SINGAPORE: A 25-year-old woman who used to work in the marketing department of an SME took to r/askSingapore to ask, “Am I weak for quitting after 2 months?”
In her defense, she said that she single-handedly managed the workload equivalent to that of an entire marketing team, as her supervisor quit one month after she got hired and the other member moved to a different division.
So, in addition to her job responsibilities, which were to take product photos and edit them, she now had to brainstorm content ideas, design newsletters, create ads for the company’s social media (Facebook and Instagram), and finish other ad-hoc tasks.
“On one hand, my bosses told me that it’s impossible to do everything alone. Whatever I’m doing now is just “mundane/handover” tasks as I’ve not been tasked with a bigger project, so they said they “haven’t given me any stress yet,” but you see, I’m still adjusting to the “team,” & having to do ALMOST EVERYTHING myself feels overwhelming,” she explained.
“Moreover, I’d like to work in a team where discussion & fun can happen, not just doing everything myself, even though I CAN work independently. Also, I did set up a personal schedule so I can work efficiently.”
She reached her breaking point when, amidst working on 3-4 content creation tasks, her manager abruptly asked her, “Can you finish it up by today? You didn’t do much today.”
This request came as her boss wanted her to focus on a different task the next day, a reasonable request that she understood.
However, the criticism deeply affected her, and she struggled to hold back tears. She felt she had given her best despite working alone.
“I really don’t understand what she meant by “you didn’t do much.” It wasn’t even time-sensitive work. I was holding back my tears so bad.
Of course, this isn’t all, & there are other factors that contributed to the resignation. But through out these 2 months and a few weeks, I’ve cried so much, and it affected my mental health so bad.”
“It’s not weakness; it’s self-preservation”
Singaporean Redditors flooded the comments section with comforting messages, assuring her she was not weak and that the company was at fault for overwhelming a newbie with tasks meant for three people.
They also addressed a common misconception about digital marketing that creating social media content is a breeze and takes only ten minutes.
They explained that there’s a lot more to it, like brainstorming ideas, understanding the product, crafting, designing, and planning the content, all essential for creating engaging posts.
One Redditor shared her experience:
“And this is why after 15+ years, I left marketing. On top of everything else that’s listed, there’s strategising, re-targeting, crm such as HubSpot, doing 1 content and adapting creative + copy + CTA for 5 different platforms, etc.
When lead gen campaigns do well, WELL DONE SALES TEAM. When lead gen not so well, but ah, marketing team effort didn’t generate enough leads.
But, oh no, marketing girls just do social media. Sick and tired of the disrespect.”
Another Redditor offered valuable advice, saying: “If it’s negatively affecting your mental health, you have to do what’s good for you. Never set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm. It’s not weakness, it’s self preservation.”
Additionally, some Redditors criticized the company for lacking a proper structure for knowledge transfer and for overloading women with multiple responsibilities.
One individual added, “Nope, your workplace doesn’t have a proper structure or pipeline for knowledge transfer. Plus, you’re doing a lot of work for your position; copywriting, photo/video editing, ideation, planning, execution, etc.
You’re pretty much functioning as a one-person content team + a marketing team. While it’s nice to have these skills for your resume, it’s not healthy or conducive to overloading yourself like this in the long run.”
In related news, a man who held a well-paying corporate position resigned earlier this year to prioritize his mental well-being.
He shared on r/singaporeRaw that he intended to pursue less mentally demanding positions, like working part-time or full-time as a waiter in restaurants, becoming an air steward, or taking on basic administrative roles with lower salaries.
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