After working for the same employer all my life (or at least the last 18 years) I just sent a resignation letter. Man, I feel strange. My hands are shaking and my breathing is a little uneven.
It’s been a weird couple of weeks. I bumped into an old friend while in Azerbaijan last month and he said I ought to apply for a new job. I sent off four applications into the ether and now I have 2 firm offers and one likely offer. Apparently some people are foolish enough to want to pay me money for what I do. The fools.
Anyway it’s one small step etc. etc. I hope I’m dong the right thing.
Wow - you quit your job without having another one already lined up? That’s pretty ballsy. I hope everything works out for you, and it sounds like it will. Congratulations on starting a new chapter in your life. I completely changed fields after 25 years at 48, and it was the best job decision I’ve ever made.
Congratulations - I know it’s scary, but hopefully it’ll be for the best Most of my job changes have, and I’ve had quite a lot of them! (I’m moving to Switzerland this same month!)
Firm offers and accepting a job might be two different things. Also, one could take the offers and go back to the current employer and parlay it for double the salary.
It might work with a really good boss who appreciated one’s efforts and already knew that one was underpaid, (but by 50%?!). In most cases, that sort of move is regarded as extortion and puts a bullseye on one’s forehead regarding future layoffs or bad employee reviews. (I know that some folks have done it successfully, but I suspect that they are in the minority. I even know places where the mere suggestion of renegotiating based on a better offer is met with instant termination.)
Just to clear the confusion, I start job #1 on Wednesday and then there is a long term contract starting mid January. And I’m already on the top pay scale at my old job, so there isn’t much room for maneuver.
One thing that might come as a surprise to you after 18 years in the same job, from one who has changed jobs way too often for comfort: in my experience, the more senior one becomes, the longer it takes to “get into the saddle” - unless there’s some kind of deadline-driven crucial project that you’re expected to hit the ground running with - so for the first two or three weeks in the new job, you might feel a bit like a chocolate teapot while you find your feet. Don’t worry, it’s normal, and it’s expected.
Hmm. OK. I looked at it more as giving them the chance to keep a valuable employee, since you are all set to leave anyway. Especially if you can show what the market worth is.
This is what happened at my husband’s company. His boss got a terrific offer from a competitor, and he was shown the door when he brought it to his company, in spite of how desperately short they were (and are) for people in their field. You can always try it, but be prepared for it to backfire.
The new rule is that you have to start a new job to get a raise.
Congratulations, TD. Like jjimm says, don’t worry about feeling massively incompetent for the first couple of weeks. We all go through that.
