This might be a bit too personal but whatever…
Context is that my last job wasn’t exactly great, and it just happened to be when US science was having issues, so I left for a position in EU. Only joined for less than 2 months so still new. Problem is now that I’ve settled in a bit, issues at the new workplace have been surfacing… I know academia/academic research is known for having “difficult personalities” but this is beginning to get comical. Edit: in both cases it is the supervisor that is toxic; I have nothing against my coworkers. In this case it’s referring to what appears to be lots of micromanagement and favoritism, probably some denying of holiday leave that may or may not be legal by the country’s employment laws
On one hand I don’t want to deal with a bad workplace again just to avoid the toll on my own health (which did happen a lot during the past year). But on the other hand it is nice to have an EU-based position (especially since I’m not an EU citizen so my job is also linked to my ability to stay in a country), and if I got into this situation two-times in a row what’s guaranteeing that it won’t happen again
I’m… open to all suggestions
Absolutely nothing.
The way I like to put it, is that most people are nice, but there are assholes everywhere.
It’s not that everyone is a douche, just that there is nowhere you can go, where there won’t already be some, or where they won’t suddenly show up later.
As such, it’s good to try and learn to deal with them, avoid them, or outlast them.
At my last job, my two first bosses were great, then the third was a nightmare. But he got fired two years in and then the fourth was good again. That job lasted me seven years. 5 out of 7 is not bad.
Overlay that with all your colleagues, and yeah, you’re almost bound to have at least some of them be bad… It’s a numbers game. If most of your colleagues are reasonable, then you’re probably in one of the better places to be.