badbossesfromhell

[badbossesfromhell]

CEO Sin #1759:

For telling young people that they can’t get a paid job (and break down their confidence) in order to get them to work for you for free.

Your Sentence:

666 years in Level 6 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

[badbossesfromhell]

What in BLAZES?! 🦇🔥

“It’s NOT slave labor, mmmk??”

[badbossesfromhell]

Can millennials afford to say “no?” This game challenges your answer.

[badbossesfromhell]

Bad Job: The Game

Just left a bad job, or have one now? Maybe you need a good laugh, and to see your situation as being very small in the broad scheme of things-- or some bullshit of that nature.

Thought you might want to read about this game, “Say No! More,” inspired by a real game developer's nightmare gig in San Francisco.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2021/01/05/video-game-internships/

[badbossesfromhell]

You own a startup or a small company, and you owe people money. 

Which layer of hell is for you?

Directions: If you have never done the deed described at Level 6 (honestly), then you can move up one level. Continue this process to see if you can escape startup hell!

Level 6: Provided your admin's phone number instead of your own for your alarm system or plumbing customer account.  

Level 5: Left the office to avoid being confronted about the money you owed someone who worked for you. 

Level 4: Ignored their knock at the office or asked someone to tell them you aren't at the office.

Level 3: Ignored their call / voicemail because you know they need their paycheck, and you owe them for the work they did for your company.

Level 2: Ignored their emails asking for their money, so they got to the point of calling you. 

Level 1: Made someone email you because you didn't pay them within two weeks of them completing the work. 

Wow. You’re really not that bad! You get to stay out of startup hell and you deserve a gold medal.

How did you do? Tell us in the comments! 

[badbossesfromhell]

Be sure to check out, “How to Detect a Clueless Boss at the Interview,” including 5 interview questions to help you evaluate a potential employer. 

[badbossesfromhell]

How to Detect a Clueless Boss at the Interview

Everything is going great, so far. 

They ask you practically nothing at the interview. Or they ask you vague questions and seem satisfied with your answers. They offer you the job. They seem to think you’re a great fit (or do they?) Does this mean you’re gaining progress and experience in your career? Hopefully, but it could also just be that your boss is an idiot. 

Many bosses suck because they don’t know what they want. They don’t know what they’re doing. And they don’t know what to expect from you, so they couldn’t possibly be a leader. And when you ask them questions while on the job that they can’t answer, it makes them feel stupid (because they are). 

So, how can you avoid working for an idiot? Be sure to ask them questions at the interview. It’s not just all about them asking you the questions. Don’t worry-- asking your would-be manager questions at the interview is actually quite normal. So don’t feel awkward about asking a few neutral questions and then thinking about the results later. Just be neutral in tone, and be curious.

Here are the questions you should ask to see if your manager actually knows what they’re doing:

1. I would be reporting directly to you?

Some companies will want you to talk to several people during the interview process. If the manager is known to be a bear, they might not even tell you which of these people will be your direct manager. Or sometimes they’ll just forget to tell you. It’s good to know who your direct manager is and in general, who you are working with directly on the daily. 

2. What’s your title?

Sometimes your direct manager doesn’t even have the same job or discipline that you have. This can happen in contract jobs especially (even the ones that they promise they’ll convert you to full-time). This is a sign that they will have no idea what to tell you while on the job, because they don’t have the same skills and sensibilities that you do. So they’d better be extra experienced at working with people like you. For example, you could be a programmer and your boss doesn’t even code. Or you could be a UX researcher and your boss doesn’t even know what you really do. They were just told they needed someone like you, so they’re hiring you-- stat. To do what? They don’t really know. You’ll be expected to do your thing with no instructions. 

3. How do you like working at this company?

Okay so, this question just takes the pressure off. It’s a friendly and relaxed-sounding question. Hopefully they’ll say they like it. If they don’t really seem too enthusiastic... then maybe this whole company sucks. :p 

4. How long have you worked here?

This is the part where they may tell you they haven’t been at the company long. Hopefully they’ve been a manager before, or at least a leader in other regards. If they can answer your questions honestly and professionally, they will hopefully still be a great manager. Let your instincts guide you. 

5. What challenges have you had in the past with other people in my position?

This is a great question because it looks like you’re trying to educate yourself about the position in a very proactive way. They should feel that it’s very professional of you to ask. It’s a common question but a bit more rare, and it shows you’re scoping out the tasks and requirements of the job. 

At the same time, you can evaluate them by their answer. If they were to act very blamey towards the person they are talking about, this is a sign that they’ll throw people under the bus quite quickly. You should beware. 

Of course, they may dazzle you with their compassionate and patient personality, in which case you will probably have a great working relationship with them. Problems can be overcome with the right attitude. Again-- trust your gut. 

It pays to be aware. 

Who knows what truths you’ll uncover about your would-be manager by asking them some questions. You have to try it to find out. Also--  the body language, tone, and the fact that they chose to say certain things will give you a sense of their personality. Don’t linger on each answer to long, and ask follow up questions. When you’re done asking questions, you can just say, “okay great,” or “thanks for answering my questions.”

If you don’t ask any questions of your manager, you might not discover something about them. They use the exact same logic when it comes to evaluating you at the interview. They figure that if they ask you a host of questions, you may reveal something about yourself that makes them decide not to hire you. By the same token,  you can evaluate them by whatever answers they reveal to you. As a general rule, if they give you vague answers, it means they’re a bit clueless on the topic. So you might want to keep looking. 

[badbossesfromhell]

For example, depending on the facts, it could be retaliation if an employer acts because of the employee's EEO activity to: reprimand the employee or give a performance evaluation that is lower than it should be;

Facts about retaliation from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Read more: https://www.eeoc.gov/facts-about-retaliation

[badbossesfromhell]

Is Having a Mentor Necessary?

Having a mentor can be very helpful in our careers. That person is taking time out of their day to help someone else. However, mentors aren’t perfect and you shouldn’t look at them that way. 

Here are some signs that mentorships aren’t doing you any good-- even if they have good intentions.

https://www.inc.com/jeff-pruitt/signs-your-mentoring-relationship-has-gone-sour.html

[badbossesfromhell]

“You’re going to hate me.”

Anonymous Contributor | San Francisco, CA

OMFG alright. So let me set the stage. 

I worked hard to get a management internship with a company I loved and really believed in. I had already done an entry level internship and I wanted to go back.

In 2018, I got the management internship and, even though it wasn't the department I wanted to be in, it was a great foot in the door.

In January 2019, after a grueling, but overall great year, I was offered a full-time position and I was ecstatic! The promotion was at a different location, but still with the same company.

In less than 3 months, I realized it was the BIGGEST mistake I have ever made in my life.

The position, location, department and even the other workers (not just my managers) were disgustingly toxic and borderline abusive.

About 2 months after I got there, we got a new department head. She showed up to the first meeting with us and the very first thing out of her mouth was:

"You're going to hate me, that's alright; everyone hates me."

Everything was already terrible about this place, but I think there was a hope that with new leadership, things would change. Nope. Things got even worse.

No support, no clear direction but still "holding us accountable" which was just her way of blaming leaders for everything. She writes us up, but phrases things so they are juuust north of full-out lies. For example, I was written up and it said I "asked too many questions and do not listen to the answer," she then described a specific situation, but her idea of "answering" wasn't an actual answer. We had changed to a new system on my day off and I wasn't provided with anything on the new system, so I did not know you had to change one thing in the system. There were 3 options, "clean, vacant clean, and inspected."

With the new change, we had to designate certain people as "inspected" when previously it had been "vacant clean." This one thing legit caused so many problems at first, because we had to manually change everyone.

Anyway, I was not provided any information when I came back and when I asked my director what exactly I needed to designate, she wouldn't give me a straight answer. Kept telling me to email so-and-so (who I wouldn't get a response from for several days) and wouldn't give me an answer! 

I now realize it is because she didn’t know. Which would have been fine if she had just admitted it. This happens constantly. Inability to admit to not knowing something is a fatal flag that I see constantly in older leaders. They think admitting they don't know something is the worst thing possible, but it isn't.

I feel like more and more people are stressing that interviews are a two-way street. The interviewer is trying to get to know you, but you should also be trying to get to know them.

After having this experience of such a terrible boss, I will 100% ask more discovery questions during the interview. As a leader, I want to know what my leader expects of me i.e. what are the expectations for overtime, etc.

[badbossesfromhell]

Submit your 2020 job story!

Bad Bosses from Hell posts submitted stories about this torrid landscape of corporate scandal. Check out our stories & articles and submit your own!

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Call for Stories!

Have you had an awkward job interview lately? Message Us via Tumblr at Bad Bosses from Hell, and we may publish your totally anonymous story! 

Also check our blog for cringeworthy job stories, and practical job advice. 

[badbossesfromhell]

Submit your bad boss story here! 

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We might post your story...

We are open to submissions! Send us your:

Epic Rage Quit resignation letters and stories

Why your boss qualifies for the bad behavior Hall of Fame

The Trail of Tears - what red flags did you see during your bad gig?

Other true stories of the underworld of bad jobs (other formats are fine)

Remove all company and personnel names! You might try replacing it with a title like [Manager] or [Company]. We'll check again to be sure you didn't leave that stuff in, but just to be sure, don't put it in there when submitting to us. We obviously can't be held responsible, because we don't have any money anyway. 

We know there's a lot to cover in your story. If it's a long story, tell it with minimal details. You can add anecdotes in a separate paragraph at the end. We call these outtakes. Just keep the action moving, whenever possible. 

Use Titles instead of Pronouns. Describing conversations can get messy, so be sure to add [Manager], [Coworker] or other titles that describe separate people (instead of using he, she and they too often).

Send it to badbossesfromhell at gmail. No need to overly format it-- we will make plain text out of it anyway. 

[badbossesfromhell]

Teaching without Pay

Put on your cringe goggles now. 

If you have been there before, please know that you are not alone. 

If you are surprised by this story, this is exactly the typical stuff to watch out for. Especially when dealing with small companies. Make sure that contract has a pay schedule written into it, and bring it up if there isn’t one.

Anonymous Contributor | New York, NY

When I worked as a teacher for a small start up that won't be named, I thought it was going to be amazing. They were signing contracts with different schools left and right and practically bragging about how much money they've made and how much we could make too. Truth is, they were the ones making the money and when it came down to us getting paid (yes “us.” I wasn't the only one unfortunately), we had to jump through hoops. 

After working with them for just over 6 months, with probation 3 months (they claimed they wanted to make sure we're in it for the long haul), we were supposed to get paid for the summer course. They told us that they were going to bundle that into our September payments, that we'd get in October. So we all taught and took on hours when we could and then when October came, despite them being the ones who did the paper work, they claimed the paperwork was being processed and taking a long time so we would have to wait until the following month, November, until we got paid. Frustrated, a few coworkers pointed out they were getting new gear as well as signing even more contracts with other schools across NYC. 

At the end of October, I had enough. Despite having a job myself, I wanted to be paid for the time that I've been putting in. Each time payment was brought up, they would try to sleight us by saying things like, they can help us get our teachers license or even help us get part time jobs as coders. The last straw was when one of their long time employees quit after a conversation about salary, he later shared with me, he had with them. The details were murky but, truth is, this guy was with them before I was even there and even went through their summer youth program. So the idea that they would refuse to pay this guy infuriated me.

To cut to the chase of this whole quitting story, I had to call up the big guy and confront him. Saying I would get lawyers involved, especially since it's not only illegal (I'm thinking) to have people work with you under the promise of pay and not pay them, it's incredibly immoral. This isn't even counting him hiring (outsourced labor) to create the same apps that they claim to have created themselves. Mind you, these apps almost never worked properly. Well, within this phone call I brought up the unfairness of withholding pay and eventually he got his co-founder on the line and they basically tried to guilt me into feeling bad for rightfully demanding to be paid. 

Long story short, I was only paid a portion of what I was owed and, honestly tired of discussion and Covid looming in the background, I decided to call it quits and let them know that despite their immoral tactics, I appreciated being able to gain experience teaching. This is the same experience that actually helped me write my own courses that I'll soon be releasing. It was a shitty situation but, unfortunately, one that isn't uncommon within the realm of start ups. If anybody is thinking about working for any start up, make sure you do thorough research on their employees and ask them why they're no longer working with them. You'll definitely get a lot of stories but the sum of them all will add up to the true nature of the start up.

[badbossesfromhell]

Why “Bad Bosses from Hell?”

Bad bosses are frustrating, exhausting and completely not worth it.

You came to the company, excited to get to work and it turns out that your manager is incorrigible. Not just about company policies. They are rude, cold, inappropriate, shame and blame you and others. Maybe they withhold your paycheck or maybe they even make you feel unsafe at work. They’re not just a co-worker-- they are your actual manager. What’s even more frustrating is when family members or friends don’t believe you. “You should stay at your job-- it’s a job!” they may insist. “Don’t give up,” they may even offer, not realizing that you’re a resilient person who should not have to suffer under a toxic manager.

We expose shocking stories [some of them traumatic experiences] from working employees at a variety of companies and firms. We posted the question, “have you ever had a bad boss? When did you figure out who they really were?” in a social media group for women. We got 130 comments, detailing their bad experiences and what they learned about toxic bosses. We asked some of them if we could reshare their stories anonymously. Does your manager or coworkers exhibit the same harmful behaviors?

Before getting to the horror stories, here are some important rules to keep on-hand:

Don’t blame yourself. Many people cannot tell a bad boss as soon as they meet one at the interview. Many bosses who are toxic appear nice at first. Besides, you probably took the job because you really needed it.

Listen to yourself before you listen to advice. Don’t let friends or family who misunderstand the situation shame you into believing that you should stay with a toxic boss. They don’t know what your boss is like-- you do.

Keep looking for a better job. Your job hunt isn’t over when you find a job. It’s over when you find a job that really works great for you. How can you tell? Working there a few weeks to a few months will be the test of whether or not it’s a great job. You may be out of there, not long after you just started.

Sometimes things change for the worse after you’ve been there a few months, or even a few years. Finding a new job while you’re still at a job (that you don’t like) is a thing. People do it, and it is an option.

If you haven’t found a job yet, and you’re in disbelieve that a manager would do these things, consider yourself warned! 

[badbossesfromhell]