How to Know If You’re in a Toxic Job
And what to do about it
I’ve worked bad jobs, but never had a truly toxic job until recently. A toxic job goes beyond burnout — it can leave you traumatized. It doesn’t just leave you stressed and exhausted; it erodes your sense of self.
Toxic workplaces will try make you feel like it’s you who has the issue, not them. They try to manipulate you into thinking that what you’re feeling is your fault.
Fortunately, there are ways to spot toxic companies. While some can be identified before you start (by word of mouth, or online reviews), others can become toxic over time.
While every toxic job is different, they likely have the following red flags.
The workload affects your life and health
Many jobs will have you work long hours, stress over projects, or lose sleep from time to time. A bad meeting can leave a dark cloud over the day, but then it dissipates.
But toxic jobs erase boundaries and invade the rest of your life. You may have a workload that carries over into evenings and weekends for years. Or you find yourself developing health problems from the stress, and losing sleep for months on end.
