I was thinking on the train the other day why people suck at their jobs. If you’re an honest person, even if you front to others that you are some superstar at work, you know deep down inside if you suck at your job or not.
I came up with these main reasons why people suck at their jobs, which is not to say that they’re stupid by any means, but it’s simply not a job for them.
YOU THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN YOUR JOB BUT YOU HAVEN’T PROVEN OTHERWISE
Maybe you are, but more than likely since you’re IN that job, you’re not better than your job until you can prove it to someone that you are.
That sounded unwieldy, but think about it — you’re in a job that you think sucks. REALLY sucks because it’s below your mental capacity or it doesn’t pay what you were expecting to be paid.
So you end up sucking at the job because you think you’re better than it, but the thing you forget is that until you have PROVEN to someone that this sucky, underpaid job is below your skill level and brains by doing such an outstanding job that people say to you: But.. why are you doing this job? You should be in something better with your skills., you will stay where you are and continue bitching to the end of your days.
The key is that until you PROVE you don’t suck at the job and can offer a lot more, you can’t hope to get out of that job and move elsewhere.
Talk about a catch-22, huh?
YOU DON’T HAVE THE KNACK FOR YOUR JOB
You can be a smart person, but if you don’t have a feel for gardening and green things, you’re going to kill all the houseplants, even cacti that you bring home.
Does that mean you’re an idiot? No (perhaps not entirely), it just means you don’t have a brain that’s wired towards what you’re doing.
So why are you doing it? If you wake up every morning and dread going to work because you’re afraid someone is going to suss that you’re really just a fraud parading around the office, why are you putting yourself through that?
I mean, if you told me to go and study to become a dentist, I guess I COULD make it, but frankly, I am just not good with my hands and am clumsy. I can’t imagine having to use sharp instruments in someone’s mouth while trying not to cut them.
I am no good at cutting or carving anything, especially soap carvings, which my friend told me was something she had practiced while becoming a dentist.
YOU AREN’T INTERESTED IN YOUR JOB
Kind of along the same lines as above, you are NOT interested in it. My mother is a self-proclaimed idiot, which I tell her is not true in the slightest but she persists in telling me that she is really not a bright person but she works hard.
The example she loves to trot out as proof of her idiocy is that she can’t do math. She still doesn’t quite understand how fractions and multiplying them works, because her brain is not wired for math.
In reality, she’s just not interested in math, because she easily grasps concepts in her field that take other people years to finally master. She can spend hours reading a book if she’s interested, yet can’t make it through 5 pages of a Grade 5 math book.
My mother is not an idiot, she just isn’t interested in math, and her brain is too stubborn to try, so it just flops over and gives up.
YOU DON’T HAVE THE EDUCATION
The fourth and final reason I came up with for why people suck at their jobs is because they don’t have the education required to do the job well. Either they fell into the job by accident and never really left, or they somehow finagled their way onto the job before degrees and certifications became the be-all and end-all of saying who was qualified or not.
Another reason why people suck at their jobs is that they become depressed and demotivated because due to a lack of education, they can’t move up.
That is, they don’t have the right degree, diploma or education to move from let’s say a “simple” factory worker to a manager, and finally someone who is working as the Vice-President at the end of their career.
It simply isn’t in the cards because they don’t have the so-called credentials that all these corporations seem to require to “move up” in the ranks these days.
(And they ask for a lot today)
So, they end up sucking at their jobs. They feel like they’re trapped like rats in a dead-end situation and either don’t have the money or don’t want to go back to school to try and ameliorate the problem.
Michelle
I like this list. I would also add that sometimes you work like a dog and have superiors who enjoy keeping you from getting promotions. I’ve had that happen to me.
save. spend. splurge.
Were they women by any chance? I find that happens with women more than men, although with men it’s a more of a “you’re still a little girl” thing if they do that.
Anonymous
@save. spend. splurge.:
You just hit the nail on the head. I have had the unfortunate experience of having poor female bosses. Only a couple of female bosses have been great.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323884304578328271526080496
A lot of people have called that article “sexist” but it rings too true to my own experience.
I now prefer male bosses and yes I’ve gotten the little girl crap as well not only from some male bosses but 1 female boss as well.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/13/living/identity-gallup-male-boss-female-boss/
I got “laid off” my job this evening and I have a huge gut feeling it was because my female boss did not like me.
At this point I’m tired of the corporate track, if I can freelance or start my own business I will.
My dad was an executive for a corporation and my mom ran her own business, they did this before they retired.
There is so much bs in the corporate world, my bf says that the corporate world is a game, lol. I’m just sick of it and as I learned tonight there is no security in the corporate world.
save. spend. splurge.
There is definitely no security in the corporate world. I learned that early on, especially since there are always going to be people who don’t like you.
I had bad bosses too, and we just can’t seem to get along because they can’t keep it professional and do their #%*#$#&% jobs.
I find in general, guys tend to make better bosses — they can separate work and life, but women are too involved. I think this is true even for me when I work. I really get genuinely attached to a project..
Anonymous
@save. spend. splurge.: Thanks good to know I’m not alone in this.
Michelle
@save. spend. splurge.:
They WERE women! I was told by my boss (who eventually was let go..after years of being evil) that she wasn’t comfortable with me representing the company on marketing trips. She was the one who would drink too much in front of our clients!
Anonymous
@Michelle:
Not surprised Michelle. I feel for you. I have been there, you are not alone.
Women should be supportive of each other in the workplace but many unfortunately are not.
I want to encourage other women after what I’ve been through. We need to be there for each other as women and not be against each other.
I mean life is challenging enough on it’s own, women not helping and being against each other is egregious.
mnme
I think there is at least one more reason. Often people are given the responsibility of a job, but not the power to get it done.
I had a job like that and I have seen this in operation, quite often, in
government jobs.
It can be easy to miss how often the person given a job to do is not given the means to get it done. It can become difficult to do a good job, when you are stopped by managers or supervisors unwilling or, themselves, unable to give you the means to get it done.
save. spend. splurge.
@mnme: Oh true! Responsibility without power is frustrating as well.
Cindy
I agree with you. all people do is complain about how their job needs to be run this way or that and then they don’t do anything productive to make a difference
save. spend. splurge.
@Cindy: Just bitchin’ gets you nowhere.
maria@moneyprinciple
I don’t recognise those in myself but I’ve met many people like that – after all according to Peter’s Principle we get promoted to the level of our incompetence. (Like the look of the site very much, btw.)
save. spend. splurge.
Tell me about it 🙂
(Thank you!)