Don't let yourself be bullied in your job!

You thought bullying only happened in school? Wrong! Stopbullying.gov defines bullying as:

Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.

Look at that closely. It says school-aged children but in my many years of working with job seekers and careerists, I don’t think adults are immune to bullying behavior.

Bullies are bullies wherever they are

Bullied in your job. Bullies are bullies wherever they are and this economic climate has brought out a new breed of bullying that was probably less pronounced before.

• Making threats — Has anyone ever told you that if you don’t complete their work for them, they will make life hard at work?
• Spreading rumors — Cubical life is infamous for rumor-spreading. There may not be an ounce of truth in it but once someone starts a rumor about you at work, it spreads like wildfire. It happens in healthcare too. Nurses have shared how they felt belittled or singled out when they were just trying to do their job.
• Attacking someone physically or verbally — Now armed with emails and social media, attacks take on a new form. Physical attacks are less common but they happen too.
• Excluding someone from a group on purpose — Everyone else gathers after work for dinner or drinks, but you’re never invited and if you did show up, they would ignore you.

What can you do about bullying at work?

1. Don’t ignore it thinking it is your imagination.
2. Recognize it for what it is, bullying, and don’t internalize it thinking you are the problem, no one deserves to be bullied.
3. Don’t physically fight back (unless you are at risk of your life).
4. Find someone to talk to about the bullying but not necessarily other coworkers.
5. Develop a game plan to act when it happens again.

What if you can’t take the bullying anymore?

Ultimately, you have to look out for you. No job is worth being unhappy every day. If you can’t find a way to get the bullying to stop, it is time for you to move on. Get yourself ready with a value-driven resume, optimize your LinkedIn profile, and learn more about opportunities you would enjoy.

Need help? Hire me, Julie Walraven, Certified Master Resume Writer. I can take the pain out of writing your resume and even make it fun. We work together to discover those forgotten contributions and position you to win your next role. To find out how, Click Here.

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