Feeling Stuck in a Family-Run Business: How Do I Navigate This Career Dilemma?

Dear seniors, I need your guidance on my unfavorable situation. This is going to be a lengthy one, so I appreciate your time. I am an executive assistant with over 10 years of experience in various MNCs. Currently, for the past year, I have been working in a company (a family-run business partnership) as an Executive Secretary. I chose this company because it is very close to my home, allowing me to save on commuting time and spend quality time with my child. When I joined this company, I was confident that I had made the right choice, especially since it was better than sitting idle at home. Soon, I started realizing what I had gotten myself into ☹️

Now, even though it has been more than a year, I find it very hard to get used to this company, its style of working, ethics, etc. I do not need to use my brains; I just need to do as directed by the bosses (I had three bosses earlier, now two bosses—a father and a son). I have realized my blunder in joining this company as I have made many adjustments.

I need your guidance on my unfavorable situation. This is going to be a lengthy one, so I appreciate your time.

I am an executive assistant with 10+ years of experience in various MNCs. Currently, for the past year, I have been working in a company (family-run business – partnership) as an Executive Secretary. I chose this company because it is very close to my home, allowing me to save on commuting time and spend quality time with my child. When I joined this company, I was confident that I had made the right choice, especially since it was better than sitting idle at home. Soon, I started realizing what I had gotten myself into. 

Now, even though it has been more than a year, I find it very hard to get used to this company, the style of working, ethics, etc. I do not need to use my brain. I just need to do as directed by the bosses (I had 3 bosses earlier, now 2 bosses – a father and a son).

I have realized my blunder of joining this company as I have made many adjustments and compromises. I do not want to sound "complaining," however, I would like to keep the facts as they are:

• No basic infrastructure (when I joined, I had to request a separate washroom for women and a dining facility for all. Thankfully, this was adhered to.)

• No PF, No health insurance/ESI

• Leave is an issue; we work 6 days. Leave entitlement is 30 days per year (which includes national/public/festival holidays).

• Compromised on salary. I joined for half of the CTC that I was drawing in the previous company. I know this sounds absurd, but as mentioned above, all I wanted one year back was time with my child.

• No pay slips. The salary amount is credited to our bank accounts. Any request for pay slips, etc., just gets postponed without arriving at any decision (the best excuse is the father-son duo wanting to discuss with each other, and the other being out of town, very busy, on holiday, traveling, etc.). I might follow up 3-4 times and then leave it.

Now, I feel it is high time to change the job. Recently, I attended an interview (well-known company in Bangalore) where I was asked, "the reason for changing the job?" I mentioned that I was looking for a professional organization and about the lack of benefits in the current company. However, the Talent Acquisition Manager and the VP – HR refused to agree that there was no PF/health insurance/ESI facility. In addition, there seems to be an issue with salary as well. I was drawing a higher salary and joined for a lesser salary. Now, I want to draw at least the same salary as I was drawing in my previous job, if not higher.

Request your guidance and thoughts on how to go about the interview in general and about specific questions on the reason for job change, benefits, and salary. I have never felt so helpless in my career. Please help!!!

Thanks for your time.

Regards,
Deepa

I trust you have shared everything you wanted to. I would like to share a few things below that I believe will be helpful to you in the days ahead.

1. As a mature professional with 10 years of experience in various corporate environments, you should have taken the time to understand your current organization and discussed it with colleagues at your current company before making the move. However, it seems you did not do so. I am curious as to why?

2. Despite being aware of the drawbacks of your current company, you made the decision to join in order to spend more time with your child. If you decide to leave this organization because you do not want to work, will that align with your priorities of spending time with your child?

3. As an executive secretary, if you are unable to communicate effectively with and influence your boss, how do you plan to navigate a large organization and handle multiple responsibilities?

4. During interviews, it is important not to speak negatively about your current employer solely for your benefit, as it may reflect poorly on you. Instead, consider providing a diplomatic response. For example, you could mention choosing your current company due to personal circumstances that have since changed, allowing you more flexibility in your job search.

5. If you do not have a salary slip from your current company, consider providing a bank statement showing your salary deposits. Alternatively, you could obtain a salary certificate on your company's letterhead as evidence of your income.

6. Professional organizations typically do not overlook discrepancies in salary details. However, if you are a strong candidate for a specific role they urgently need to fill, they may be more lenient. Good luck with your endeavors.

Regards,

M. Kannan

Thank you, Mr. Kannan, for your time and your thoughts on interview tips. On point 3, I do not agree with you. Here, there are two bosses. So, I need to discuss the issue/concern twice individually and also follow up with both. You do not get to catch hold of them together, so the solution is not found. Many times, I myself suggest solutions, but again it is like boss 1 needs to discuss with boss 2 to arrive at a decision, and this goes on and on.

As mentioned in the original post, I managed to put across the need for a separate washroom for women, a dining facility with tables and chairs, an attendance machine, etc. Also, the need for a receptionist was highlighted and recruited.

I am glad to mention that I have managed many tasks and reorganized many things at the current organization (in the absence of an HR department or facilities team) and continue to do so.

Regards,
Deepa

M. Kannan has given you apt inputs for you to arrive at a well-informed decision.

Regarding the reason(s) for joining this company, as the saying goes: "If you want something, you need to forego something" [the original is in Hindi with rhythmic wordings]. Looking at the situation from another angle—you at least had a good chance to take care of your kid.

But in all the summary of the situation, you never once mentioned: what about the kid now, if you change to another job—which would, in all possibility, be farther. Any reason(s)? Or is there someone to take care of the kid now?

In a way, I don't really think you made a mistake—you 'misjudged' that this job too would be like any other MNC jobs you worked in earlier. But, as a thumb rule, family-owned businesses are more prone to adhocism and non-conformance to any structure of rules. Maybe, had you checked with any of your friends, like M. Kannan mentioned, you could have known it earlier... or maybe not, given your focus at that point of time [which was to be with your kid]—it happens. Quite often when our focus is working on a different plane, many alerting factors/aspects just get out of focus, even though they may be right in front of our eyes.

How to handle the lack of Salary Slips— Bank statements are now accepted by many companies, in the absence of slips. You haven't mentioned the company strength—but going by what you mentioned, I don't think it's high [at the most in double digits—please correct if wrong]. You can explain the lack of Salary Slips due to the low company strength—that should be acceptable to many since small-sized companies don't have any formal salary slip practice.

Regarding 'no PF/health insurance/ESI facility'— what M. Kannan suggested is right. Though many HR heads may find it odd, they wouldn't give it a lot of focus if they really want you on-board.

Regarding 'I want to draw at least the same salary as I was drawing in my previous job...'— let's be realistic. If you were the HR head, would you accept this request straight-faced?

Frankly—though I am not sure how this would appeal to you—the only way to handle the salary issue would be to avoid showing this experience at all. You can say you were taking care of your kid—which for a lady candidate doesn't raise many eyebrows. With this, your benchmark would be your last-drawn salary.

From another perspective, it could also solve your having to explain the other major issues mentioned above.

Just give this a thought.

All the best.

Regards,
TS

Thank you, TS, for your analysis and feedback. I really need to think about the options available to me, such as traveling to a far-off job, considering my child, starting afresh, or not showing this experience at all. Yes, you are right, the strength here in the office is around 25 employees, with an additional 10 salespeople all over India, plus approximately 100 laborers working in the agricultural field on a daily wage basis. Thanks for your specific answers to my other queries on the interview.

Regards,
Deepa

You already have valid suggestions from Mr. Kannan and Mr. Tajsateesh for your queries. Being a lady, I would only point out that one year back, it was your necessity to be with the kids, so you compromised on your MNC job. You should stand by this decision and feel good that you did what the situation warranted. Now, if this particular need is fulfilled (we think it is), be flexible and accept the offer considering the facts both have pinpointed.

As you mentioned, you initiated a lot of improvements in your current organization. It will not be an issue if you carry forward and work with the same zeal and spirit. It's a matter of time, and you will be back!

Wish you all the best!!!!

Best regards,
Vaishalee Parkhi