now every time something is even a mild inconvenience for someone, it's now your responsibility to address it. It can definitely feel draining at times.

It was also really weird seeing how people treat you different once you get promoted. I was really chill with pretty much everyone before I got promoted, people said they were happy for me when I got the position, etc. But now, even though people still seem cool with me, they're a lot more like, on edge I guess when talking with me or even talking near me, cause now I'm management. Guess it was to be expected to some degree, but still. It's just weird, idk

Went from pharmaceutical quality control to IT help desk. I pretty quickly regretted it and moved back to my old position. It was more of a lateral move though.

It was at that time I learned that I really never wanted to work in IT, and help desk in particular.

Accepting a promotion at my old job was honestly one of the biggest mistakes of my life and set off a chain reaction of events that took me years to fix.

It felt more like a punishment than a promotion.

I managed a small restaurant for 5 and a half years, only stayed relatively sane from a lot of drinking and other stuff.

Was not a healthy lifestyle for me, the stress is surprisingly large and I was always dead tired.

bluezero posted...

I've never gotten a promotion :(

This, but I've only had two jobs and one was an internship. I have had scheduled pay raises in my current position, though.