Originally Posted by
Kris
I was just wondering how true this is sometimes. Is it normal for co-workers in certain workplaces to try to get you to discuss your personal life, while also trying to be friends with you outside of the workplace?
In the last full-time job I've worked at, I was just trying to be 100% professional, and I was deemed to be too quiet and too formal. Some of them even told me that maturity is a sign of being boring, as some of them liked to mess with me. I didn't ignore anybody, and responded to others accordingly, but it seemed frustrating to them when it didn't seem like I was loosening up. My boss at the time even tried to tell me that it's sometimes important to combine some parts of your personal life with your professional life as it would help me expand my contacts for networking should I lose the job or want to seek another one. A lot of my co-workers even agreed, and said that it's too boring and stressful to remain silent and only speak of work-related subjects.
Did any of you encounter this type of situation at work?
I've found it surprising, because I was always taught to never combine my personal life with my professional life, and I tend to strongly agree with that stance a whole lot more. I'm sure it's because some of them wanted to become my friends, and they thought that I meant to be serious at all times without a sense of humor. They even wanted me to go out with them on some Friday nights, but I kept declining as respectably as possible, which still made it awkward for them. I've asked around elsewhere and from the looks of it, most people have told me that it wasn't normal anyway. And well, as I've asked, I was just curious if anybody else went through a similar situation. Perhaps it was also because I was in my early 20s at the time. Most of the staff that I worked with were also in their 20s too.
To me, I don't think I could ever be too quiet at work as long as I'm not rudely ignoring my co-workers. It's just that I'm not the kind of type that would like to speak about my personal life at work, of all places. I also don't even do that at school, or at least try my best not to.