Pros
Clients. Food (for the most part).
Cons
I left Selah under unfortunate circumstances. At the time I was angry. Both at myself and at the situation. I will fully admit, I do NOT think that job was the right fit for me. It was not what I thought it was going to be... I sometimes was on my phone too much (often trying to figure out something to say or come up with something to do... I am not naturally good at consoling people). I did not write this upon my exit as honestly I wanted to forget about the whole experience and I also didn't know if I was looking at the situation fairly from all sides. I did have faults. The cell phone thing being one. My dislike of direct conflict being another. I need to say before I begin that there are several WONDERFUL people at Selah. Overnight workers. Equine people. Kitchen staff... etc. **The following are my personal opinions and my take on my experiences at Selah. These again are my opinions and how I view my experiences** I feel like I should note that I was basically forced to quit. I was called in and they laundry listed me with all the things they felt I was not doing correctly, things about me as a person they didn't like, and other things that were blatantly twisted from reality. Coworkers were led to believe I was fired, when really I was forced to quit. During my time at Selah there was a co-worker who bullied me. Clients even commented on it. This coworker screamed at me, told me I didn't know what I was doing in front of clients, once took me outside when they knew I didn't bring my keys with me and locked the door so I couldn't get back in to get away from the situation... and they tried to gaslight me. There were other workers who witnessed this and stated they would be willing to verify the encounters they witnessed, but I was told by the (then) director that would not be allowed as it would create issues with interpersonal dynamics among the staff. Instead, the coworker who did all of this denied it all and basically stated I had an altered perception of events - and even stated some things had never transpired at all. I mentioned I felt like I was being gaslighted. My use of that word and my unwillingness to have a discussion with someone who told me the things that very much did happen, did not happen? Well, it led to me being forced to go see a therapist to see if I was psychologically fit to work at Selah and if I was a danger to the clients. The therapist felt my reactions were well within reason and told me that she thought I would be more likely to hurt myself than to ever hurt anyone else. In addition to that... another coworker would sing, "I'm So Fancy," when I would walk into a room most of the time - because she said I seemed to think I was fancy by the way I dressed. I asked her to stop. She would still randomly do it. This same coworker later on told me information about a "scandal" at Selah. We were on the way to an outing and she was surprised I had not heard about something. She then told me she would "tell me all about it" later. Which she did. I then wound up looking up the former co-workers address so I could mail her a letter, to tell her that I didn't care if things were true or not... because we all make mistakes and she was always kind to me. I tell this to the coworker who provided me the info about the "scandal." She asked me how I found her address. I told her that information is sometimes available online when a person has gone through something like a foreclosure or other legal proceedings. The coworker was upset and wound up saying I was gossiping about the former coworker's financial state - which was not true and did not provide any context at all. The supervisor she told didn't bother asking me about the context - or bringing it up at all - until they laundry listed me all of my faults the day I quit. During my time there, I switched to an organic deodorant I purchased off of Etsy. At some point an email was sent out about cleanliness and dressing nicely. When I had a meeting with my boss? She referenced that email, but said it did not apply to me since I always looked well put together. Later on? When they forced me to quit? She said she had a conversation with me about the fact I smelled like I had not bathed - which was absolutely not true. She had led me to believe the email was not about me. Had she been direct and told me? I would have been happy to know that my organic deodorant clearly was not doing its job. I would have been MORE than happy to know that information. She would have just needed to be direct and honest. Neither or which occurred. I am not angry at that person, but feel they should have just been direct. Both about this and the "scandal" gossip. Had I been directly talked to about either of those things? Things could have been resolved. When they laundry listed me the day I quit? They also told me none of my co-workers liked me or wanted to work with me. Yes, they told me no one liked me. Two coworkers texted me after hearing I was fired. Another visited me at my other job. MULTIPLE clients came to visit me when they were on passes and after. They said they were basically told I was fired and they wanted to know what happened (and how to find me on Instagram). The clients knew I cared about them. I sent them coloring books and other things in the mail for months and months following. One coworker during my time there asked if I would work Sundays with her, because she found other coworkers would often disappear when she needed to smoke. I didn't disappear. I also found work/life balance difficult. I would be called to come in when I was not even on call. One night I had to sleep there because I was scheduled at night and in the morning... and I had to take someone to the hospital that night, we were there for a long time, and the company car was not filled up with gasoline so we almost ran out. When I got back, the nurse on duty didn't know where any of the stuff was to set up the quarantine room... so I had to help her. I was scheduled the first shift the next morning, so I found myself sleeping for 3.5 hours on a couch in the office Chris Z shared with a therapist. On another occasion, I was not on-call, but wound up going in to take a girl to the hospital. I wound up getting physically attacked by the girl - more mentally draining than physically painful - resulting in bruises all over my legs. The nurse at the hospital was unable to help, but wanted to use restraints. The person who was on-call and supposed to relieve me took hours and hours to arrive - upon their arrival they apologized it had taken so long, but they had to shower, do their hair, and do their makeup. When I wanted to discuss this whole debacle with management, I was made to feel like I had blown it out of proportion. I should have been more assertive when doing the RC led groups - to step up and lead it on occasion, versus feeling like other people would do a better job. I should have been more mindful about how being on my phone (which was allowed) would be perceived... that even looking up things that related to what was going on? Could make others feel like I was not paying attention/doing my job/didn't want to be there/etc. That is FULLY on me. Leaving wound up being good for me. Immediately got a MUCH higher paying job which I did for 3 years before branching out and starting my own business. Traveled the world (which I never would have had the time to do). For the RIGHT person though? A person who is better at setting boundaries and doesn't mind having to deal with unkind coworkers on their own? This wouldn't be a bad job. The clients truly (for the most part) are fantastic.