Well, that was pretty insulting

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

So I have been job hunting. The job I had was ok in certain respects (I.T. in a casino), however I was way underpaid.

My boss had been promising for a long time (think at least two years) that he was going to get me a promotion and a raise.

I had been doing some school and got married so I didn’t want to change jobs so I put off job hunting. Well, I got married and didn’t have any school going on so I put up my resume.

I got one interview for a network job. I didn’t get the network job (really need to learn BGP, the one thing I didn’t know but they really wanted for the position) but they offered me a sys admin job. With a 30% increase in pay.

So I tell my boss. Put in my two weeks. My boss asked me if I was dead set on leaving or would I accept a counter offer.

I said that I’d think about a counter. Hey, bidding wars can be a good thing.

My boss took a few days and we had a meeting last week.

His counter offer?

They *might *open a new position with a 10% increase in pay and I would be able to interview for it. And it *might *happen within the next year.

Somehow I managed to not blurt “What the fuck? Are you insane?”. I told my boss I had to discuss it with my wife. I went out to the car and laughed. Then I called my wife and explained. She got pissed.

So today my boss asked me what my decision was. I informed him, quite politely, that I had to decline as ‘mights’ aren’t good enough.

He took my keys, my ID and I am now unemployed. Until Monday that is. I do get paid for the rest of the week and all my vacation pay and comp time. This is, by the way, standard practice as I had access to a ton of sensitive information. Additionally, I could have taken down the whole damned network and brought three casinos to their knees. Of course, I wouldn’t do that. Not my style.

Now, the casinos is fucked, at least for a while. I was the only person who knew the network. I was the only one who could do network config. I was the only one who really knew the SANs (Storage Area Networking). There is more but I don’t feel like listing it all. I was the one who got shit done.

As an example, we recently upgraded the SANs at two properties. I was to be in charge of both but I was getting married during the first upgrade. When I came back I found out that the upgrade went 8 hours over and wasn’t fully completed. They didn’t finish the main point of the whole damned thing, expanding the drives so the systems had more storage. Additionally, the cabling was jacked and it was, and still is, a giant fucking mess though I fixed the drive issues.

I ran the second upgrade. We finished four hours early, the rack was cable managed and we even did additional failover testing that wasn’t scheduled because it went so fast and smooth.

The funny thing is that my boss thought he was givng me good advice. My boss is a nice guy, but he ran smack into the Peter Principle. He has been giving me ‘management advice’ for a while now. Sadly, he doesn’t seem to get that his management isn’t very effective. He gets things done, but barely. His projects are stressfull because they always slide into a giant fucking mess. We got through but only barely.

Now, I am a bit freaked. Starting a new job is always a bit stressful. More to learn and you never know how it will go. I am sure all will be well but that little nagging worry is still there.

And I am pretty damned insulted by the offer my last job gave me.

Oh well. They’re fucked.

Slee

#2

That fact that they’re fucked and you left politely and hopefully didn’t burn any bridges is a good thing. A)Maybe between now and Monday they’ll call you back and offer you 20% now. Do you want 20% now to stay with a system you know/built or 30% to start over. (Not that starting over might not be a bad thing). and B)If the new job falls apart for some reason, hopefully you can ask for your old job back.

As fun as it might have been to say “Maybe 10%, maybe in a year, you’ve been saying that for two years and I’ve got an offer for 30% today, you can go fuck yourself, I’m outta here, have fun without me jackasses”, by not doing that, you’ve got a good reference and a place to come back to if you need it.

#3

Sounds like they didn’t appreciate you. Guess they get what they deserve.

#4

My sister just switched jobs. She hasn’t been happy at her old job since the company was merged a couple of years ago but she hesitated over making the jump. She’d go back and forth on starting over at a different job as her unhappiness at her current job went up and down. But she did send out resumes.

She got a job offer with a different company a month ago. It wasn’t really an improvement on paper. It was pretty much the same job at the same pay. But she decided to take it. When she gave her notice to her old job they basically said they were sorry to see her go but didn’t make her any offer to stay.

She was a little hurt by this but as I pointed out, it reminded her why she was leaving that company.

#5

It’s almost never a good idea to accept a counter offer. You’re branded as disloyal and will often be the first person sent packing when lay-offs come.

#6

They are not fucked.
They will just hire an expert to sort things out. They will pay him much more than you were making.

#7

Pretty much this. No one is irreplaceable and there are lots of people desperately looking for jobs in IT. They will eventually find their competent person willing to work cheap.

#8

“My counter offer is this: nothing. Not even the money for our gaming license, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally.”

#9

What is this loyalty of which you speak?

I worked for a company for 30 years and saw them bouncing “loyal” employees out the door just because they wanted “fresh” faces. The loyal employees were no slouches. They were people who got the job done.

Sleeatak’s situation reminds me of my wife’s years ago before we were married. She too worked in said company and was performing a job above her pay grade. She went to HR to get reclassified and the helpful HR rep says she would get on it right away. Five month’s later the wife quit her job to take a higher paying one elsewhere. HR lady showed up at wife’s desk a few hours after she resigned and scolded her for not having patience. Wife replied, " I’m too poor to have patience."

#10

No, man.

They’re gonna find out the hard way he’s not a pussy if they don’t start treating their software people better. He could come up with a program that could rip that place off big time. Big time. Like Superman III.

:wink:

Congrats, OP.

#11

So you’re saying their IT network doesn’t have an expert running it for the next few days?

Sounds like this is the week to go to the casinos.

#12

That’s the ironic bit. The consultant will probably cost them more in the short term than the OP was getting. Ultimately, they will need to hire someone, but it takes a long time to find the right person.

#13

And that’s why a company will even make a counteroffer - to buy some time while they hire your replacement. Then you’re out the door without income, your other offer is gone and your bridges there are burned.

Don’t fall for it. When you decide to leave, that decision needs to be final. Good luck with the new job, and remember, they *want *you there.

#14

Word. To a company you’re just a number. They have absolutely no loyalty to you, even though they expect 100% loyalty from you. If they could make one penny more by firing you, your job would last until the email was finished.

#15

By coincidence, a friend of the family was head honcho for security at a local casino here in Las Vegas for several years. Casino’s are cheap ass bastards (in case you didn’t already know) and even though they obviously NEED good security (those eyes in the sky), they think paying for it is a waste of money…they don’t see income (despite the nice fact that security makes sure they don’t see a loss) and thus are not keen on giving raises.

I think the guy was earning about $60,000.

A few years ago, he got a job offer from an Indian casino in California. He went for the interview, but wasn’t all that hot to move.

They asked how much he wanted in salary. He said, “$100,000 per year.”
They hired him on the spot.

He happened to be visiting in Las Vegas a few weeks ago…said he loves his new job and has no regrets whatsoever.

Moral of the story? Good for you for leaving and starting elsewhere! I think it is safe to say that in short order, you are going to be very happy you left the other place and went to the new place!

Congrats!

#16

Good. Now you spend the next few days laughing your ass off.

Do not answer any calls from them in the future. Laugh your ass off at the Karmic Fallout as you listen to any messages asking for your help or hear any future stories of their pain at your loss.

#17

Truth.

Almost 20 years ago my manager at Musicland (Corporate) asked me where my loyalty to the company was.

I said “Where is this company’s loyalty to me?”

He paused, slightly stunned, and then said “Good point”.

#18

Congratulations, Sleestak.

We always like to think we’re indispensable, but as a temp, I’ve had front row seats to see plenty of fallout from people leaving suddenly or going on longterm stress leaves or whatever, and the business muddles along. The poor saps who are left behind try to pick up the slack, and it all just muddles along. On a somewhat-related note, you’d think after a certain point people would quit when they keep losing people and expecting all the people left behind to do everything, but it’s amazing how much people will put up with.

#19

Spend more money on a consultant? That’s just the overhead required to preserve the employee/employer power dynamic.

Of course, they see it as a moral victory. And also of course, moral victories are usually neither.

#20

Be ready for calls asking you speak to your replacement over the phone to talk him through the system. :slight_smile: