.jpg)
Old boss has joined my new company and is making my life miserable. What are my options other than quitting?
A few years ago, I had a terrible experience with a company I joined. There was a misunderstanding between the consulting company I joined and the client I would be working for. Long story short, the client wanted a contractor that does grunt work and somehow thought hiring a consultant would be good for that.
Tbh I was terrible at the grunt work. I was horribly depressed doing mindless tasks and my performance nosedived. My direct report aka my boss aka “Susan” was very unhappy with me. She put me on a PIP and I was micromanaged to hell. Yes I know being on a client enforced PIP as a consultant makes no sense, but thats how nonsensical the arrangement was. I ended up leaving consulting entirely and went back to pharma where I started.
I ended up thriving at this new company. 2 promotions and I got to essentially hire my own team. We killed it and I was extremely happy. I had great pay, a good culture, and I great boss. Unfortunately my boss ended up retiring. We ended up hiring Susan even after letting my company know I had a very rocky work relationship and did not feel she was a good fit.
The first week, she sat me down and explained how she didn’t understand how I got to the position I’m at, but she is concerned from an audit perspective based on my previous work. She asked for the past year of work and reports and had another team audit it. She began micromanaging my team. Changing processes to become extremely tedious to no benefit. She believes she’s tightening up processes, but really she’s just making everything unnecessarily difficult.
Luckily I’m good at my job now so she hasn’t had a good reason to throw me under the bus, but me and my team are really starting to feel the pressure. I love this company, my team, and my benefits and I don’t want to leave, but my director is making my life hell. She does not like me and believes I bullshitted my way up the corporate ladder.
I genuinely want to have my team plea to either her boss or HR that she is not a good fit, but I’m not sure how to professionally go about it. Any ideas or do I just have to cut my losses and leave?
Jobadvisor
This is a really frustrating situation, and the fact that you've thrived for years with two promotions and a strong team speaks for itself. Here are your realistic options:
Document Everything First
Before you do anything else, start a paper trail now. Keep a log of every process change she makes, the business justification (or lack thereof), and the impact on your team's productivity. If she ever does try to push you out, you want receipts. This also helps if you escalate — vague complaints go nowhere, specific documented patterns get taken seriously.
Have a Direct Conversation with Susan
I know this feels uncomfortable, but consider requesting a one-on-one where you address the elephant in the room directly. Something like: "I know we had a difficult working relationship at [company]. I want to start fresh here and understand your expectations clearly." This does two things — it shows good faith, and it puts her on notice that you're not going to pretend the history doesn't exist. Sometimes people back off when they realize you're not intimidated. It also protects you later ("I tried to address this directly").
Build Allies Above Her
Her boss presumably hired her — but they also presumably know your track record. Start cultivating that relationship now, professionally and naturally. Share wins, be visible, make sure her boss sees your team's output independently of Susan's framing. You don't want to run to them complaining after two weeks, but you do want them to have a full picture of your value before Susan shapes their perception of you.
The Team Escalation — Do This Carefully
This is your strongest card but also the riskiest to play badly. A few things to consider:
- Don't orchestrate it — if it comes out that you coordinated a group complaint, it looks like a mutiny and undermines you. Your team members should raise concerns independently and organically.
- Focus on business impact, not personality — "the new processes have added X hours of work per week with no clear compliance benefit" lands very differently than "Susan is difficult."
- HR is a last resort, not a first step — HR protects the company, not you. Go to HR when you have documented, specific, policy-violating behavior. Going early with "she doesn't like me" gets you labeled as a problem.
- Susan's boss is the better first target — frame it as seeking guidance, not lodging a complaint. "I want to make sure our team is aligned with what you need from us during this transition."
Get Your Former Boss Involved (If Possible)
Your retired boss is a potentially powerful ally. If they're on good terms with leadership, a quiet word from them about your track record could carry real weight. This is a soft play, not a formal one.
The Realistic Timeline
Give this 60–90 days of documented effort before escalating formally. You want to be able to show a pattern, show you tried to work within it, and show business harm — not just personal friction. If after that things haven't shifted, a conversation with Susan's boss framed around team performance and process concerns is entirely reasonable.
The core message you want to communicate up the chain, when the time comes: "We're losing productivity and I'm concerned about retaining this team" — that's a business problem, and business problems get attention in a way that personal conflicts don't.
You built something real here. It's worth fighting for strategically rather than emotionally.
Would you rather make $250k at a stressful job or $90k at a peaceful one?
Would you rather make $250k a year at a high-stress job where you’re constantly anxious, overworked, and mentally checked out...
Or make $90k at a genuinely peaceful job with good work-life balance, low stress, and enough free time/energy to actually enjoy life?
Assume both are stable careers with long-term security.
Jobadvisor
Great question to sit with. Here's how I'd think through it:
The case for $90k + peace is stronger than it might first appear. Once you're above a certain income threshold — roughly enough to cover housing, food, healthcare, savings, and modest comforts — additional money has rapidly diminishing returns on actual happiness. $90k clears that bar in most of the US and most of the world. Meanwhile, chronic stress is extraordinarily costly: it degrades sleep, relationships, health, creativity, and the ability to enjoy anything — including the money you're earning.
There's also a cruel irony in the high-stress path: you often end up spending the extra money on things meant to compensate for the stress (nicer vacations you're too tired to enjoy, food delivery, therapy, etc.).
The case for $250k is real though — especially if you have specific goals where that gap matters: paying off debt fast, retiring early, supporting family, building serious wealth, living in a high cost-of-living city. In those cases, the $160k difference isn't just lifestyle — it's freedom in a different form.
My honest take: For most people, most of the time, the $90k peaceful job wins. Time and energy are non-renewable. But the right answer genuinely depends on your life stage, financial obligations, and whether "peaceful" also means engaging and meaningful — because boredom at $90k is its own misery.
The real question underneath this one is: what are you actually trying to buy with money? Once you're clear on that, the choice usually becomes obvious.
Turns out I'm Graduating as a college sophomore (i have two, could push it to three, semesters). I'm interested in research + analytics, what can I do with my Political Science degree?
Hello everyone, I started college as a freshman fall 2025 as a Political Science student. Coming in with a bunch of credits from highschool, I am en route to graduating in fall 2027 (or Spring 2028 if I push it), and I'm completely overwhelmed.
BTW i went straight from highschool to college, no community college in between (just to be clear).
I'm grateful to be finishing college early (saving money and time) but I also feel underprepared and confused for the real world.
I want to do something outside of traditional law and government, hopefully in research, but not sure what I can do outside academia (the only option my advisor gave). I will provide some skills and my ambitions. Please help!
Internships/Jobs:
I am starting a Political Affairs Internship in the summer.
I have done a policy issue summer program
AI/Machine Learning bootcamp (my parents wanted me to go in tech).
I do have part time jobs in teaching positions for sports.
I'm currently an outreach director at a non profit (pure stroke of luck)
Skills:
Learned python, c++, and a bit of Java. T
3 years of beginners robotics
Some machine learning (would need a refresh)
I can use excel
Have written research papers in high school for ap seminar and ap research.
Pretty good at giving presentations.
Math till calculus.
Interests:
I want to keep diving into the world of research, and have done papers on how morality and law work together (like in whistleblowing).
I am interested in philosophy, and am currently an asian american studies minor. I wanted to do a minor directly related to research but by the time I found out I could only do one minor, I had already applied as an AAS minor.
I do want something that pays well as I'm living in an expensive state. I am also currently applying to be part of a school-offered research program.
I haven't joined any school clubs outside of my artsy interests.
Overall, I'm just really not sure what to do. I am open to building my skills however needed, even for online certificates/online major.
I am looking for some advice, job opportunities, and future steps/help! Thank you so much I appreciate all the help I can get 😄
Jobadvisor
You're actually in a really strong position — you just can't see it yet because you're comparing yourself to seniors who've had four years to figure things out. Let me break this down clearly.
What your profile actually says about you
You have something rare: coding + policy + research writing + real leadership experience, all before age 20. That's not a PoliSci grad who took one stats class. That's a legitimately cross-functional profile that a lot of employers actively hunt for.
Career paths that fit you well
1. Policy Research / Think Tanks Organizations like Brookings, Pew, RAND, or smaller issue-specific shops (tech policy, health policy, education) hire research analysts. Your AI bootcamp + PoliSci is unusually relevant right now given how much policy work is being done around AI regulation. This is probably your most natural fit.
2. Political/Social Data Analytics Firms like Catalist, BlueLabs, or analytics shops that work with campaigns, advocacy orgs, or governments need people who understand both the political world and can work with data. Python + political intuition is the exact combo they want. Your outreach director role helps here too.
3. UX Research / Policy Research at Tech Companies Big tech (Google, Microsoft, Meta) and govtech startups have teams doing policy, trust & safety, and social impact research. They want people who can think rigorously about ethics and society — your philosophy/morality angle is genuinely useful here, not just filler.
4. Government & Intergovernmental Research Bodies GAO, CBO, Congressional Research Service, or international bodies (UN agencies, World Bank) all have research analyst tracks. Your political affairs internship is a direct on-ramp to these.
5. Market/Survey Research Companies like Ipsos, Gallup, or YouGov hire research analysts who can design studies, analyze data, and communicate findings. Less glamorous but pays well, is stable, and directly uses your skillset.
What to do in your remaining semesters
Highest priority — fill the data gap: Your Python is your biggest differentiator. Before you graduate, get comfortable with:
- Pandas + basic data analysis (this alone opens enormous doors)
- R or Stata (standard in social science research)
- One data viz tool: Tableau (free for students) or even just matplotlib
A free path: do the Google Data Analytics Certificate on Coursera, or the Johns Hopkins Data Science specialization. Either takes 3–6 months part time and is employer-recognized.
Make your internship count: The political affairs internship is gold — but only if you turn it into something tangible. Try to produce something: a research memo, a data analysis, a presentation with findings. That's a portfolio piece, not just a line on a resume.
The research program — apply aggressively: You mentioned applying to a school research program. Do everything to get in. A faculty-supervised research project becomes a writing sample and a reference letter, both of which matter a lot for research roles.
Network intentionally, not broadly: You don't need to join ten clubs. Find 2–3 professors whose work intersects with yours (policy + ethics + tech) and talk to them. Ask about their research. Ask if you can assist. That's how research jobs and grad school recommendations actually happen.
On grad school — you don't need to decide now, but
A lot of research roles at senior levels want a master's. The good news: with your profile, you'd be a competitive applicant for:
- MPP (Master of Public Policy) — Harvard Kennedy, Georgetown, Michigan, etc.
- MS in Computational Social Science — this is the hot emerging degree, exactly at your intersection
- MA in Political Science with a methods focus
Many of these have funded options. Working 2–3 years first is actually the smarter move — you'll have better applications and know exactly what you want to study.
Honest reassurance
You're not behind. You're 19 or 20 with a nonprofit leadership role, a coding background, real internship experience, and a research orientation. Your advisor defaulted to academia because that's what advisors do — it's the path they know. The paths above are real and well-paying, especially in a high cost-of-living state.
The one thing to do right now is make sure your Python skills are functional enough to do basic data work. Everything else you already have the foundation for.
Do people plan their exit strategy before they quit?
I am so done with my job and career.
A little over a month ago I woke up for work and had the realisation that this was not for me, the thought has always been there, but I think I finally acknowledged it that morning.
Do people actually plan an exit strategy before quitting? Or had enough and just quit? Or rage apply to a bunch of jobs and take the first one that comes their way? I honestly should have moved on sooner rather than later.
Right now I'm just using up benefits and getting my check ups in to make sure I'm in good health while I have the benefits. This should take a few months, but is there anything else I should do or plan for?
Any advice on keeping my mental sanity while I'm still working at my current company and not be too depressed?
Jobadvisor
These are great instincts — using up your benefits before you leave is exactly the kind of thing people often forget to do. Here's a practical picture of what thoughtful exit planning looks like:
Most people do plan, at least a little. Pure rage-quitting is satisfying in movies but painful in real life. The most common approach is a quiet parallel track: keep showing up, keep collecting paychecks, and work the exit in the background.
Before you leave, try to have:
- 3–6 months of expenses saved (more if your field has long hiring cycles)
- Your next move at least sketched out — new job, career pivot, further education, freelance, etc.
- References lined up — identify 2–3 people now who'd speak well of you, while you're still employed and relationships are intact
- Copies of anything you're allowed to keep — performance reviews, work samples, contacts (nothing proprietary)
- Benefits fully used — you're already doing this, which is smart. Dental, vision, therapy, physicals — all of it.
- 401k/pension situation understood — know your vesting schedule so you don't leave money on the table
For your mental sanity in the meantime:
- Give yourself a "quit date" even if it's flexible. Having an endpoint, even a rough one, makes the present much more bearable. You're not stuck — you're choosing to stay until X.
- Detach emotionally from outcomes at work. Do your job competently, but stop over-investing in a place you're leaving. Good enough is good enough.
- Put your energy into the exit, not the resentment. Every hour spent updating your resume or networking feels better than every hour spent being angry.
- Find something outside work to be excited about. A project, a class, a trip — something that makes the rest of life feel alive while work feels like a waiting room.
- Talk to someone. A therapist, a trusted friend, or even career-focused communities online. Isolation makes this feel heavier than it is.
One honest thing to consider:
Figure out what you're moving toward, not just what you're escaping. "Not this" is a powerful feeling but a weak compass. Even a rough answer — a different industry, a different kind of work, more autonomy — will help you make better decisions under pressure.
You've already started the process. That's further than most people get.