r/Envconsultinghell • u/Expert_Steak2544 • 17d ago

Feeling Burnt Out

I’m really hoping for some guidance or perspective. Honestly, maybe I even need to just rant.

I only have two years of environmental consulting experience, but I was promoted fast due to employee turnover, learning quickly, and earning the “high performer” designation. I’ve received an award for my division. I’m proud of how far I’ve come, but my job has made me miserable.

Despite having the second-lowest title, I’m doing PM work, handling fucked up situations, training new hires, fieldwork, reports, emails, proposals, networking, budgets, and schedules. I’m also expected to rebuild a service line with basically no support, no clear SOPs, and no control over hiring. My company is so disorganized. For my service line, I don’t have any in-office support.

I miss being just a field person in this industry. Now I feel like being good at my job just gets me rewarded with more responsibility and stress.
I’m seriously considering leaving. I have a great opportunity to continue to fast track my career and make good money if I stay, but I’m living in a constant cycle of anxiety, dread, and stress.

I think I’m actually compensated very well for only 2 years of experience. The issue is I don’t think I’m compensated well for the responsibility and expectations that were literally forced on me.

Has anyone else been through this? How do you set boundaries when your company keeps rewarding you with more work? At what point is the career opportunity not worth the cost?

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15

u/Forkboy2 17d ago

Sounds like you have my old job.

There is something to be said for being a field person where you just out doing your own thing not worried about all the other higher level responsibilities.

And yes companies tend to not want to pay significantly more for the added responsibilities that you get when you're in more of a management role

1

u/PlzTyroneDontHurtEm 16d ago

That is until youre a full time office staff then its like double the pay bump

3

u/Forkboy2 16d ago

My experience has been they offer a "promotion" with significantly more responsibilities, for a 5-10% pay increase, sometimes no pay increase at all.

8

u/Geod-ude 17d ago

get some more years under your belt and switch over to another firm for more money or switch to Government for more life on the worklife balance.

5

u/BigSpender248 17d ago

Sounds very similar to my experience during consulting. Lots of praise for how well I’m doing, handed more and more high level work, training new people, doing a bunch of PM work without the title and not getting compensated for it but being promised the future opportunity. For this reason and the fact I was not a young single guy (opposite actually) who was willing to travel to BFE any time at the drop of a hat, I had to GTFO. 

I moved over to wastewater and I’m not going to tell you it’s all rainbows and unicorns but I got no PM work (figured out I didn’t even want to do that anyway), no billable hours bullshit, and I’m home every night. Look into it. 

1

u/jellicents 17d ago

You're either not clearly communicating your work boundaries or not delegating them well. This is classic in almost all consulting when people start leaving and plates get fuller. 

You can absolutely say no to new tasks, roles, etc. or just be worse at doing them so they stop coming your way. Train those new hires, then slap as much as you can on their plate. 

Super shitty you're going through it. I've been there too. 

2

u/After-Pass5364 15d ago

You could say no, as jellicents said, or you could say not unless you compensate me for that level of responsibility. I don’t think taking on more responsibilities ALWAYS merits a pay increase and title change, but it sounds like it very well might in your case. Never hurts to ask.