Work blues, and moving on
At some point we all make decisions about making changes in our lives, some rather routine like where to go eat.
Other changes are more serious, like where to live, or work.
I have been looking for a new job for (seriously) two years. Its not that it’s a bad job... Or that the people are bad.
No, it’s the clear trend that downsizing has become more than a trend; it’s become what many in the organization fear is the eventual demise of our firm. Many of my colleagues have left, whispering to me “Get out while you can” …
By constantly “shedding “people, it has become a lean mean place to work, where everybody has their and someone else’s job and more to do. Some don’t bear down on the work to be done, and then things back up. Deadlines get missed.
Customers get really, really dissatisfied.
So in the end, people like me catch more of the fury, and blame. Doesn’t matter that Susie shiftless in accounting shuffles papers and manages to misplace payments for things for projects…and since ours is a you pay when we are done type operation, well, our suppliers get upset when they ship with payment due in 30 or 45 days and wait up to 180 days for a check…they simply stop shipping, until we pay in advance. Our reputation has gone from stellar to crappy…
So my division gets hamstrung by administrative people…well I can’t keep doing this.
When I used to call Dell or HP vendors, I would send them specs, sign off on a PO, and they would ship, basically just over a series of emails. We never missed deadlines. We did projects under schedule and budget, making everyone happy, and earning a completion bonus on some of the bigger jobs. Sadly those days ended when the first round of the layoffs took out senior managers and accounting people…early retirement, buyouts, and layoffs…
I have been in negotiations with two prominent firms and some smaller ones, and it basically came down to two. Last week I got an offer I accepted. Tomorrow I go over there to begin the paperwork. I have already given my required two week notice, although there is something cheesy about emailing your notice in while your manager is out of town…but he and I had spoken last week, and I told him I was pretty sure I was leaving, since they had made a tentative offer then…it was a matter of getting all the approvals on their side.
I won’t be making a lot of money, but I set my hours, and will basically be a consultant to organizations I have worked with in the past.
I am not ecstatic like I usually am about a new job, but I believe this is a move I have to make.
All the best in your new job. I hope it will not be so frustrating.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot to be said for setting your own hours.
ReplyDelete