5 Signs Your Job Is Like A Bad Romantic Relationship

I feel like a lot of people in abusive relationships—whether they be romantic or professional—may not even realize they are in one. So I put together a few warning signs that maybe you’re dating a bad job:

1. You’re expected to be psychic all of the time.

Your boss expects you to always know what they expect of you, but they fail to give you any clear direction whatsoever. If you want to be proactive, you need to at least have SOME sort of idea of what is needed.

2. Your job is clingy—SO clingy.

You work hourly but are expected to stay late and come in early, anything to get the job done, despite the fact that you’re not a salaried employee and so it will cost them overtime. They don’t care. They want you in the office at all times and basically would have you live there if you could.

3. You’re constantly being put down—never praised.

And nothing you do is ever good enough, like everrrrr. Your boss or colleagues only see your faults, mistakes, and less-than-perfect moments. All that good work you do? Yeah, that means nothing. All the positive contributions you made? Again, NOTHING.

4. You have to force a smile and the bad mood is permanent.

If you have to give yourself a self-motivating pep talk every morning just to get yourself out of bed and off to work, then yeah…that’s a problem. It’s even worse when not even that pep talk helps and you find yourself constantly hating life between the hours of 8AM-6PM.

5. They only care about themselves and show no interest in how you are doing.

If you can’t remember the last time your boss asked you, “How are you doing?” then it’s a problem. It doesn’t matter how high your boss’ status is; there is no excuse to not check in with their direct reports on a regular basis. A boss who remembers your name, your accomplishments, and genuinely cares how you’re doing in your job and if you’re happy with it, is a boss worth keeping. All others, not so much.

No job, boyfriend, friend, or family member is perfect. Relationships will never be perfect. But that doesn’t mean you have to settle for bad treatment. If any of these warning signs have hit you close to home, it might be time to start visiting monster.com.