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What To Do When Your Boss Doesn’t Like You

by Sean Cook | Apr 20, 2023 | Workplace Dynamics

This week, I checked in with a past client to see how he was doing. He replied that he had started a new job and thought it was going well. The pay was good, and he was learning a lot in his new role. He did mention one concern: He thought his boss didn't like him.

Ugh. I've been there before. Honestly, who hasn't? If you land your first job as a teenager and retire at 65, you’ll work about 50 years, give or take. The odds are that this will happen to you.

Starting a new job can be stressful.

Most of us enter wanting to be friendly and confident in our knowledge and experience. We take notes, ask questions, and strive to understand how to use the company's systems, whom to consult for help, and how to perform the expected work tasks and complete them on time.

If you ask too many questions, your colleagues might see you as needy. If you show excessive confidence, you could rub people the wrong way. If your work isn't completed accurately and on time, they may find you annoying.

The upshot is that you have to find a balance. Ask the big questions, but be sure to use the advice you are given. Be confident, but be quiet about it. Praise others before you praise yourself. Thank people effusively. And avoid unnecessary interactions with individuals who don't seem to like you.

You can do your best in all these areas, but you might still lose.

Candidates are hired because they are qualified. But they are kept if they fit into the company culture. If you don't, you better get every other aspect of your new role as quickly as possible, or you might find yourself out of a job.

So, what can you do if your boss doesn't like you?

I found some good advice in the articles below, which I shared with my client. If you are worried your boss doesn't like you and need ideas on what you can do, read on.

What to Do If Your Boss Doesn’t Like You (Harvard Business Review)

Ten Things Never, Ever To Tell Your Manager (Forbes)

A Tactical Guide to Managing Up: 30 Tips from the Smartest People We Know (FirstRound.Com)

How Do You Value Your Time?

by Sean Cook | Oct 10, 2022 | Compensation

close up photo of hourglass and american paper bills

In a coaching session today, my client and I discussed what she would need to make to meet her needs as she is planning to leave her job by January.

There are several options she is considering. Some are full-time jobs with benefits and others are part-time without benefits.

To stir the pot and get things simmering, I asked what she thought she would need to make. With full-time jobs with benefits, it's more of an "Apples to Apples" scenario. If the benefits are similar, then the salary number means the most.

If a job pays a higher hourly rate, but doesn't have benefits, I suggested she look at her pay stub and see what she is currently paying toward her benefits each month as a starting point. Then I reminded her that for benefits, the employer also usually pays toward at least some of them, so she would need to factor that in as well, to get a better idea about what the true monthly cost is for the benefits.

It's not as easy as it sounds. In the end, the most reliable numbers that will be available are on the pay stub, so it's a place to start.

When you receive a salary and benefits, it's easy to lose track of what you are paying. You fill out your withholding forms and sign up for whatever standard benefits are offered, and after that, you probably worry most about what your take-home pay is each month. It's easy to forget how much you actually make per hour. When you're working for yourself, or cobbling together different contract work, you find yourself comparing "Apples to Oranges."

Here is an easy way to start.

Assume you get two weeks of paid time off each year. This means you work 50 weeks per year.

If you work 40 hours a week, then you work 2000 hours per year.

So if you make $50,000 a year, your hourly rate is $25/hour.

According to Zippia, the average employee contribution to cover health insurance in 2021 was $5,588/year ($465.67/month) for family coverage and the average employer contribution was $15,574/year ($1,297.83/month). So the annual premium for this example means the insurance premium per year is $21,162/year or $1,763/month. To have equivalent take-home pay, a person making $50,000 as an employee would need to make $65,574 ($32.79/hour) And that is just for insurance. It's an imperfect example, because it's based on averages and assumptions, but it does illustrate pretty clearly why self-employed folks and independent contractors need to really sit down and figure out how to value their time.

I won't draw this out with further examples, because they might not be especially useful to each person reading.

Instead, I will tell you that my client has some great hourly numbers in front of her but needs to figure out what expenses she would be taking on that are now paid by her employer.

If you are considering working for yourself, here are some articles that will help you figure out how to value your time.

"How Much Should You Charge for Your Services?" on Nolo.com.

"The Value of Time: How Much is Your Time Really Worth?" by James Clear.

What is your time worth? Probably more than you realize.