Need advice on how to move forward and not look back

baseball1988

December 2011 - I resigned. Negative experience working for the company. Here are some of the reasons why I resigned:

• No official lunch break (work non-stop), Management use cameras to monitor employees (office environment), Low salary, Low annual bonus (some employees get bonus and some don't - unfair due to limited budget), Long work hours, Random work hours and not fixed, Cannot leave work until next shift arrives, Not many career opportunities available, No sick days (have to use my vacation days), Terrible escalation procedures (no second or third levels), Hardware technology is out of date (computers are slow and customers yell at us - it should take 3 minutes to solve but can take up to 15 mins due to crappy PCs), Micromanaged too much, Make you work like a slave, Everyone touch your troubleshoot tickets (cause confusion), No cubical walls which means no privacy, Conversations are recorded for every call and it can be used against you anytime, Employees are not allowed to surf the internet due to compliance rules, Get promoted if a senior staff member resign or move on, No kick-off annual meeting (management doesn't share company's information - nobody knows what the company is planning to do), No reward or recognition for working hard, Received a single doughnut for a monthly employee birthday celebration - cheap, Unclear job responsibilities, No Knowledge base (sharing knowledge is an issue if someone resign), Skills and knowledge isn't really transferable to other jobs (10%), Company can fire anyone even if they are loyal for years, Don't get a lot of respect from management, Terrible benefit coverage (dental, eyes, and etc), Company only thinks about making money but doesn't think about the big picture (always pushing out a new product when the previous product isn't even stable yet...no manuals as to how to troubleshoot...so we troubleshoot on the spot and through luck/trial-and-error)

I have a good job right now at another company and it's 100% opposite than the things I mentioned above. However, my previous colleagues keep in touch with me quite often over the past months. It reminds me of all of the negative things whenever they give me a call. I just want to move forward and don't want to look back. Reason I'm keeping in touch with them is I don't want to burn bridges and may have them as my future reference. Sometimes they give me a call and rant about the bad things that are happening at the company...

How do you maintain a positive relationship with your previous colleagues and not think about my past experience at the same time?

Zartanasaurus

I wouldn't worry about my past experience one bit. You don't work there anymore. You work in an environment you love. I'm not understanding why it bothers you. Everytime they call and complain it should make you happier that you don't work there anymore.

paul78

Congrats on your new job and getting out of that previously dysfunctional organization.

As for maintaining a positive relationship - it sounds like your previous collegues are still dealing with that bad environment. And depending on your relationship with those individuals, maybe your previous collegues are just looking for a friendly person to blow off steam. They may simply want to commiserate with you since you have the same shared experience. I imagine it can be difficult for you. I imagine that perhaps it can be like a survivor's guilt.

Jad207

My first IT job was like yours, it was a horrible enviroment to work in. There was literally no chances of moving up past tier 1 in that company, you were clocked for every minute not near the phone, clock for being on the phone for more than 3 minutes, no raises at all and they wanted everybody to do weekends and evenings. When I left I had some old co-workers tell me on occasions about the bad enviroment and it just made me happier that I was no longer at the place. You should keep some of your old co-workers as references but just remember that you made it out and that your moving forward in your IT career. If it really makes you uncomfortable with talking to your old co-workers about the job than you could just talk to them less and make new references at your new job.

ptilsen

baseball1988 wrote: »

• No official lunch break (work non-stop)

http://www.labor.ny.gov/legal/counsel/pdf/meal-and-rest-periods-frequently-asked-questions.pdf

labor.ny.gov wrote:

Labor Law Section 162 sets forth the required meal periods for employees in New York State.
Factory Workers are entitled to a 60-minute lunch break between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00
p.m. and a 60-minute meal break at the time midway between the beginning and end of
the shift for all shifts of more than six hours starting between 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
and lasting more than six hours.
Non-Factory Workers are entitled to a 30-minute lunch break between 11:00 a.m. and
2:00 p.m. for shifts six hours or longer that extend over that period and a 45-minute
meal break at the time midway between the beginning and end of the shift for all shifts
of more than six hours starting between 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
All Workers are entitled to an additional 20-minute meal break between 5:00 p.m. and
7:00 p.m. for workdays that extend from before 11:00 a.m. to after 7:00 p.

Call a lawyer or the NY DoL? I think letting employers get away with this type of thing is not only unfair to oneself, but irresponsible. Even though you don't work there anymore, it seems worth pursuing.