Should I tell off my old boss when I leave my old job?

[bluestateguy]

Will Pitt's earlier thread about his girlfriend's job got me thinking.

I have been working two part time jobs for the last year, and while I have been making ends meet OK, I have felt disrespected, undervalued and underpaid in these positions. Fortunately, I have secured a new job, a good job with good pay and full benefits. I have already given my notice at my old jobs.

I am wondering if maybe, when my employment with them has ended, I should write a critical letter to my old bosses explaining to them how I have felt mistreated, undervalued and underpaid. I would cite a few examples of occasions when I felt that I was subject to unfair treatment. It would be very professional, no cursing or anything like that. I would also include some suggestions as to how I think the work environment could be improved for my successors.

I suppose I might have to worry about getting a bad reference from them in the future when I applied for future jobs, but I just feel so angry with them for how they have treated me for the last 3 years.

[libnnc]

1. I wouldn't burn any bridges too quickly...

You never know who you may need in the future. I say wait until you're well established in your new position. Good luck :hi:

[Nicole]

2. I wouldn't

You never know when your boss might be your boss again.

It would suck if one of the old bosses came to work at your new place of employment. It happens, especially if the field is the same.

[pitohui]

3. no it's a stupid thing to do w. no upside

i saw the thread you mention and i shook my head, the consequences of writing that stupid letter could be a lifetime of reduced earnings and regret for the letter writer, esp. the tacky way that specific managers were named and criticized, that makes a name abt the person in their industry and community -- and not a good name

take out your anger in a good workout session or two

there is no reason to give buttheads the satisfaction of knowing they angered you or touched your soul in any way, leave them behind with a smile

living well is the best revenge

sometimes even people we respect make mistakes and will made a whopper here, unfortunately, it's his girlfriend who may suffer the consequences long after they've parted ways and he has forgotten the fun of having penned a poison pen letter

another way of putting this is -- be nice to the people you meet on the way up, for you may meet them again on the way down

[Wapsie B]

10. Exactly.

A letter like that one is the kiss of death in the biz world. For someone writing and sending such a letter to their ex-employer is career suicide. For this person to get another job doing anything but scrubbing toilets and slinging a mop would require knowing a hiring manager at another company to completely circumvent the HR process; no small task by anyone. Herein lies one of the double standards of the world. An employer can essentially hose an employee and get away with it. If that employee retaliates and stands up for himself they are labeled as troublemakers and blackballed. Not so if it's the other way around with an employee doing something that injures the company.

[Floogeldy]

4. Yes, you should definitely write that letter . . . .

. . . . Just don't mail it. ;)

[question everything]

5. LOL, that's the spirit

Just want to say that I agree with others. Don't burn bridges. You never know when your paths will meet someday in the future.

It is better to get immersed in new jobs, new people, new challenges. Just let it go, don't dwell on it.

[Floogeldy]

7. Heh.

Yes. :)

[Robeson]

6. No. Don't burn bridges.

[barb162]

8. Okay, write it and don't send it. When you need to get another

job down the line as almost all people will, the new place will call that employer of yours and that letter will be sitting in your file if you send it. Not good. What if in one year you decide you don't like the new place. They will call the current place and your previous employers.

[tuvor]

9. Been there, didn't do that (as much as I'd've liked to).

And I have no regrets.