Resignation...someone tell me I made the right decision

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I resigned on Tuesday.

This was my first permanent job (I’ve had a number of temporary positions while at uni and travelling), and I have nothing lined up. I plan on going temping again for a while, whilst looking for permanent work.

Some background…I joined this large IT company in June, based on their promises of cross-training, multiple placements in different teams and so on (it’s a graduate scheme). The money wasn’t great, but wasn’t bad either.

Eight-odd months later, I’m bored - I’ve been stuck in two administrative placements, without once challenging piece of work to my name, and lately I don’t even have enough work to keep me busy during the working day.

My managers have been very sympathetic, but can’t help - the graduate scheme is “on hold” following over-recruitment last year, and half of Human Resources has left after a company re-organisation. “Informal” enquiries to other departments and other managers haven’t helped. I feel more stupid now than when I joined.

So, after a few weeks of agonising, I quit. My manager was disappointed (I hate to blow my own trumpet, but when I’m given something to do, I do a good job) but not surprised. Other graduates on the scheme weren’t that suprised either - the ones in my position understand my frustration, and the ones with decent technical placements aren’t happy with their trainee salaries.

I don’t have any new job to go to - but I am getting a first interview from about one in three or four letters I write - and I plan to get some temp work to cover my rent while I hunt in earnest.

Friday afternoon, returning from a short training course, I hear that the head of department wants to speak to me to offer me a different placement to change my mind. I know the role he’s on about - it’s in the same team I’m resigning from, but “doing” the work instead of administering it. I’m not interested in the type of work (adding applications to a network), but it would solve all my short-term problems (boredom, lack of enough to do etc).

I don’t think it would address my long-term issues with the graduate scheme (no support, no help with moving departments, etc).

I suspect I know the answer deep down, but is there anyone out there who’s been in the same situation? This is my first “proper” job and first resignation, and I want to make sure I’m doing the right thing…any advice? Do I stay in the short-term? Is a clean break better? Will I lose any and all credibility by resigning and then withdrawing it?

Sorry if this sounds like a whine, but I’m sure most of you out there understand what it’s like when a decision takes up so much of your life that it ends up out of proportion to what’s really important.

I never touched him, ref, honest!
Crusoe Takes A Trip

2

What does your heart tell you, Matt?

Here’s an exercise for you to try. Imagine holding a coin and getting ready to flip it. Declare, “Heads, I go back. Tails, I stay away.” Now, flip the coin…

But, wait!

We’re going to flip it in slow motion. Very slow motion, okay? Okay, flip it! Flip the coin!

See it? Slowly, slowly, slowly it somersaults through the air — flip… flip… flip… The background is blurred as you see the edges of the coin, close up, flipping end over end.

“Heads, go back. Tails, stay away.”

Okay, quickly now, the coin is about to land.

Which are you hoping it will be?

3

My old man says “The best time to get a job is when you have a job.”

I’d suggest taking the job that’s being offered, and working there until you find something better. Sure, it may bore you, but boredom is preferable to broke-dom. I can’t imagine that temp work will particularly enthrall you either. There’s no reason why you can’t conduct a job hunt while employed. And then, once you do have something lined up, you can just resign again. That may not seem like the most noble thing to do, but hey, nobility doesn’t really have that much of a place in the business world.

Just my two cents, you don’t have to listen to me.

“History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.” -Winston Churchill

4

I’m with Rousseau here, if the new job they’re offering you sounds like it would be reasonably satisfying. Tou’re much less likely to end up in the same position on your next job if you can afford to take time and be choosy. Temp work’s fine to keep the wolves from the proverbial door if you can get it steadily; I always found that to be a problem when I was a temp.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

Catrandom

5

That’d be You’re. I think “Tou’re” may be a winemaking region somewhere.

Sigh.

Catrandom

6

Cheers all.

Lib, I think you’re right. If I had the choice, I’d rather the department head didn’t want to speak to me. I’m a fairly indecisive person, and I like people to give me reasons to support my decisions (not a good trait, I know). Being told “fine then, sod off out of here” would, in that sense, be a “better” response than “we want you to stay, kind of”.

Rousseau, Catrandom, I think you’re saying what part of my rational side is thinking. It is a risk to move on to an uncertain future - on the other hand, when I’ve temped before I didn’t mind the work. Having a definite end date in a temp role, as well as not being expected to get involved in the whole graduate networking/schmoozing thing, makes up for monotonous work. I’m not concerned about finding temping work - I live just outside central London, and there’s no shortage of positions I’m capable of doing.

Would I lose all credibility and respect at work by withdrawing my resignation and going back to work in the same team as the one I’ve just left? (Yeah, naive I know, but I’m still young enough that other people’s respect means more than it should).

What does it say about a company that only takes notice of you when you try to quit?

Thanks for the feedback all.

I never touched him, ref, honest!
Crusoe Takes A Trip

7

re: losing credibility by withdrawing your resignation.

I don’t think your credibility is at stake. Resigning, while drastic, is sometimes the only way to get the attention of those who can fix the problem.

The bad news is that this is another indication of the difficult place you’re in. Your company has not kept their promises. This happens for one of two reasons: 1) they are outright dishonest, which is not likely, or 2) they are unable to deliver on their promises because they can’t control their own bureaucracy. Unfortunately, the latter is true way too often, especially in large companies.

You’ve rattled their cage enough to get them to take some steps to fix the problem, but they are only battling the symptoms, not really fixing it. You still won’t have the job you were promised and no real expectations that things are going to change.

Having said all that, it may not be all bad. There are ways to get what you want in a big company. But it takes a lot of patience and a lot of tolerance for idiocy.

I think your immediate question is whether the job they offer is better than temping. If so, take it and use it while you find more satisfying work. That way you can still pay the rent with minimal disruption while you’re looking. If not, and you’re absolutely sure you want to work somewhere else, not having a job is a tremendous incentive for finding one.

If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

8

Follow your heart, Matt. Find another job.

When you make a moral decision (which is what you’ve made this into) with your head, it’s a crap shoot. You might be right. You might be wrong.

Make moral decisions with your heart, and you will never go wrong.

9

Matt, you looking for an IT position in Northern California, my company is trying to fill the following positions:

Systems Engineer (SE, Sr, Ld, Spv, Spcl, Mgr)
Business Systems Analyst (BSA, Sr, Ld, Spv, Spcl, Mgr)
Systems Programmer (all levels)
Information Technologist (II & III)

I don’t know what the specifics are about any of 'em, but if you are interested send me an email and I’ll check the database at work on Monday and send the information on to you about qualifications, etc.

-Melin

Who is NOT Straight Dope Staff

Siamese attack puppet – California

10

Melin, I truly appreciate the offer, but commuting from North London to California might put a slight strain on a few things!

And, unfortunately, despite my current role I’m not actually trained in many specific areas - one of my gripes with this job was that, as a politics graduate, I needed a steep learning curve in IT, and I wasn’t getting it. I have plenty of experience in software testing, business analysis and general cost-benefit / process analysis / documentation work, but nothing concrete on the techie side.

Thanks again for the offer of help, though.

In the unlikely event that any UK Dopers are looking for a hard worker who’s bright enough to hit the ground running, though, feel free to amuse yourself with my CV right here.

I never touched him, ref, honest!
Crusoe Takes A Trip

11

For the feeble bit my opinion is worth, I offer the following:

  • you would lose no face or respect by returning to the same team in a different capacity. If anything you’ve earned respect by saying “thanks but no thanks” to the status quo and acting on it. If you think the new position would be tolerable for the short run, then go for it.

  • this matters <i>less</i> than nothing, but you sure earned my respect. It takes guts and high standards to demand the right to learn and perform meaningful work.

  • go with what your hunch tells you; sounds like you have a pretty sound set of instincts going. Cutting to the chase, does the security of the new position outweigh the chance to find the work you really want?

Just my preference, but it’s easier to find a job when you have a job: easier on you and more convincing to prospective employers. The fact that you were promoted to fulfill a need for job growth is pretty damned impressive.

Any way you decide, best of luck. And don’t sweat the process overmuch. People with high standards tend to progress nicely.

Veb

12

Veb,

Cheers for that - for what it’s worth, I appreciate it. I don’t want to be a “work snob”, always assuming a job is beneath me, but if I don’t make sure I exercise whatever abilities I have, who else will?

Thanks again all - I feel a lot happier with my thinking now. I’ll hear this guy out on Monday, think a while, and make a final decision. I have a good idea what it’ll be, though.

I never touched him, ref, honest!
Crusoe Takes A Trip