I work for a nonprofit law firm, and I used to enjoy working with them because my co-workers were easy to get along with, and I felt like my work was meaningful. I wasn’t just filling the pockets of some rich guy who wanted more money, I was helping low-income people in the right direction to obtain an attorney when no one else could help them.
Ever since new upper management took over, things only went downhill from here. More than half of our staff is gone ever since our new managing attorney showed up, yet she still insists on blaming us instead of taking responsibility.
My new manager has loathed me (and my co-workers) since day one. She’s constantly looking for small non-issues to blow out of porportion and act like they’re a big deal.
I already know I’m getting fired. They haven’t told me, but it’s obvious they want me gone. They put me on probation because I “followed the directions of my old supervisors, and my new one didn’t like it”. Whenever I express my concerns, she plays the “Nuh uh, I don’t wanna hear it!” card.
Where am I supposed to go from here? I wouldn’t mind making less money than I currently make, which is $43,000 per year.
A thing to note is that staff tend not to leave good companies. That means they recruit FAR less than you would expect.
A useful method would be to make a list of all the companies you can find that seem to both be going fine, but not obviously recruiting.
Getting your foot in the door with them is the hard part. First thing is to check if you have any contacts there. Ex-coworkers, or people who are friends with a staff member. If so, try and leverage that contact to get your C.V. to them. Failing that, a polite phonecall to HR or the boss (depending on the company), with a follow up email is the best bet.
This method still has a 95%+ failure rate. The aim is to get your C.V. in front of the right person when they need a role filled, but haven’t started the recruitment process yet.
Start calling in. Use absolutely every minute of any accrued sick time. Use that time to job search and interview.
Start job hunting now. Half ass your job until they fire you.
Not a great idea for lawyers to do that. Your boss gets the fees whether your client wins or loses, but your client could lose their entire case. Law is kind of messed up that way.
To be clear, I’m not a lawyer.
In the end the deciding factor is the supply and demand dynamic for someone like you in the job market. That is going to determine how picky you can allow yourself to be in your job search. Most people will try to use this dynamic to get a higher income, but you can also use it to get better working conditions etc. So you can look into jobs with a higher demand for applicants (searching job boards (1) and asking people who actively recruit can give you a feel for what is in higher demand), and you can look into jobs that have a lower supply of applicants (less populated areas, requiring rare qualifications, “unglamorous” fields that many aren’t interested in or don’t know about).
Of course stuff like asking the right questions during the interview, talking to employees, doing prior research etc. is important, but that only helps if you’re in a situation where you can allow yourself to be picky because you have better options. So I’d focus on how to get into that situation if I were you.
At least, this line of reasoning has been very helpful to me. There’s also people with different approaches that seemed to make them happy. Just something to think about.
(1) job boards are NOT very reliable sources of information, but they’re a good start
I write software and I’m in the same situation. My goal right now is to focus on companies that have been there a long time (20/30 years old, I shun startups).
Better if they work on an subject that is the most boring ever, stuff that will be stable for a long time.
It is subjective but I’m fed up with crazy managers who harass people because line must go up.
Thank you! And where do you find companies that have been around for a long time? Obviously, online job sites are terrible, since they’re filled with ghost jobs and scams.
Should point out: My current company has been around ever since I was born (2002), but it’s obviously not a great place to work and I know I’m not alone in feeling this way.
Have you kept in touch with your old coworkers who have left? They might have positions.
My former managing attorney is looking, actually.
Call them today. Don’t wait
Bingo
How do I make sure my next job is a better place to work?
By not getting nervous. Keep your calm.
Finding a new job takes it’s time. Maybe half a year, I don’t know. There are statistics that answer this for your region and your field. Grant the time to yourself.
Stay there if it is still bearable, but start your looking around now in all earnest, as if you were free already. If the money reservoir’s are running low, make reasonable decisions, not fearful ones.
- if you are doing well in intervoew, ask why the position is vacant. If they say the old guy was bad that could be a red flag.
- talk to coworkers. See if there is anyone they know at another place doing similar work. References to good positions is key.
- don’t limit yourself to what you currently do. Think about what transferable skills you have and what job that might relate to.
- customize resume to the job you want, not the job you have.
probably also look on reviews for those jobs too try tto fish any common behaviours that are alarming, aside from the astroturfign.
How do I talk to co-workers of a job that I don’t have?
I meant talk to coworker you have right now that you trust. Maybe they have a friend that has a similar job
They are not hiring an employee, you are hiring an employer. Interview them.
You should have started prepping to leave when the problems started. IDK anything about your line of work, but most jobs are basically the same at the social level. Find a place that has a good vibe. If the atmosphere turns to shit move on. Don’t feel you power loyalty to your employer - they’re just another source of income, you don’t owe them Jack shit.
Don’t feel you power loyalty to your employer
S/power/owe/ ?
We used to have a print news sheet for job listings in the non profit sector, which is very large in my home city. It would have one or two articles as well but was mostly job classifieds. Wish I could give you a specific recommendation, but I guess I’m saying just find another job?
It sounds like you want to be in that job sector, but you experienced a disastrous turnover in management at one organization. To be candid it’s a mild story compared to many I have heard. Tyrannical EDs or crazy founders with too much authority, big funding swings, politics up the wazoo… the non profit sector seems to be particularly drama-laden. I’m not sure why. But take the hit and move on. It doesn’t sound like it was about you personally.
maybe it take a certain kind of attitude(ego) to be in a non-profit thats probably why they all act very differently than a for-profit.
There is no way to do that…
You were at a great place that went to shit when new leadership came in. I am in the same boat as you. There is nothing I or you can do about that.
So what do you do when your workplace goes to shit?
…sigh…
The only thing you can do is GTFO there.
[off topic]
Get this book. “Discover What You Are Best At.” Linda Gail.
It’s a series of self tests to show you what talents you already have, and then a guide to jobs that need those qualities.
There might be a job you’d love that you’ve never considered.
How on earth is this off topic? It’s probably the most on-topic comment I’ve ever read on this post
I recommend this book all the time because it got me the job I love.
Other people have said I shouldn’t be pushing ‘self help books.’
I really hope everything works out for you
You could look for another job in the nonprofit sector. Your past experience will help you. You’ve not said what your specialisation is or what exactly you do—if you’re a lawyer and want to keep lawyer-ing, I suppose you could look for another nonprofit law firm, or something like a human rights law firm.
I’m not a lawyer, I’m a receptionist/legal assistant. There are no other non-profit law firms in my area.
Then you can still look elsewhere in the nonprofit sector. It doesn’t have to be a law firm.
I hear that working for non-profits in general have a bad reputation, since they tend to not pay much (despite their CEOs being filthy rich), and apparently nobody actually cares about not making a difference. They just wanna get out of paying taxes.
From my personal experience, we ALWAYS had a shitty CEO who would never listen to us. But at the very least, we had better managing attorneys who our CEO refused to keep in favor of a worse managing attorney that our CEO liked better.
It depends. I have worked for nonprofits and know a lot of people who do. Word of mouth/connections with people already working there is a good way to find relatively decent NGO work. You would likely be paid near minimum wage though, it’s true, but a lot of NGOs do have well-meaning people who try to make a difference working at the lower levels; they normally have a bureaucratic layer that sucks but your actual coworkers are normally quite sound if you can find the right job. And some NGOs still do overall decent work even if the leadership sucks; they aren’t revolutionary organisations by any means, but when you’re looking at jobs, you’d be comparing them to some generic corporate job which sucks more.
Your course is clear: choose the timing of your firing.
Make sure? Impossible.
All jobs are an experiment and a guess. Interviewers are often on their best behavior, just like candidates are. There is no way to know. Hope for the best and be ready to leave, to the best of your ability.
I’m really very sorry that the situation isn’t better for you. I believe I’m facing similar issues.
Good luck. Peace.
How many times have you changed jobs?
My first Adult Job (not a teenager job) lasted 4 years and ended in 2001. After that I became a freelancer. Since then, the longest gig I’ve had is 11 weeks or 1-2 weeks every 4-6 weeks for about 4 years. Otherwise, I have worked with clients 2 hours to 5 days at a time.
I got away with that for 25 years and now I’m struggling to figure out what happens next.
Sounds quite fun. You were able to live off of freelancing, too? Not to mention, shorter gigs means more skills for your resume and more connections!
How were you able to get your start freelancing?
It has its moments, but it also led to significant terror every year, wondering whether this would be the last year people would hire me.
I started accidentally. I stockpiled cash from my IBM job, then I wrote some things about a topic that was becoming popular. Then people noticed me. Since I didn’t have to settle for another crappy job, I could take a chance on doing a few gigs that paid good money.
Two years later, somebody identified me as The Person to write The Next Book on that topic. And then a few influential people amplified me.
And then a few more.
That was the luck I needed.
