For several years after finishing my studies, I did not have a regular job.
I worked seasonal, craft jobs and jobs that required more physical strength.
When I think back on that period now, I regret that I allowed my strength and youth to be so exploited, but when one is young and feels like the sky is the limit, nothing is difficult.
When I started my first job in my profession (electrical engineering), I was happy that in addition to my muscles, I would start using my brain for a salary.
I worked for two years in a company where I gained excellent practical knowledge, but due to a conflict with the owner of that company, I had to look for another job. Lest you think I'm a bully - No.
I was just asking for my rights, to be paid on time and paid for all hours worked, as well as the right to take vacation when I give enough months notice, and not be dependent on future projects.
But I guess that's how it is in a small company, where the owner wants to pour most of the earnings into his own pockets and where the number of people is always at a minimum...
I didn't think too much and relatively quickly I accepted the offer of another company, to work with them for the design, construction and servicing of gas station systems.
I knew that a lot of traveling was expected of me in that job, but also expanding my knowledge about some new electronics and systems.
In the beginning it was relatively OK, I went with one colleague to closer fields (during working hours we visited some local gas stations) and we spent most of the working week next to the desk, with an oscilloscope and a tool for servicing electronic components and motherboards.
Everything was going OK, without any major challenges, until that colleague decided to continue his career in another company.
Then I fell into a team with a top engineer, an electronics man, a man with many years of experience, but with a man who was used to working alone.
Going to the field with him was very interesting for me, I could learn all kinds of things with him, however...
The problems started the moment there was a need to go to far away locations.
By then, I was very used to field work and it was no problem for me to go to the field for a few days, but only when I knew about the plan and the terrain.
When everything is planned and organized, there are usually no problems.
But when you are in a team with someone who is not at all organized, with someone who does not care what time of day or night it is and who does not share information about those plans with you for some planned activities, then a problem arises.
Especially with me, who was brought up to respect other people's time, but for that reason I have expectations that someone else respects my time.
My working day started at 8 am.
Arriving at the company, making coffee, changing into work uniform and activities at the desk repairing electronics or at the computer, with documentation, were the activities I performed until he arrived an hour or two later (he had an agreement to work from 10-18h) with plans for that day.
And when we had a field trip in our town, there were no problems.
But the first problem arose when he came to work one morning around 10:00, sat down at the laptop and typed something until 12:00, and after noon, he packed the laptop, took a bag with diagnostics and tools and told me "Let's go".
When I asked him: "Where are we going today?"
And when he told me: "Novi Pazar (a city 280 km from our city). When we arrive, we have some preparatory work and a hotel booked late at night, we sleep and continue with the work tomorrow", I almost fainted.
"What do you think, we're staying the night? Well, I don't have any clean clothes, clean laundry, socks, t-shirts, I don't even have a toothbrush, nothing. And I didn't announce to my girlfriend that I wouldn't be coming home from work. How could you not tell me that we were planning such a long trip and staying for two days?".
"What can I tell you, it's the way it is," he told me and headed for the car.
At that moment I made a decision!
You screwed me, but you won't for much longer!
As we were driving, I opened the job classifieds page and looked at what was on offer...
The search for a new job lasted probably two months, during which I experienced two or three more similar situations (the only thing was that this time I had clean laundry and a toiletry bag with me).
An interesting job that paid well, I had to leave not because of bad business policy or the toxicity of the work itself and the workplace where I worked, but because of the abnormal behavior of a colleague who was not used to working in a team.
But maybe that's how it should be, that each of us should experience challenges before finding a job in an orderly and collective that has respect for its employees, so that he knows how lucky he was to change the working environment.
Because here, at the job I've been doing for eighteen years in a row, in an organized system, I'm quite satisfied with the environment in which I've been for most of my life...
Wow, it was quite abusive to treat your time like that. I thought you were going to say you left right then and there, but you kept your composure and already had a plan in mind, which was good. On another note, I'm glad you feel so settled after 18 years. That's quite a long time, so as you say, you must feel very good there. Of course, there are probably ups and downs, like with everything, but overall, you feel good professionally after all this time.
I couldn't afford the luxury of not getting paid at the end of the week, and I didn't want to go back to the hard physical jobs I had left a few years before.
So, the idea was born in an instant, it only took a little time to put it into practice.
In the end, even if that colleague had been more normal and had shared plans with me, I don't think I would have stayed at that job too long (certainly not like the one I'm doing now), it's too much of a "nomadic" job, constantly on wheels...
It sounded like you could learn a lot from this guy based on his experience, sometimes that's the best way to learn technical skills. Sadly his organisation and social skills are lacking. Did you ever ask him to give you at least a day's warning if you had to go away overnight for work? And what did your manager say about? Not that it mattered much now because it's been such a long time, but maybe if the manager or knew about it, they could retain good staff.
Anyway, good for you, things turned out well for you in the end
Unfortunately, he was the only one between me and the owner of that company, and as he had worked there for over 10 years, there was no point.
It meant to me then that I understood what I wanted from an employer and that I will not rest until I find one who will value me and my time, as much as I am ready to value his company and to honestly give my time and knowledge.
many years have passed, but those three months, I still remember and know, I have never been, nor will I be, someone who is irresponsible with the time of others (be it colleagues, be it in private life).
What three things would you change if you could?
First, learn more and be able to do the work myself.
In those three months, I carefully followed his every move and watched over his shoulder as he performed testing, chip replacement, and reprogramming, to see if I could go alone on tasks.
Second, I became better organized. I always had a bag ready with me, which contained three days' worth of clothing, so that I wouldn't let myself feel as donkey as I did that first time.
And thirdly, what I didn't do, because I soon found a better job (better paid at the start, in a big company, with the possibility of advancement and additional training), invite him to a meeting with the owner of the company and honestly tell him that it's not right to act like a jerk, because that way he will drive away anyone who starts working with him, and he definitely needs someone in the team, because the job is more demanding.
But if the owner of the company doesn't notice it, and allows him to behave like that, forcing people to leave the job, who am I to open his eyes.
There was one more thing I could have done, but I didn't want to, because the business with fuel and gas stations in my country is closely related to crime, the fourth would be to endure a year, learn everything he knows from him, collect contacts and start servicing as the owner of my own company.
Interesting points.