Month: November 2025

I must admit, after I took the Life Stress Inventory, Coping and Stress Management Skills Test Links to an external site, and Type A Personality Survey, I did not feel like I learned anything new about myself. I know this is bad to say, and I do not think that it is a good thing that I know about these things, and have yet to get help. I know I have some things that I need to work on, and I hate making excuses for why I have not yet sought professional help. I am a homeowner, I work full-time and go to school full-time, and I have a teenager and a “threenager.” Needless to say, I am very busy in my life and do not feel like I have the time to work on myself.

After I graduate, I have promised myself to work on myself, both mentally and physically. I want to tap into my company’s resources, as they have plenty of resources to help out their employees. Whether it is a gym membership discount or certain mental health options/benefits. The resources are there for me; I just need to reach out and take advantage of them.

According to the article How job burnout can hurt your health – and what to do about it, “Burnout is real, and we’re seeing a lot of it these days,” said Dr. Tené Lewis, associate professor of epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. “People are overwhelmed on all fronts. And we know it’s bad for your heart, your blood pressure and your brain.” Recognition of the problem is growing. In 2019 the World Health Organization classified burnout as an occupational phenomenon “resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed” (Precker). Organizations are implementing stress management programs, whether that means they offer them through training, policies, or digital applications, and more. By giving employees different ways of finding help for their stress, it gives them opportunities to find which works best for them.


Source

Precker, Michael. “How Job Burnout Can Hurt Your Health – and What to Do about It.” Www.Heart.Org, 12 Oct. 2022, www.heart.org/en/news/2022/10/12/how-job-burnout-can-hurt-your-health-and-what-to-do-about-it.

When I worked at my previous company, I remember being very happy with my compensation when I first started working, even though I was only making $17 an hour. I went from being a welder at another job to a welding inspector with this company. From there, I got several other certifications because I was told I would earn more money. I was now certified to be a masonry inspector, material tester, and lastly, a reinforced concrete inspector. My company was right, I was earning more money than I ever had, but that was because I was working 50-60 hours a week, not because I was earning more per hour. I remember walking into my manager’s office two years after I started, and requesting a raise. At the time, I was making $19 an hr, and my manager told me I would not be getting a raise.

As a Special Inspector (this was my formal title), we are the eyes and ears or the boots on the ground for the Engineer of Record (EOR) who designed the building. Whether it was schools, hospitals, or office buildings, we were letting the EOR know that these specialty items were being built to code and the contract drawings. This came with a lot of responsibility, and I realized quickly that earning $19 an hour was not enough. I was not motivated enough to take on that type of responsibility.

I was working a lot, sacrificing a lot of time and effort for the company. I felt overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. I started looking around for other opportunities and learned that if I got more certifications, I could go to work elsewhere. I studied a lot, took the exams, and got the certifications that I wanted. This made me look appealing to potential employers and landed me a job with my current company. My current hourly rate is triple what I started out at with the previous company, and needless to say, I am much happier now.

The most beneficial training for me has always been hands-on training. Over the years, I have learned that training by someone talking to me, or in a presentation style, is not very beneficial, and learning does not truly start until I start doing it myself. Training feels much more natural when I am able to get my hands on something or be able to see what I am learning in the moment. This helps me learn how to do the task that I am being trained to do, and in turn, gives me the opportunity to put my twist on things.
When I look back at specific training that has helped me learn the most, it was when I was training in my current role as a Project Manager. My manager always explained to me that in this particular role, there are multiple ways to peel an onion, and if I can get to the same center of an onion safely, then go for it. This gives me the opportunity to learn how to perform my job, but allows me to put my own twist on it. My manager’s method of training is very similar to how it is described in First, Break All the Rules : What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently when Buckingham and Coffman state, “One of the signs of a great manager is the ability to describe, in detail, the unique talents of each of his or her people — what drives each one, how each one thinks, how each builds relationships. In a sense, great managers are akin to great novelists. Each of the “characters” they manage is vivid and distinct. Each has his own features and foibles. And their goal, with every employee, is to help each individual “character” play out his unique role to the fullest” (Pg. 134).


Sources

Buckingham, Marcus, and Curt W Coffman. First, Break All the Rules : What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, Gallup Press, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/osu/detail.action?docID=1584214.
Created from osu on 2025-11-06 21:06:17