Signs that you’re in a toxic work situation

When I graduated from Harvard, I started working at a company. At first, my colleagues seemed really nice. The CEO appeared charming. There were some red flags in the beginning like how he talked about screwing over other people to get ahead, but I ignored that because I was naive and accepted his offer to join the company.

Here are four things you should look for when joining a company: - have you vetted your boss and colleagues - I usually ask my boss questions to make sure that he isn’t a bad guy. You’re not the only one being interviewed, you should be interviewing him too. - how long have your future colleagues been at the company - the toxic company I worked at had a cutthroat boss who fired easily. He seemed to enjoy making people work like crazy and screwing them over some way some how. Even though I was the cofounder, I lost some of my shares. Thankfully, I hired a lawyer to avoid losing the rest. - How is your boss treating you? There’s no excuse to be treated poorly. Because I was so naive, I thought it was ok for the CEO to yell at me and go through my emails. After I left, he continued to do the same to other employees. In fact there was an article written about how bad it was working there. - Are your colleagues collaborative? I’ve worked at companies where my colleagues loved to talk bad behind peoples backs. It’s not cool.

There’s no perfect working environment. Every job has its perks and downsides. Sometimes you have no choice but to stay and try to make the most of it. I decided to leave, but I was able to do that because I was young and I had a great education that opens a lot of doors. Today, I work for a fortune 100 company and I’m doing well.

Don’t like the toxic company get to you. If you can leave, leave. It’s not worth the psychological abuse that you will go through. I felt like I was gaslighted and it took me years of therapy to get through it.

Don’t ignore the warnings signs.