Just like in the song The Gambler, when it comes to playing cards – just like when it comes to jobs and your career – sometimes you need to know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away and know when to run.
Recently on my other career website, I’ve been getting a number of emails from people complaining about their current job and in particular preferential treatment of others and in some cases negative treatment of them. In one recent email I received, a woman was complaining about how the head of their marketing department was having an affair with the owner and that the head of marketing shouldn’t be in the job in the first place.
Basically the person complaining was suggesting that they were underemployed while their boss was overemployed and for no good reason. Other than the fact that she’d been told that her boss was having an affair with the owner.
I read between the lines and figured that in all likelihood, the woman who sent me the email was upset with her current job and had decided to believe a rumor that she’d been told about the head of marketing and the owner and that the two situations compounded together made her even more upset about her situation.
Since I had only heard one side of the story – namely hers – I took what she told me and suggested that if things were so bad there, perhaps she should look for a new job.
Certainly you don’t want to fold ‘em and run away every time you face adversity at work but if things get to the point where you can’t see yourself staying there, why should you? I’m not sure if the woman emailing me will take my advice but if she’s still employed there in say 6 months and the same things are bothering her, I’m guessing either she isn’t as unhappy as she suggests or perhaps she’s not as desirable an employee as she’d have me believe.
