Dealing With A Bait and Switch Boss

If you happen to work for a bait and switch type of boss, what do you do? Do you defer to everything the boss says to keep your job? Or would you rather leave and look for another boss, someone who is fair and treats you with respect.

Despite the bleak economic climate, there are options. While it's true that the chances of switching jobs nowadays is entirely dependent on the industry or the field you are in, it pays to have a good set of friends, acquaintances and former co-workers to help you out when you decide to leave your job, regardless of the reason/s.

My most important rules are to maintain communication with previous co-workers and network with a lot of recruiters in LinkedIn. In my career as an insurance professional, job hopping is not that difficult. Most jobs in the insurance industry are not posted online rather people are sourced via referrals and headhunters.

It's been over three years since I quit the industry to explore opportunities in the outsourcing field. There are a lot of things I learned especially on the technology side. If people in the local market are dreaming of a paperless office, this is it. It is possible. The downside is that there will be lesser jobs available because most of the tasks are automated. That's the ugly trade off, unfortunately.

Other than the learning part, there are also dead ends. The opportunities are limited if you're a specialist. Difficult if you're a stubborn specialist like myself who wouldn't accept other projects that are not insurance related. Well, let's just say that I have other plans and the day job is just a job because I have other sources of income. But if we turn the tables around and put me in a situation wherein I'm completely at the mercy of my day job, then that's a different story altogether. I will accept any project offered to me in a heartbeat.

And as for the bait and switch boss, there are a lot of them. The tricky part is adopting to their style. Sometimes, they like you. And on other days, they'll say nasty things about you, about other people and the whole world in general, to put down your morale and of course, to get rid of you. In my opinion, these types are not the best in confrontation. They prefer skirting the issues and furtively drop the bomb when you've gotten comfortable with them.

When faced with this type of employer or boss, take extra caution, always be on your guard and if possible, look for another job.