Unhappy At Work? 6 Signs It’s the Job, Not You, Sis
When you find yourself counting down the number of days you can take PTO or how you can finesse calling off to start looking for another position in your first 90 days, you may be suffering from a case of saying "yes" to the wrong job. Here's an example: During the pandemic, Jorden Patterson, a freelancer in the Midwest, landed the perfect job. After being laid off from her previous gig at an insurance company and spending months surviving off unemployment checks, she happily accepted a call center position.
Her interview process went at the speed of lightning, and she got a call back before she could even get home. When she attended her training on the first day of work, she realized that she made a mistake. "What the trainer shared about the position was not what the recruiter told me in the interview," says Jorden. "Before lunchtime, I knew that the job wasn't for me and I had to have an exit plan."
Jorden is one of the 49 percent of U.S. workers who are not in love with their job according to Forbes. People feel stuck in a company or a position that may pay their bills but doesn't feed their passion to work.
Whether you are looking for a job to fulfill a sense of purpose or just crave a dope work environment until your next professional adventure, you deserve to be at a company that you don't have to resent later.
Here are six warning signs that will help you avoid a work nightmare and steer you toward the job of your dreams:
1. The Job Hired You Very Quickly
Beware of a company that's thirsty to fill a position via a short process. The average hiring turnaround time is 27.5 days because recruiters value finding quality talent. A fast hire may show that the company is looking to fill a role with a warm body by any means necessary. Being placed in a role faster than you can blink can cause anxiety and stress because it is possible that you can inherit problems that haven't been resolved (i.e. lack of processes, distrustful work environment, minimal training; the list can go on!).
2. They've Gotten Trash Reviews From Previous Employees
If you can browse on Indeed.com or Glassdoor on any given day and see more negative employee feedback than positive, you've got yourself a doozie. Researching employee experiences can give you an idea of the company culture and how management treats its employees. While some reviews may have a little bias or exaggeration, the volume of bad reviews might tell you everything you need to know.
3. There's A Misalignment Of Values
As Drake eloquently told us, "Know yourself, know your worth." Quiet as it's kept, what a company stands for can play a part in whether a job is a good fit for you or not. Employees who are satisfied with their company's values report 20 percent higher alignment with work culture. If you find yourself not feeling a company's values, you have to examine your own to make sure the stars are aligned for employment there.
4. The Company Lied In The Job Description
It's been proven time and time again that a job description may not always match the actual duties. If you find yourself often frustrated, bored, or confused in your role, the reality of the job just might not fit what you dreamed it would be. It is important to work in a position that fulfills your expectations so that you can bring your best self to work. Anything less can cause you not perform well and could damage your professional reputation if you don't do well at work.
5. You Don't Have Support From Your Supervisors Or Coworkers
Research shows that 44 percent of women feel unsupported at work. If you hit the ground running with no guidance from your boss or coworkers, that may be a sign that your company is not setting you up for success. Observe who trains you, how they train you, and how confident you feel in the role when (or if) you get any training at all.
6. It's Not The Company, It's The Job
Let's face it - sometimes, it's not the workplace or you. It's the gig itself, sis.
Jorden says that while she thought she was hired too quickly and wanted to skedaddle from her role, she realized that though she liked the company, she just disliked her position.
"After a few weeks on the job, I saw other roles that I got excited about," says Jorden. "My exit plan to leave the company turned into my blueprint to get a promotion to something that I think is a better fit."
Recognize the difference between being unhappy with the duties in your job description and being unhappy with a company. If promotion opportunities are available and you match the company's culture and vibe, stick it out to see if you can get another role. Otherwise, take the red flag for what it is and move on to the next job that's a better fit for your skills, aspirations, and experiences. Period.
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Smile, Sis! These Five Improvements Can Upgrade Your Oral Hygiene Instantly
This article is in partnership with Sensodyne.
Our teeth are connected to so many things - our nutrition, our confidence, and our overall mood. We often take for granted how important healthy teeth are, until issues like tooth sensitivity or gum recession come to remind us. Like most things related to our bodies, prevention is the best medicine. Here are five things you can do immediately to improve your oral hygiene, prevent tooth sensitivity, and avoid dental issues down the road.
1) Go Easy On the Rough Brushing: Brushing your teeth is and always will be priority number one in the oral hygiene department. No surprises there! However, there is such a thing as applying too much pressure when brushing…and that can lead to problems over time. Use a toothbrush with soft bristles and brush in smooth, circular motions. It may seem counterintuitive, but a gentle approach to brushing is the most effective way to clean those pearly whites without wearing away enamel and exposing sensitive areas of the teeth.
2) Use A Desensitizing Toothpaste: As everyone knows, mouth pain can be highly uncomfortable; but tooth sensitivity is a whole different beast. Hot weather favorites like ice cream and popsicles have the ability to trigger tooth sensitivity, which might make you want to stay away from icy foods altogether. But as always, prevention is the best medicine here. Switching to a toothpaste like Sensodyne’s Sensitivity & Gum toothpaste specifically designed for sensitive teeth will help build a protective layer over sensitive areas of the tooth. Over time, those sharp sensations that occur with extremely cold foods will subside, and you’ll be back to treating yourself to your icy faves like this one!
3) Floss, Rinse, Brush. (And In That Order!): Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you do, but how you do it”? Well, the same thing applies to taking care of your teeth. Even if you are flossing and brushing religiously, you could be missing out on some of the benefits simply because you aren’t doing so in the right order. Flossing is best to do before brushing because it removes food particles and plaque from places your toothbrush can’t reach. After a proper flossing sesh, it is important to rinse out your mouth with water after. Finally, you can whip out your toothbrush and get to brushing. Though many of us commonly rinse with water after brushing to remove excess toothpaste, it may not be the best thing for our teeth. That’s because fluoride, the active ingredient in toothpaste that protects your enamel, works best when it gets to sit on the teeth and continue working its magic. Rinsing with water after brushing doesn’t let the toothpaste go to work like it really can. Changing up your order may take some getting used to, but over time, you’ll see the difference.
4) Stay Hydrated: Upping your water supply is a no-fail way to level up your health overall, and your teeth are no exception to this rule. Drinking water not only helps maintain a healthy pH balance in your mouth, but it also washes away residue and acids that can cause enamel erosion. It also helps you steer clear of dry mouth, which is a gateway to bad breath. And who needs that?
5) Show Your Gums Some Love: When it comes to improving your smile, you may be laser-focused on getting your teeth whiter, straighter, and overall healthier. Rightfully so, as these are all attributes of a megawatt smile; but you certainly don’t want to leave gum health out of the equation. If you neglect your gums, you’ll start to notice the effects of plaque buildup, which can irritate the gums and cause gingivitis, the earliest stage of gum disease. Seeing blood while brushing and flossing is a tell-tale sign that your gums are suffering. You may also experience gum recession — a condition where the gum tissue surrounding your teeth pulls back, exposing more of your tooth. Brushing at least twice a day with a gum-protecting toothpaste like Sensodyne Sensitivity and Gum, coupled with regular dentist visits, will keep your gums shining as bright as those pearly whites.
Oprah Winfrey On Never Experiencing Imposter Syndrome: 'I Had To Look It Up'
If you’ve ever wondered what type of mindset it takes to reach icon status like Oprah Winfrey, it’s probably best to start by knowing which one she’s managed to avoid over her long-standing career.
And let’s just say imposter syndrome didn’t make the cut.
While promoting her new book, Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier, with her co-author Arthur C. Brooks, Oprah shared in an interview with People that when it comes to imposter syndrome, it’s one emotion she hasn’t experienced.
"I don't have any of that imposter feelings that so many people have," she says. "I didn't even understand it, I had to look it up."
According to the acclaimed talk-show host and media mogul, she attributes this to her early life experiences, specifically the impact of her father's influence as a child. "I remember as a young girl being a strong orator in the national competition for speaking and winning the local championships, then the state championships. And then placing, I think it was No. 3 or something, in the nationals," Winfrey shares.
"And I remember after every contest, the families whose kids were just in the contest were going to celebrate and their families were all excited. My father's thing was, 'Get your coat.'"
She continues, "I learned, in all these years, every exciting thing that would happen to me it was always, that's good, get your coat. Get your coat. I don't know if that was ingrained in my personality or I just learned that nobody's going to be excited about it, so you might as well just get your coat and go. I don't have high highs and I don't have low lows. Which is a good thing, because no matter what I'm going through, I know I'm going to come out of it and be okay."
Impostor syndrome, also known as impostor phenomenon, is a psychological perspective of persistent self-doubt and the feeling of being a fraud despite evidence of one's competence, skills, or accomplishments. People experiencing imposter syndrome often believe that their success is due to luck or external factors rather than their own abilities and fear that others will eventually discover that they are not as capable or knowledgeable as they appear to be.
With over 40 years of accolades and history-making impact, it’s clear that Winfrey doesn’t shy away from the fact that her success is due to her hard work and diligence, with everything in her life being that of what she earned — which she finds deep value in: “the ability to live in the space of true appreciation for a life, not just well lived, but well-earned."
From coming from the lineage of an enslaved great-grandfather who earned 80 acres of land in exchange for labor, to becoming the first Black woman billionaire in the world without the foundation of generational wealth, Winfrey beams proudly at her ability to shift her and her family’s legacy for the better.
"I didn't have a grandfather, a great-grandfather who could give me land. But now...I am able to have my own and to know that I work for it. And it wasn't a husband that did it. It wasn't a brother or an uncle, or whatever did it, but I did it," Winfrey says.
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