According to one survey, 10 per cent of workers between the ages of 18 and 38 left their first jobs after one year because they hated their boss.

It is the main reason many young adults will leave their first jobs this year. No, it’s not the meager biweekly paycheques or lack of vacation time or the annoyingly talkative co-worker. It’s the boss!

A recent poll from Career Systems International, a talent management solution provider out of the US, 10 per cent of workers between the ages of 18 and 38 left their first jobs after one year because they hated their boss. Many of every age said a bad boss had them hunting for a new job as early as the first day of work.

Susan Fee, a Cleveland mental health counsellor and interpersonal communications specialist, said young employees often switch jobs to avoid a mean boss.

“There are more jobs in this generation, which offers teens more flexibility to hop from one job to the next. If they have a boss they don’t immediately cooperate with, they choose to just leave the job and find something else rather than fix the problem,” she said.

This is one of many mistakes, Fee said, that teens make in their first “real-world” jobs. From being rude to dressing inappropriately to job-hopping, teens might be surprised that their behaviour is creating the boss from hell.

Fee, who has helped teens become more professional in the workplace, will not forget when she received a student e-mail with the address areyouforpot@yahoo.com.

“It’s amazing the number of students who are e-mailing their employers with addresses like this,” the mental health counsellor said.

Multicoloured hair, facial piercings or tight clothing might also be frowned upon.

“When I see someone come into my office with a thousand tattoos, I am thinking to myself, ‘I want to take you seriously, but I can’t get past the ring of tattoos you have around your neck,'” said Fee.

Acting professional is key, said employers polled in an April 2005 survey by www.careerbuilder.com. The survey found the top four mistakes new graduates make in the first 90 days on the job are showing up late, being negative, spending too much office time on personal business and not asking for help when they need it.

“Young adults need to model success,” said Fee. “Make introductions first without being introduced. Work on your handshake. Keep the earbuds of your iPod out of your ears when you’re in the office.”

And watch your conduct outside the office.

“It’s amazing, the number of employees who look nice and sweet in the office, but when they get outside on their break and start talking on their cell phones, they’re cussing and being rude,” Fee noted.

Not all young employees feel their work performance is the reason behind their mean boss. A Kent State student said she has remained at her university job for more than three years despite the fact that her boss is negative and rude.

“My boss prefers to jump down our throats when we make a mistake instead of just telling us. She also isn’t very approachable when a person has a problem, and she talks down to us instead of to us,” she said.

The boss’ disposition is not the only thing that irks young workers. In a poll from Career Systems International, many said they were frustrated by bosses who do not challenge them enough or set deadlines.

Working America, a research organisation that lobbies politicians worldwide to take notice of bad workplace issues, says some bad bosses are born, not made, in the workplace. And they have testimonials to prove it.

Imagine being forbidden to go the restroom during working hours or teased about being overweight or frowned upon for having to miss work for your own mother’s funeral? These are just some of more than 2,500 horror stories that can be found on www.workingamerica.org, the organisation’s website.

The stories are so bad that the organisation sponsors an annual contest to search for the worst boss. This year’s winner was a dental assistant whose bad boss was stealing money from his own employee’s paychecks.

Fee said serious workplace issues like intense criticism and verbal abuse need to be handled promptly.

“Tell the boss you would like to speak with him or her privately about how you can improve your work performance. Avoid accusations… Provide a specific example of what you feel you are doing wrong and ask how to improve,” she said.

And most importantly, regardless of how the mean boss behaviour originates, young adults need to be responsible for their actions.

“Employees need to learn to speak up and take charge or they will continue to remain a victim,” said Fee.