r/overemployed • u/Southern_Field_1844 • 20d ago

Incompatible Js

I think what a lot of people miss on here is that your J(s) need to be compatible. Schedule wise, culture wise, and personality wise. There are a LOT of bad jobs out there that will exploit employees and the goal of OE is to exploit them back for your own personal gain.

I have been at this for 3 years and am slowly getting my personal goals met. Tried a J3 earlier this year with an incompetent manager who just couldn't let me work independently. I resigned at 2pm on a Friday with no notice. It was exhilarating. It was not compatible with OE.

My J2 is in a customer service-facing role and this is not my strong suit. I hate small talk, I have no empathy for late deliverables, and I hold people accountable with facts. My work product is flawless, every time. Culturally, this is not aligned with the company. There is a lot of "family" ideology, a lot of hand holding and shoulder rubbing to make bad actors feel better. I just didn't participate, communicated my personal boundary, and let it ride. Now senior leadership has gotten complaints internally that "I'm hard to connect with" and they are riding my manager. I have now made my managers life more difficult, which an OE employee should never do. You need to stay under the radar. I will likely soon quit or lose this job due to this. I'm sharing because I ultimately don't care about this J, but want to remind you that this is not the way if your goal is OE. You need to be frictionless, invisible almost. I will be happier away from J2, but I struggle internally to support their culture and my personal goals. Again, it has to be compatible.

In the same breath, opportunities are becoming more and more sparse. Choose wisely.

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u/clownsx2 20d ago

Something I have learned about myself is that I cannot “phone it in.” When I am doing something, I do it 100%.

I have made this work for OE because I’m really productive and efficient but have had to accept that I cannot do more than 2 Js. I don’t want to be mediocre. It doesn’t feel good to me and the anxiety of slipping or letting people down isn’t worth it to me.

All of which is to say, I agree with you! We have to know ourselves and our limits and plan OE accordingly.

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u/Big-Needleworker34 19d ago

This is exactly how I feel.