Depression over current job...anyone?

I was a complete basket case for two years from when layoffs started to when I eventually got bounced. They started right after my first kid was born.

By the time it was my turn to go, I think I was relieved.

 

Never. My job is but a small part of my life. I use it to pay for fun. That's the extent of the relationship.

 

Thanks to all of you who weighed in. It's nice to have some sympathy instead of wearing down my friends and family.

I had an interview today for a marketing position. If I pass through to the next round (and the next), the hiring process will be about 3-4 weeks long, so I'm not typing my two weeks notice just yet. I'm not really in the position to quit without anything else lined up and am just trying to grin and bear it while I wait for an offer.

If anyone has any other advice or stories in the meantime, keep sharing. I'm feeling a little bit better today, but still frustrated/jaded overall, kind of like I regret going to college for journalism in the first place. Or that I didn't do enough to really get in with a sports team.

 

It got so bad for me that I remember one morning that as I was approaching the office, a song I liked came on the radio, and I decided to drive around for a few more minutes to listen to it. And I just decided to keep going and listening to music for about a half hour past the time I was supposed to be in the office.

Like podunk, one of the saving graces for my sanity and, as it turned out, my future, was to develop my skills. I started making a game of designing my pages as fast as I could. I made sure not to sacrifice quality, but I'd race against an imaginary clock. I looked up a lot of InDesign tutorials and learned how to make more creative and attractive layouts.

I eventually moved to a new city, and the big daily had a designer opening and brought me in. From day one, everyone's talked about how fast I am, a skill I honed to keep boredom at bay. My design skills aren't the best here by any means, but they're certainly above average.

Do whatever you can to make the job more tolerable, more interesting, more fun. That's obviously not always as easy said as done, but if you put your mind to it, you should find some opportunities. And keep at the job search. Good luck.

 

I'm not depressed about the job itself (we're understaffed, but that's a given these days). By 2014 standards, the parent company is still better than average -- several cuts above Gannett and many others. The boss is a decent guy who is generally respected by most of us -- he's not warm and fuzzy and won't overwhelm you with praise, but if you work hard and do your job with competence, he generally leaves you alone.

With a job that was all print until recently, about five years before I can consider retiring and a desire to leave on my own terms, I'm like a lot of people on this board -- depressed about the fact that print is circling the drain and wondering if I can survive the race against time. I've recently taken on responsibilities with the e-editions that require working the least desirable shift in our operation in an effort to add new skills and become as valuable as possible (and it's been my experience at the places I've worked that people with modest skills who take on s--- jobs and are willing to do just about anything survive the longest, and sometimes thrive). Not sure it will help in the long run anymore.

 

I lost my job at a daily in spring of 2013 and busted it on two part time jobs (16 hr days mostly) until getting a gig at a weekly starting last week. All high schools with a column I get to write each week, so deadlines are flexible. I love it, especially having time to write my stories. Glad I got back in the business!

 

I have been through some of the same things. I've felt especially hopeless at times when all my family and friends are coming on social media to say they got jobs, especially since they all seemed to be getting the jobs they truly wanted and were on cloud nine. One of my co-workers was recruited away by a big-name company, and I even felt like I'd failed, wondering why he was getting recruited and taking such an awesome job while I couldn't even get a call back. We had the same job title too, so it's not like he was in a drastically different place than me.

Someone I know got a job with a minor league sports team selling tickets, and she was complaining on social media the other night that selling tickets sucks and she hates it. I would've loved to have gotten in with a team, and I was so close to telling her to shut it, then I remembered that "Be grateful you have a job." does nothing for me, so I wouldn't feed her that line either. Still sucked, though, watching someone in with an organization I would've loved to be hired by complaining about her job.