I went on a job interview a few weeks ago, and they absolutely loved me and just made a formal job offer today! This is reason to rejoice, right? Well…
I’ve made the list of pros and cons and I’m having a hard time deciding whether to leave my current job or not. I’m always terrified of change, and I feel guilty leaving the hospital because they will be in a really bad position if I leave. I enjoy the company of most of my coworkers, I feel like I’m doing important, live-saving work in the lab, but I’m tired of getting home at midnight and being out of synch with everyone in the world. And with so many others recently leaving, I’m also sick of picking up extra weekends and coming in early to help cover when we’re short-staffed. The new job is a traditional day shift 9ish to 5ish (they’re flexible about start times), similar pay and benefits, never any weekends or holidays. It’s still lab work, but not directly affecting patient care, so the stress level will be much lower - although I am a little nervous I may get bored.
Add to this the fact that we’ll be trying for a family soon and I may only be working full-time for another year or two before moving to something part-time (probably back at the hospital, or at another hospital, since the new job doesn’t have much for part-time folks). Maybe I need to suck it up and tough it out another while where I am?
I know it shouldn’t bother me - people quit and move on, and I should be looking out for my needs, not my employer’s. But it’s a really hard decision to make. I like these people and I don’t want to hurt them, or hurt patient care, by leaving. I really don’t know what to do, and I need to give them an answer next week.
I feel like no matter what I choose, I’ll regret it.
Friends at work are nice, and it’s nice that you don’t want to make things tough of them, but obviously your employer doesn’t care about how tough things are for you, evidenced by the long hours and weekends. You need to decide what’s more important to you - friends or a normal life. And don’t make the decision today based on what may happen in a year or two - lots will change in that year or two. Just decide TODAY what matters to you more.
This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it…
Is this the same job you talked about here? If so you should take the new job right now. Especially if you want to have a baby eventually you can’t really do that working until midnight and on weekends in a super high stress job. The exhaustion that goes along with pregnancy alone will cause serious problems where you are currently.
It’s the same job, yes. It’s changed a little - now there are two of us there until midnight every day, so I’m not trying to do it all alone, and that does help. There are some moments where we can sit and chat, or check e-mail, which never used to happen before, but the stress is still present most of the time, even though now it’s shared between two people. I can’t ever get out of weekends, though - the hospital never closes and someone’s gotta be there. Normally it’s one in 7 weekends, but with recent resignations, there are more holes in the schedule and they ask us to pick up extra.
Reading that old thread helped with some perspective, pbbth, thank you. The actual workload has improved, but I still get home at midnight and have to work weekends, and get grumped at if I tell them I really don’t feel like picking up more weekends to help.
Take the new job as fast as you can, but be polite and burn no bridges, in the event that you can pick up shifts after baby comes… But get out now, while the getting is good!
Your current job (the one you are leaving) sounds like the kind of job that one theoretically would want- you are wanted, needed, your work is desperately needed…
BUT- it’s like the fantasy adventure stories where the hero thinks- “Dang, now why did I want to be an adventurer? They never talked about having to sleep on the ground or poop in a hole in the stories…”
Keep your options as open as possible, but don’t feel survivor’s guilt for getting away from a mostly toxic environment. Yes, you were helping, but you were getting burned, a little bit, but a little bit every minute of the (very long) work days…
The hospital can hire someone to take your place. They may need to pay more to attract someone if the environment is that poor, it may take some temporary hardship on your former co-workers… but go. It’s your life, and you don’t owe it to your co-workers (even if they’re friends) to stay in a job when a better one comes along.
I’ve been there. I left a job that sucked, that paid poorly, that made me miserable. I left reluctantly because I felt like it would adversely affect people I cared about, and I didn’t want to hurt anyone. And you know what? After just a few months, I felt silly. Things carried on without me. Lots of the people I left found other jobs, too. I’ve never regretted it.
Another story: I worked for a small (<10 people) company for several years. They did a wage freeze, didn’t notify me, and denied me a promised increase at my next review. The environment was incredibly toxic at the time as well, and, despite feeling bad for my closest co-workers, I left for more money. Nine months later, after losing some key employees and a change in ownership, they hired me back with no hard feelings, and a promotion. I’m close with the people I work with, I like them a lot and enjoy spending time with them, but everyone understands too that you have to look out for yourself. Really, there’s no hard feelings about it with anyone here, and the company also reformed their policy about raises as well (to employees’ benefit). I’ve talked with the now-owner (who was a partner) and he completely understands the decision, and has treated me with the utmost respect. I’m glad I did it, and my financial security is worth it to me.
You’re right, gurujulp… I feel like an unappreciated “hero” who never got the full story before signing up, nd I’m getting so tired. I get off on knowing I’m making a difference, and I’m really good at what I do, but it’s becoming too much pressure. I’m giving 110% to this place regularly and that leaves me with -10% energy left for everything else.
It’s looking like I’ll give this new job a chance, but “breaking up” with the current place is going to be very hard. How exactly does one give a breakup speech to the boss? She’s going to flip out, because if I leave, the evening shift is essentially decapitated. I will tell her I’m willing to stay on PRN (on availability) and fulfill my weekend and holiday obligations at least through the end of the year so they don’t need to scramble to find coverage for Thanksgiving or anything.
I’m a little depressed by the fact that I’m likely to lose the couple of friends I’ve made there, because I don’t make friends easily. But this will probably be better for me in the long run. And like fluiddruid, I can always try going back to the hospital if things don’t work out.
Well, in Spain quitting always requires notice in writing, but my “breakup speeches” to decent bosses (given before sending the letter) have been along the following lines:
“I’ve got good news and bad news… bad news first, I’m leaving. Good news, it’s not because I have anything contagious, I got an offer for a better job.”
So far, the good bosses and the good coworkers have always been sorry to see me go but glad for me when I left for something better (which may mean many different things: more appropriate to my training, better salary, better hours, closer to home…); I reckon they’re sincere because I’m also glad when I see someone leave for a better job.
I think I’ll try to make it light and informal, because we do have a decent relationship. Something about how it’s not because I hate my current job, but that this offer is something I really need to take advantage of for my life and career. She’ll understand, and she’ll be happy for me on some level, but it’s still going to be rough. I’m putting them in a bad position, but the more I think about it, all the reasons I have for maybe turning down the new job involve other people. If I choose not to go, it’'s because of how it will affect other people and not myself, so I know that quitting and trying the new job is something I need to do for myself. I’m such a wimp about decisions, honestly - I can never even decide where to go for dinner, so a decision of this magnitude is panic-inducing.
Because I work the evening shift and it’s just me and one other tech there, and the boss stays pretty late, I’ll get a chance to talk to her without snooping people spying on us in her office (it’s all windows, we call it her fishbowl) and trying to read lips. I hope she’s able to do me a favor and not tell the day shift first thing in the morning, because I’d like a chance to tell them myself… otherwise I’ll be walking into a buzzing beehive of gossip on Tuesday when I arrive and that will suck.
All right, it’s happening today. I’ll write a resignation letter to make it official and I’ll talk to her when the day shift leaves today. Wish me luck. I could use a Xanax.
My first response to this was, “Fuck that shit. They made their bed by not hiring enough people; this isn’t your problem.” What would they do if you got sick (or took a medical leave because of stress)? They’d finally do what they should have done a long time ago. In some ways you’re not actually being a hero; you’re stretching to make things work for them that shouldn’t be working. Management doesn’t have to do what they should do because of your sacrifices, and that isn’t right.
Good luck! I like the idea of going to the new job and maybe coming back to the hospital as a part-timer once you have a baby or two. I think once you get out of the situation and get some perspective, you’ll wonder why you put up with it for so long.
You won’t. This is the biggest lie that healthcare employers foist on their employees. For every person who feels they are irreplaceable and can’t possibly leave, there are dozens who would love to take that job (and be as good at it or better than you, with a little time and sufficient training). Especially with unemployment as high as it currently is. HR probably has anywhere from 10-50 unsolicited resumes right now, for unemployed people who are capable of fulfilling your job description, and likely willing to take a lower salary than you’re making.
Having a low stress, reliably-scheduled job will be much nicer when you finally have a kid. You would be able to return to work more quickly (if you wanted to), because it’s easy to find day care during 9-5 work hours. And if work bores you now because it’s too easy or too predictable, wait until you’re a mother. You will probably look forward to getting some peace and quiet from the adventurous little hellion for a few hours every day. Plus there is always a possibility that the new employer would accommodate a change to part-time in the future, with more chance of being during regular daytime hours than the place you currently work for.
I vote to switch jobs now, because you have to have been working for a full calendar year before FMLA benefits kick in. And keep in mind that if your current employer wanted to, they would lay you off tomorrow. It’s not personal, it’s a business decision. Make the smart business decision about your life. Don’t make this personal.
Sorry for hijacking my own thread, but have to respond to this. You’re right, I’m replaceable. Everyone is. But good med techs are getting to be very hard to find. My hospital has had chronically vacant positions for 4 years because the demand for medical laboratory professionals is exceeding the supply. It’s an aging workforce, and there are fewer med tech programs available to train new people in the field - and that’s assuming anyone coming out of high school has even heard of the profession. It’s a bad situation that almost nobody knows about, and I’ve brought up the issue here before. “capable of fulfilling the job description” is a four-year degree in medical laboratory science, and I doubt many of the nation’s unemployed are walking around with that diploma.
There’s a good PDF article about laboratory workforce shortages here. (Warning: PDF) Last year’s laboratory workforce survey by the American Society for Clinical Pathology showed an average 11% vacancy rate in blood banking, and about 20% of currently working blood bankers are doing overtime or double shifts to keep labs running.
My hospital’s HR department does not have a stack of resumes to pick through to fill the lab positions - we’ve had an opening on the evening shift in the core lab for 6 months now and we have had exactly one qualified applicant, who ended up rejecting our offer. Over the past three years, we’ve hired several people, only to have them flunk out during their training because they can’t do the job well. I can remember three off the top of my head, but there may have been more.
I’m still leaving for the new job - I’m not letting guilt stop me. They will, eventually, find someone. But it’s not like they have a huge pool of talented and dedicated techs waiting at the door for an interview. Hundreds of nurses, plenty of radiology techs, but very, very few medical technologists.
Anyway, all that said, I’ve given in my notice. My supervisor was surprised but she understands my decision. I told her to call me when the toxic day shift employee retires (or dies at the bench), and we can talk. She’s open to letting me stay on as a supplemental employee, which is great. Everyone I’ve told so far thinks I’m making a good choice, even though they’ll miss me and they think the lab is losing a good tech. I’m feeling less like a flan now, thanks, you guys. When I emailed the new job to say I was accepting, the response was, and I quote directly: “Yippee!!! Wonderful!! We are happy to have you join us.” I’m excited - a place that uses that many exclamation marks can’t be all bad.
You wouldn’t be out looking for a new job if your old was was good. So leave.
People tend to have a fantasy, that they work in a bad place, but if they find a new job and quit, the employer will suddenly wake up, see the errors of his ways and fix everything.
No, they just hire someone else. There’s millions of people out of work and millions more underemployed, who’d be happy to do either the job you have now or the future job, probably for less money than you. There are people who have been out of work so long they consider a paycheck more important than any working conditions.
So do everyone a favor and take the new job and don’t look back
So, you reply without reading threads, eh, AndyLee? Interesting lifestyle choice.
Glad to hear it went well, Antigen. You’re making me think I should look into getting my RT again. (Except I don’t want full-time work, and I definitely don’t want full-time plus overtime.)
As a Canadian tech with a degree in MLS and BB experience this is verrrrrrrrry interesting to me. Maybe in a another life, though. Even if I could get through the green card rigamarole, I have a GF that wouldn’t qualify.
Anyways, as a lab boss I agree that you should take the other job, which it sounds like you have already done. Part of being the boss is that you have to take it up the ass, so to speak, with regards to staffing sometimes and figure out a new plan.
Even though we’re currently full staffed with a good crew for the first time in 5 years, 3 out of 7 of my techs have told me they plan on leaving next year. I’m finding it harder and harder to find qualified people, especially up here as few people want to come up here and the breadth of knowledge required to work here is much wider than anywhere else I’ve worked. (we do chemistry, hematology, blood bank, micro and some molecular testing…we’re also the public health lab for the territory). New grads seem to do the best as they typically have all that stuff still fresh in their heads and don’t have families so don’t get too burnt out from all the call we have to do. Also, it takes our retarded HR dept. 6 months (!) to post a vacant position once someone leaves, so I am not at all looking forward to having three of my best techs quit at the same time.
Out of curiosity’s sake, what LIS are you using where you are at?
Oh, you’d find part time stuff. There’s always an every-other-weekend spot open somewhere.
Actually, I got in on a TN work visa, not a green card. If you’re interested I can give you more info at some point, just PM me and get in touch. Hell, message me anytime you want to talk shop! Getting the visa was a bit of a pain but well worth it for me.
The LIS we’re using is Misys (we’ve also got Smart-Term, an old school text-only monstrosity). It ain’t great.
(Except I don’t want full-time work, and I definitely don’t want full-time plus overtime.)