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Should I take a pay cut to not hate my job?
TabooPhantasy
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Registered User regular
I have worked at my current job (retail) for over 4 years and have been a manager-in-training for just over 2 (officially). For most of this time I have been working under a manager that was a complete moron. (Let's call her Alice.) Alice had a lot of character flaws, which drove me batty, but eventually I just got over them and was able to ignore them (for the most part). The biggest problem for me was that she didn't actually manager the shop. She wouldn't hold anyone accountable for their actions or talk to anyone if there was a problem. She didn't train me how to do my job at all or offer me any feedback.
Fast forward to this past May and after over two years of telling people she doesn't do her job, Alice finally gets fired. Two people from the corporate support staff come in and take over the shop for a week. (Let's call them Jo and Irina.) The first couple of days were brutal in that I learned exactly WHAT I wasn't being taught (it was a lot). Jo and Irina sat me down and basically told me after the first day that they didn't think I should be a manger in training but they were going to give me the opportunity over the next few days to prove that I could do the job. I made it though the rest of the week and they decided to put me on probation in my MIT position until they hired a new manger for us. Basically, I had x number of months to re-learn everything I've been doing for 4 years. We went without a manager for two months and our numbers were better than they had been in the past year (made me look really good). Now we have a new manager who gets to make the decision as to whether or not I am "able" to continue on as her MIT.
tl;dr
Today I was essentially told that I am not doing everything I need to be doing to keep my job. I have been given until the end of the month to complete my "transformation" and I am gone for a week of that on vacation. At this point, I'm tired of my job but not my company. It is very hard to move up in my company unless it is a move to management. Should I stick it out and fake that I want to be a manager so I can keep working for them and make enough money to live on or should I step down and not make enough money to support myself and hope I can find a second job to make up the difference?
Fast forward to this past May and after over two years of telling people she doesn't do her job, Alice finally gets fired. Two people from the corporate support staff come in and take over the shop for a week. (Let's call them Jo and Irina.) The first couple of days were brutal in that I learned exactly WHAT I wasn't being taught (it was a lot). Jo and Irina sat me down and basically told me after the first day that they didn't think I should be a manger in training but they were going to give me the opportunity over the next few days to prove that I could do the job. I made it though the rest of the week and they decided to put me on probation in my MIT position until they hired a new manger for us. Basically, I had x number of months to re-learn everything I've been doing for 4 years. We went without a manager for two months and our numbers were better than they had been in the past year (made me look really good). Now we have a new manager who gets to make the decision as to whether or not I am "able" to continue on as her MIT.
tl;dr
Today I was essentially told that I am not doing everything I need to be doing to keep my job. I have been given until the end of the month to complete my "transformation" and I am gone for a week of that on vacation. At this point, I'm tired of my job but not my company. It is very hard to move up in my company unless it is a move to management. Should I stick it out and fake that I want to be a manager so I can keep working for them and make enough money to live on or should I step down and not make enough money to support myself and hope I can find a second job to make up the difference?
~Taboo
TabooPhantasy on
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I'd either seriously look at how you could manage to live on the lower salary (consider everything, from your current lifestyle to major changes; moving into a house share, etc.). It's not a great time to hope you can find a second job.
Or I'd just keep on at your current job, making whatever commitments they want from you, while you look for a different job you can support yourself off in your time off. I've done this in the past and it meant going with very little free time for a few months which wasn't fun.
That being said, get the fuck out of there. You don't want to be putting your effort into a company that's going to straight shit on you like that. Piece of advice- avoid corporate all together if at all possible. It's the same shit with a slightly different flavor.
edit: Maybe take some time to look for a permanent replacement job, as opposed to a second income, while doing whatever is best for your overall QoL in the short term.
The one piece of concrete advice I could give is if you're going to jump find a job now rather than later. It will be much easier to get in the door somewhere else while you're already employed. If you do it while still a Manager in Training you could even try for a step up while hunting around. If you get demoted it won't look very good in the job search.
You should look for managerial positions in other retail outlets. They're a dime a dozen at the moment if you've got the will to do it (and pick up on what you are missing). Read some online guides on how to be a manager and what they're duties are, and wow them.
You certainly can't be as bad as some of the managers who've failed their way into them.
Get out of retail. Do it.
Based on the current scenario, even though you can likely manage the job if they were to actually give you the responsibility, they do not view you as a manager. They see you as a retail worker who is attempting to "train up" to management. "Corporate" employees in a retail company rarely view anyone who works in the actual store as smart enough or capable enough to move up, despite your ability, and their current actions are reinforcing that. They have hired someone from the outside who they believe has more skills and are now looking to move you back into a lower position indefinitely.
They're giving you advice on what to do. They hired someone from the outside who likely has worked in retail and has been a manager in training elsewhere and also managed a store to a small degree. This other candidate, your new boss, probably experienced the same thing as you -- they were stuck somewhere, couldn't move up, and finally decided to leave so they could jump up a peg. So do that. Work through the next month as hard as you can, learning as much as you can, and start looking for another job in an actual management position. You've run a store, you've been a manager in training for over 2 years, and your next employer doesn't need to know that Alice sucked. What they need to know is that you were a manager in training for 2 years, once your previous boss was let go you were the de facto manager and sales increased x%, but now there's a new full-time manager and they're forcing you out, so you're looking for a new position. Ta da!
Best case scenario, you'll find a new position that is better than your current one using your MIT title.
Worst case scenario, you'll have to settle for staying where you are because you couldn't find anything remotely comparable, and take the demotion (because we're talking worst case here).
Depending on where you live and a host of other factors, you might also be eligible for some schooling/training/retraining courses to help you switch out of retail or move up the ladder.
Good luck!
1. Don't quit before you've given it every chance to get better or done everything you can to help (sounds like you've already done this).
2. Have a second job in place before you leave the first one.
3. Networking = Good: Do you know anyone who respects your talents and can hire you? Or works somewhere you'd like to work? Talk to them.
4. Networking = Bad: Industry professionals tend to know each other. Be wary of applying somewhere where your coworkers or managers know people.
5. See Rule #2
6. See Rule #2
etc...
You've said that you like the company and it's hard to move up unless it's management...but you don't want to be a manager? Did you have another position in mind within the company? If so, what's the possibility of getting it and how long would it take?
If it's going to take a while or not possible, then start looking for a new job now. Don't quit until you have something else lined up for obvious financial reasons. And IMO, if you don't like your job now, it's going to become more stressful if you become a manager. It all depends on what you like about the job (if anything), but I would choose happiness over money any day...as long as the money I was getting would be enough to get by
So I pretty much just quit. I did it the right way with two weeks and everything, but I had no replacement job lined up and just figured I would be fine living off my savings until I found one. The problem is that almost all of my non military/government experience was in retail, some as a cashier years ago and some as loss prevention more recently. I didn't have any kind of degree so that limited my options as well. Cut to a few months later when I'm unable to find work that pays more than $7 an hour for 20 hours a week, have drained my savings and have to move back in with my parents.
Things are fine now, but it took a year or so to get back on my feet. So that's my roundabout way of telling you to think carefully about what other jobs you would even qualify for, especially given the competitive job market lately. Retail jobs are hard to come by since they can pay someone with a high school diploma minimum wage instead of you the $10+ you're asking for. Then, after you've come up with jobs you can realistically get you should find one before you quit your current job. If you're totally willing to work two jobs then that's fine for you, but as someone who has worked 12 hour days 7 days a week fairly regularly I can tell you that it takes a major toll on your happiness, your health and your social life.
My current company has some opportunities for non-retail positions and positions that don't require me to be in management, but I have not had any luck securing that type of job.
I am going to look in to changing companies and will hopefully find something I love as much as I used to love this job.
I don't know how it works in many places of employ, but in my experience there's not much active "training" when you are role changing; I've never worked retail. Someone needs cover or sees that you are capable and they start dumping more duties on you. You grow into the new role. You gain experience in that role, and you eventually ask for more comp or leave.
I'd probably do my level best to earn that MIT or manager spot, not so much for the paycheck, but for professional development. Different roles require different skill sets, and learning how to manage people well is a valuable skill.
If the vacation is just to take a break and is at all cancellable, I'd postpone it til after you get an up or down response to whether or not you're still on management track.
This all speaks to if you actually want to become manager.
And always be on the make for a position elsewhere if you're not happy where you are. Your loyalty to the company is admirable, and should be valuable to them. But if you feel like you're not being compensated adequately or aren't going anywhere, then it's in your interest to sell that loyalty to an employer that values it.
Edit: Whelp, late again to the party.
I am going sit down in a few minutes with my manager and talk with her about what specifically she needs to see from me to continue on as her MIT.I will update when I get home from work!
In either case, I'd dust off my resume and look elsewhere. The awesomeness of corporate doesn't matter much when you directly report to someone awful.
The chat with my manager went better than I expected. I asked her for specific actions I can take over the next couple of weeks to keep my position. She gave me a couple of items and I made sure I understood how she was going to "measure" my success. I straight out asked her if she felt that I could do what needed to be done in the time allotted ("Am I wasting my time to even try?") and she told me that if I wanted the job and did the things she set for me that there is no reason I shouldn't be able to continue as her MIT.
I do have a second job that I am sure I could get more hours at if I asked. Unfortunately, it would only be 15-ish hours a week and the pay is not fantastic. My plan over the next several days is to sit down with my husband and crunch some numbers. I want to see how much of a problem it would be for us/how long we could continue to pay the bills if I stepped out of my MIT position before finding a full-time job. (This is not to say that I would not be looking for a full-time job, but it would be nice to know what kind of buffer I am looking at.) I can take an educated guess what my reduced pay rate would be and assume that I would be working between 30 - 35 hours a week on average.
As I said before, I like (love) this company and would be happy to continue on part-time (not as management). At this point my concern is telling them "Oh yeah, I want this!" and continue on for another few months, but then as soon as I find another job going, "SIKE! PEACE!". I would really like to part on good terms.
Oh and identify if those list of things she told you to do to be reevaluated are of actual importance. My impression of these corporate types is that they are just trying to exert power and control. Some sort of pseudo power game with their underlings. Or maybe these things are important to doing the job and making money. Which is what I thought the point of these service retail jobs were. The service industry boggles my mind.
It took them until today to give you specifics on what they want to see from you. The first meeting should have been "you are doing these things well, but you must work on X, Y, Z." It sounds like those specifics weren't there before which is unacceptable and a total failure of management on their part.
You are being set up to fail. Get out.
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Whilst it's nearly always best to leave professionally I don't think your latter option there is bad. It's retail, they'll drop you in a second if it suits them and also expect high turnover from staff.
I say carry on as MIT for now but keep loooking for something you'll prefer that also pays enough.