Hello Everyone,
I am getting long winded and job search fatigue. While I am making progress job search wise and in the rounds of a few interviews. I am so exhausted from my toxic work enviornment and it will probably at least take a month to job transition and I am trying to tough it out. I am really comteplating just taking a remote contract jobs until something else comes along. Outside of the envirment and I also do need more money. If I took a contract job, Idk how I would explain this exactly to potential employer. Any suggestions?
Claire McCabe
405
10/18/22 at 4:08PM UTC
Contract jobs are great and in no way a red flag! It's 2022 and we've just survived a multi-year pandemic. I say go for it and get out of this work environment that's trashing your mental health and killing your soul. I've done the same and never regretted it nor had any problem with future employers.
Julie HumbirdSr. M365 Engineer at Microsoft
1.08k
10/10/22 at 4:44PM UTC
I've done this. I told employers I was working as a 1099 consultant while seeking long-term employment.
Lesa Edwards, Career Coach & Master Resume WriterTHE career expert for high achievers
4.13k
10/10/22 at 4:29PM UTC
If your work environment is truly toxic, then take a contract job and explain to potential employers that you needed to make a quick change and could do so with contract work. If they push further, base your answer on fact...and don't give details.
For example, "I discovered some business practices that I could not support, so I felt I should leave to protect my professional reputation and integrity."
Notice my wording at the outset: IF your work environment is truly toxic. If it is simply a matter of not getting along with your boss or coworkers, you are better off riding this out and learning how to deal with the types of people you will invariably face in every job you have.
Here's Wikipedia's definition: “It is reasonable to conclude that an organization can be considered toxic if it is ineffective as well as destructive to its employees.”
Here's a link to a podcast I did on workplace toxicity:
https://www.exclusivecareercoaching.com/posts/2021-07-28-188-is-your-work-environment-really-toxic-how-to-know-and-what-to-do/
