terrible bosses

[man]

in my career of part-time joe-jobs I think I've had downright terrible luck with bosses. my first job was at a sandwich shop, and my boss made it seem like I was working the floor at a stock exchange. (and that I was sucking at it.) later on I worked as a handyman for my town's parks department, and my boss made it very apparent to me that not only was I screwing up at everything I did, but that the world would end if I didn't get on top of it. last summer I did construction/remodeling for a landlord who eventually turned into a really good friend of mine, but had extraordinarily high standards and no concept of how long it took to finish a job. I liked him compared with the others, but one of my friends (who happened to be a very skilled and hard-working dude) said he was the worst boss he'd ever had.

I don't mind working for perfectionists, because I'm generally one myself, but these guys don't take any blame for the things that go wrong and put it all on me. however I'm graduating college this spring and am not really looking forward to having a [censored] boss.

so,

what are your bosses like? what do I have to look forward to? how do you deal with bosses who put the blame on you? how do you manage these situations constructively? any anecdotes, advice, etc are appreciated.

[gamblore99]

[ QUOTE ]
my first job was at a sandwich shop, and my boss made it seem like I was working the floor at a stock exchange. (and that I was sucking at it.)

[/ QUOTE ]

This reminds me of a lot of my previous bosses, also from stupid easy jobs. They try to make everything seem so important, and bring up the small mistake you made 3 months ago as to why you can't get a raise. When I finally realized all these bosses were really stupid, and stopped caring about the small things they concerned themselves with, I had a lot more fun and got less criticism from them. Looking back I kinda blame myself, because I assumed these guys had a good understanding of "how things are". If these guys give you lots of [censored], just do a decent job and ignore what they say, if you do an ok job, I think you can just get by with being severly disliked by the boss.

[man]

yeah, another thing is that in the construction jobs I've done many of the dudes just had a natural knack for it that I did not, and couldn't explain anything. another problem is that I get nervous as [censored] that they're gonna yell at me so I overwork things (which in construction is pretty uneffective).

so what're bosses like in white collar areas?

[Mr_J]

What is a boss???

Now I've got that out of the way...how do I deal?? I work for myself.

I've had 2 bosses before. Pizza hut when I was like 16, boss was a goth and wore [censored] to work, [censored] see through shirt, was a wanker but ok. Boss in nightclub was cool, and encouraged me to chat up (and more) female patrons.

[Low Limit Loser]

[ QUOTE ]
in my career of part-time joe-jobs I think I've had downright terrible luck with bosses. my first job was at a sandwich shop, and my boss made it seem like I was working the floor at a stock exchange. (and that I was sucking at it.) later on I worked as a handyman for my town's parks department, and my boss made it very apparent to me that not only was I screwing up at everything I did, but that the world would end if I didn't get on top of it. last summer I did construction/remodeling for a landlord who eventually turned into a really good friend of mine, but had extraordinarily high standards and no concept of how long it took to finish a job. I liked him compared with the others, but one of my friends (who happened to be a very skilled and hard-working dude) said he was the worst boss he'd ever had.

I don't mind working for perfectionists, because I'm generally one myself, but these guys don't take any blame for the things that go wrong and put it all on me. however I'm graduating college this spring and am not really looking forward to having a [censored] boss.

so,

what are your bosses like? what do I have to look forward to? how do you deal with bosses who put the blame on you? how do you manage these situations constructively? any anecdotes, advice, etc are appreciated.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe you just really really suck at being an employee.

LLL

[Leaky Eye]

If your boss is a douche you find a new job. White collar bosses can be just as bad and psychotic as blue.

[GambleGamble]

Im not the top of the food chain where I work, but I report directly into no one with in my office...my boss is 2300 miles away and can only speak by phone, but I also work in a high demand job with serious micro management and it takes a demanding boss to succeed in my industry. But I also know I would be an absolute slug if someone wasnt there pushing me to fullest potential, so instead of thinking of them as a terrible boss, step back and put yourself in there shoes and see how you would react in the same situation. The strains of being in charge can seriously interfere with a persons ability to realize exactly what they are doing.....

The only time I ever truly got them to understand was when I literally [censored] snapped and said Ill [censored] quit....things have been much better since then

[RacersEdge]

If your in a technical area, you will probably at least get a decent boss. I think the bad bosses are the most prevalent in "salesey" jobs where they are under pressure to make some quota - and they are not the smartest of people.

My boss now is really good - has a tech background so understands the gist of things, but relies on my opinion and judgement. Plus, he doesn't micromanage.

But I have never had a terrible boos - all were at least decent.

[nation]

Only had one boss...he was pretty cool. It was at an MBNA telemarketing credit card service. Needless to say, I got bored/angry with my job very fast and quit within 2 months.

[Hopey]

I worked for a guy who would carry around a notebook and write notes to himself every time I screwed up. Then we'd have a meeting once a month and he'd read his list to me, one by one. Nothing was too trivial to be included on his list. Most of the things on the list were things that I didn't remember doing, or things that he had no way of pinning on me, but would decide were my fault so that he had someone to blame. Good times.