Depression over current job...anyone?

For those of you who are trying to get out or have gotten out, were you ever feeling depressed while still at your journalism job?

I've been an editor for the last four years, so I can't relate to the many struggles I've read on here from reporters. Forgive me for that much. But, I have felt the burnout from working every Thanksgiving and Christmas, working weekends while watching all my family and friends have leisure time and being under constant scrutiny from my supervisor. (My first supervisor was pretty much a clueless 25-year-old who had no idea how to manage and gave off signals and said things that showed as much. His replacement is about the same age and has nearly argued with me when I'm not available for work at certain hours, even though I have covered coworkers plenty.) My coworkers and I get 1-1 performance reviews every 3-4 weeks, and the team as a whole then gets an e-mail about where we need to step up and what was good. On team meetings, my boss will give a shoutout to the person with a best review, although this time, he did it in the group e-mail.

I have stepped up the job search, but tomorrow will mark only my third interview/interaction with an employer that doesn't involve an automated rejection e-mail. I've sent out 35 applications. The only way I would stay at my current job now is if I got the absolute right offer, and given that we have low turnover in some departments, I don't see it happening. Since June, I've gotten farewell e-mails on behalf of or directly from at least 5-6 coworkers, including one colleague who lasted four months. Granted, I didn't know some of the people, but I can see what's happening, and it's making me squirm. (Luckily, we are not in danger of layoffs that I know of.)

I used to think this was all going to be worth it because I wanted to eventually work in sports media relations. I even have a good mentor who holds that role with a local sports team. He's helped me out a little in feeling less overwhelmed and giving me advice to manage my priorities, and he was ultimately the one who encouraged me to think about options outside of media relations, and sports period. We weighed the pros and cons of the career path and he left the decision to me (which I appreciated, since he didn't directly tell me to get out or that I'd be terrible at the job or whatever). I decided to think about expanding my horizons a little, which is how my social media internship turned part-time job came to be, and eight months after my mentor talked with me, I now don't care if my next job is not in sports media. It's been hard, but I've slowly detached myself from the idea.

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone has ever felt depressed or exhausted on the job while you were waiting to exit. How did it affect you? I tend to feel drained and not feel like doing anything around the house after work, and I know I'm angrier and get more affected by things that shouldn't bother me. What can I do until a new job comes up to stay in control and not let my emotions get the better of me in my personal life?

Thanks everyone...I really appreciate it.

 

Yes.
Oh god, yes.
Still in, trying to get out but not sure which way to jump. I used to think the good would outweigh the bad and I could tread water at a shitty company for a couple years, then jump to a good one. But are there good companies anymore? I'm starting to think no. And the misery keeps piling up.

 

I hate metrics.

 

Just reminded me to check on job postings. Thanks.

 

I actually used to not mind getting reviewed when I was newer to my role so I knew what to work on, could see my mistakes, etc. But once management decided to switch to this "every three weeks cycle" system, that's when I started to go batty.

I know pretty much every company has annual reviews. I would be a little less stressed with a system like that, or even if my bosses went to every other month or every three months. Every few weeks is excessive.

 

Every few weeks is ridiculous. Everybody has a few weeks where they kick ass, and a few weeks that are rather ordinary and a week that nothing goes right. A review should be about the overall body of work, rather than hot and cold streaks.

 

So in other words you spend more time in meetings talking about your job than actually doing it? Is it likely your managers are not the sharpest tools in the shed?

 

Haha well my first manager (see description in my first post) was NOT the sharpest tool in the shed. He would tell me how unorganized he was (especially on time management), would schedule a meeting with me and either just forget about it or remember hours later that he had to see me and have bi-weekly conference calls with the whole team where we talked about the same things on more than one occasion.

Ever since he left for health reasons and the new manager took over (he was a peer of mine who was moved up), we haven't had conference calls as much and New Boss is more focused on the tri-weekly performance reviews. He'll send me one-off notes about my mistakes, and it actually came up in my last review that I need to respond to him when he sends them. (It was actually an "action item" in my report, even though I respond to his questions about shift coverage or how a particular shift went.) When we do have group conference calls, we are still rehashing topics from past calls...it seems like there isn't much new going on that makes us worth getting together. (Unless it's to see who gets the honor of the "shoutout" for best performance I guess.)

My new boss, who's been in charge for about three months, seems to have his act more together on time management and organization. But he still comes off as unreasonable at times and being demanding, then getting mad when I won't give him his way on things like scheduling (because of being unavailable or whatever).

 

I didn't really get depressed. I would get frustrated. I think I applied for roughly 75 jobs in seven years before I *finally* was able to leave the business.

Now? Better hours. Better salary. Better ... everything.

How did I get out?

I stopped caring what my bosses wanted, and everything I did was for me. I learned web skills ... for me. I started a blog ... for me. I started my own Facebook group ... for me. Was I a team player? Sure. Did I write the most stories monthly on my reporter team? Sure. But my real focus was on developing *my* skills.

And those skills were what finally got me out.

You have to focus on the print job ... and develop the skills other employers will want at the same time. Lots of long hours.

Most editing/reporting journalism resumes will not get through human resources for jobs outside the industry. But if you have the skills they are looking for, you at least stand a chance of getting in the door for an interview.

 

Yes. I would cry on the drive in and on the drive back. My boss was horrible to me, and so was the news editor. It was miserable. It wasn't the job so much; it was the way TPTB treated me.

I took a 90-something percent pay cut to quit (Peace Corps), and it was one of the smartest things I've ever done.

It's easy to say "hang in there," but it's just not that easy to do. Good luck.

 

I actually love my newspaper job.

What depresses me is the feeling that i will inevitably get laid off and/or the paper will just fold.

I've got 20 years left to make a living.

 

Got out before I got to the depressed point.

Knew exactly what job would entail when i got in, and knew depressed point would occur if I reached a certain age and still had to show interest in the exploits of high school athletes.