I'm 32 and have serious issues with professionalism

Stop seeking those high stress jobs. I actually admire you for sticking up for yourself. I won't be bullied either. Now my life is stress free. Less money, but no more a$$holes to deal with. I get along just fine with my new co-workers. In my previous job, a few of them really annoyed me.

Get a government job. Short of punching your manager in the face, you won't get fired.

To the OP - you are mature enough to realize that you are the common denominator in these issues. Congratulations. The fact that it has happened 3 times in 4 years indicates a problem which you want to fix. Other posters can say, "find a job where you don't have to deal with jerks" but here's a secret: there are very few jobs in life where you don't have to deal with jerks. There will always be jerks and you have to figure out how to react to them more appropriately. I would recommend some counseling of some kind. I know that sounds like a cop-out but the fact that this problem is hurting you professionally shows that it needs to be taken seriously. Otherwise in another 4 years you may just find yourself fired from a few more jobs. Employers will see a pattern. No one wants the worker who has these issues.

TAA wrote:

Get a government job. Short of punching your manager in the face, you won't get fired.

Forest ranger!

Anger is often a response to fear. You need to figure out why you are so scared of being disrespected.

Read Todd Whittaker ' s book

Difficult Conversations

it written for school administrators but serves me well in dealing with many people. It should be titled, How a smart person should deal with idiots

Kenyatta Mombatta wrote:

Read Todd Whittaker ' s book

Difficult Conversations

it written for school administrators but serves me well in dealing with many people. It should be titled, How a smart person should deal with idiots

Correction

it's actually titled

dealing with difficult parents.

It's a short read and appropriate for your case

Wrong answer wrote:

guy with guy wrote:

Don't seek therapy.

Just find a job where people don't piss you off that much. People will always piss you off because frankly people are stupid (average IQ ~ 100), but at least there will be jobs where you can manage. Or maybe not. Maybe you should sell pot or something

Wrong answer. He will not get a good paying job until he learns how to deal with authority. The complaints he is making are for things he would fire someone for if his job was to manage someone like himself. This is why he needs a therapist: to confront his inner demons.

This is spot on. It is no big secret that a55holes often get promoted because they have a knack for getting in front of the right people and then know how to play the game, not necessarily because they are good at their job or good managers. this is universal. You either grin and bear it, play the game a little yourself or keep getting fired. At some point, the number of jobs in a short period of time will begin to be a red flag and you'll stop even getting interviews. The other thing to consider is that you are likely not only pissing off your bosses, but it can be stressful for you colleagues, even the ones you actually like, to deal with the constant contrarian you seem to be. After a while your "shtick" in the office gets old with them, let alone your boss.

You rub one boss the wrong way early in your career as you're finding your way in the corporate world, it's a learning experience. If you're still pissing people off, the problem lies with you and you alone.

I live in Denver, and the 6 month long annual serving of Bronco talk bores me to tears. I've learned a few autopilot phrases you can drop in any conversation about football-and it sounds like you give a crap.1. It's all about Momentum2. If they can knock them off next week, they'll be in the catbird seat.3. Maybe an Option attack is the answer-the Wishbone really monkeys with the passing game, in a good way.I wonder to the coffee machine hear "blah blah blah football blah" and drop one of these, and suddenly, I fit in well enough to fill my cup, and am not labeled that guy who doesn't understand football. I understand football-I just think it's stupid.

Bob Sacamano wrote:

I can understand, at least partially. I'm a reliable employee and at least semi-competent at my job, but really don't enjoy the people part of it at all. I work at being polite to everyone and think I generally succeed. Thankfully, my job involves more numbers than people.

What grinds my gears, though, are the expected attendance at happy hours and group lunches, the inane office pool and fantasy football talk (I don't participate but am still subjected to the dumb conversations), and other mindless water cooler talk. I've learned to grin and bare it, but it still irritates me.

Still have to play nice, though. There are likely annoying things about me that they have to put up with, too. Putting up with each other is part of being human.

You are in the wrong field. I work at an investment bank and you would fit right in.

Grow up, you stupid hippie. People are sick of you too. Grownups don't go dropping the f-bomb each time something didn't go their way.

You've got a man bun don't you? Is this Will Leer?

What is this third grade? If someone can't handle hearing the "f" word then they have serious issues that they need to take care of.

Distance Fan wrote:

Grow up, you stupid hippie. People are sick of you too. Grownups don't go dropping the f-bomb each time something didn't go their way.

You've got a man bun don't you? Is this Will Leer?

Try yoga.

Coincidentally, I'm also 32. I've always been extremely professional and know how to play politics. I've spent my whole career in two multinational financial institutions. Initially, my motivation for playing the game was scoring pu$$y. I had a thing for managers when I first started. It didn't hit me that I was advancing my career through that until later. After I got married and settled I started to value my time at home a lot more and the office facetime/PC started to bug me. Last year I launched my own firm and I now play the game harder that ever. The motivator now is money. I can easily put up with anything now, as long as clients pay up. Playing the game for $450/hr is worth it.

Stay away from yoga.

Seriously mate? wrote:

What is this third grade? If someone can't handle hearing the "f" word then they have serious issues that they need to take care of.

Distance Fan wrote:

Grow up, you stupid hippie. People are sick of you too. Grownups don't go dropping the f-bomb each time something didn't go their way.

You've got a man bun don't you? Is this Will Leer?

Who said anything about not being able to handle profanity? It is not professional and not appropriate in a business setting. I grew out of having a foul mouth vocabulary at about 25. One day, maybe, you'll grow out of it too.

Seriously mate? wrote:

What is this third grade? If someone can't handle hearing the "f" word then they have serious issues that they need to take care of.

Distance Fan wrote:

Grow up, you stupid hippie. People are sick of you too. Grownups don't go dropping the f-bomb each time something didn't go their way.

You've got a man bun don't you? Is this Will Leer?

Who said anything about not being able to handle profanity? It is not professional and not appropriate in a business setting. I grew out of having a foul mouth vocabulary at about 25. One day, maybe, you'll grow out of it too.

At my minimum wage part time job, we settle disputes with a good old fashioned farting contest. The throwing down of the skid marked underwear is the symbolic throwing of the gauntlet

Consider reading 'The Introvert Advantage'. It might help you make sense of who you are and why you do what you do. It helped me.