Job Discussion Forums

[contented]

I'm interested in knowing what people would do if they worked somewhere and they didn't fit in with the rest of the crowd in their department. The local English teachers are snobby in my opinion and usually just talk amongst themselves. The clique-ish atmosphere is wearing on me and I'm thinking maybe I should just apply at other schools for next year. The other foreigners are trying their hardest to fit in with them, but I'm not one to act like the rest just to fit in. I prefer being myself (I've never had social problems at work before in case you are wondering). My job is pretty good (area, working conditions, salary and benefits) so that is what is keeping me here.

Would you just deal with the cliques, change yourself to be like them, or find another place of employment?

Thanks.

[tttompatz]

[contented]

[Glenski]

You said it yourself when you wrote that you were "not one to act like the rest just to fit in." I suspect other people are just being themselves, too, and that they have learned to live with each other. Join the world. Ask someone at work to coffee and learn something about them and their experiences, and share your own.

[contented]

I understand what you mean, thanks. I did talk with a couple of them and found that they aren't actually the way they make themselves to be in the office. They put on a front and act like the rest as a coping mechanism. One said that if she doesn't do it then it makes for a very long and lonely year. The social dynamics of the department is slightly interesting if I look at it like a study of human behaviour and conformism. I had been fortunate to work with people who were themselves and now I'm with people who feel the need to put on masks as it were.

Thanks for the advice.