I don't like corporate work environments. What can I do to make it better ?

You will find a lot of that in other jobs as well. So, you can either stick with the job you have, or go find the same things in another one. Really, you are the only one who can answer that.

You don’t need to change paths. But you do need to keep quitting the offices you work in, till you land in one that doesn’t have these problems.

And while your at it, let’s add closed shades, over-bright fluorescent lighting, and horrible music (of the American Idol type, usually) through the PA speakers in these God forsaken cubicle hives.

Corporate culture really is empty.

Maybe you should changes paths.

You indicate you have worked in finance for 5 years. That seems to indicate you are in your 20s. So you’re young. If so, that’s a good thing, because you have time to get out. A lot of folks aren’t happy in “the rat race”. They don’t do well in the corporate environment and tend to be professionally repressed because they aren’t playing office politics, so they get left behind. You sound like one of those people who wont get ahead just based on your work product. You have to fit-in, too.

Put succinctly: plan on quitting. Go figure out what your dream job is and go work at attaining it. Like working with animals? Go figure out how to do that. Want to start a company that helps people doing something? Figure out how to write a business plan and find investors. Want to go work at Ann Taylor and become a fashion buyer? Go chase that dream.

Whatever you do, don’t settle for working in finance in a corporate work environment that you hate. Life is too short to sit around in an office every day and be miserable. We work because we have to due to money. We want a certain lifestyle, need money for that lifestyle, so we work. But nothing says you have to be miserable at work, and one of the keys to a life of happiness is being happy in your job—or at least, not miserable like you sound like you are! If anything, maybe find a way to work in finance in a small company or be able to work from home or be a freelancer or something (I don’t know much about finance, so I’m not sure what’s realistic and what’s not).

Good luck, and I hope you find happiness!

I definitely think it’s possible to stick with your profession and also find an environment you like better than the typical corporate kind. You could look for other finance jobs in completely different fields—non-profits, for instance, or companies that are much larger or smaller than ther ones you’ve been with so far.

What sorts of companies have you worked for? (In general, no need for details if you don’t want to share that.) Also, do you think there other kinds of people who you might like interacting with at work, or do you think that work and socializing should always be kept separate?

Another option might be to convince your current supervisor to let you work from home at least part of the time. That might be the best of both worlds.

Librarianship is a great profession you might consider. We don’t make much money though.

It’s your life; you should do what makes you happy.

You can mow lawns for a living – my cousin and her husband do that, work fewer days per year than I do, and make a lot more money. But I don’t like working outside in all weather (they don’t stop for any but the heaviest rain), and mowing lawns frankly bores me. The smell of new-mown grass is nice, though. And a nice summer day in New England is pretty much unbeatable for sheer loveliness.

My daughter runs a food cart in a Midwest town where that’s a big (and growing) industry. In fact, last year during her first year of operation she had the highest rated operation in town. But I don’t have that kind of discipline to maintain food quality and cleanliness standards, and I don’t like cooking so much in any case. I don’t want to work her hours, and my income requirements are higher than hers.

You could be a landscaper or a construction worker, work on a fishing boat or cruise liner, or maybe be a singer. You could perhaps be a cranky and curmudgeonly surgeon or general practitioner and save people’s lives day after day, if that made you feel any better. You could work for the Salvation Army or the Peace Corps, and find out how good you really had it while you were doing the 9-to-5 in a comfortable office setting.

You can’t be much of a comedian without a sense of humor, so maybe that’s out. But perhaps you could write editorial screeds about all the things that are wrong with America and corporate life. That seems to be a growth industry these days, too.

Personally, I think if you can’t relax a bit and find the beauty and the humor in any place where you are, and something to enjoy, no matter how fleeting or unlikely, then your life is gong to be one long hell, anyway. So I wish you well on changing your attitude and finding a job and a lifestyle that suits you.

Get out. They weed out people who have a soul.

I pretty much have a different take on it that what has been said above. The first thing I would consider is my financial need. If I need the income generated by this type of job and I can’t make as much in another field, then I would stay.

It is said if you have a problem with someone, it is your problem. In other words, how you react to the people around you and the environment is your choice. You don’t have to love these folks, you just have to be polite and tolerate it so many hours per day. You can’t change the others, have no right to try to change anyone except yourself.

I was in a similar position. I acquired the necessary collection of letters after my name and worked hard in my chosen field until I had the financial wherewithal to opt out and start over again in a financially less rewarding occupation but one I enjoyed much more.

Doesn’t matter what you do though, you are always going to run into people who annoy you or don’t do it the way you think it should be done, etc. so you might as well get used to dealing with that. It is pretty much called life in the real world.

Good luck :-)

I will also say that it seems unlikely that there isn’t someone there who could become a good friend. Once you have one or two real friends in a workplace it makes it much more easy to tolerate the rest of it. Have you really looked at people as individuals rather than lumping them all together?

thanks.. for replies..

yeah i do have 2–3 friends at work..

but u know we don’t work directly together..

and u have to interact with other people too u know..

will think about things :).. thanks..

Just watch Office Space and read Dilbert.

Yes, the problems you describe are a common malady of the work place. No, it’s not as soul crushing as you make it out to be. At least you don’t work 5 miles underground in stifling heat with poisonous gases and the ever-present risk of a mine collapse. Nor are you on the battle lines watching people get blown up.

There are real problems in the world… people making (lame) attempts to be nice to you are not among them.