End Of The Year
It’s the end of the year and I fancy writing something about it! I had planned on writing about all the things that happened during the year. However I probably should have blogged more if that were the case. Instead I will focus on why I left my old job in the Autumn.
It was around the start of the year in 2016 that I applied for some training budget to complete some advanced Android courses. The last training course I attended was many years ago and all the other training I had done was independent in my own time. Given that independent learning doesn’t cost them a penny and it directly benefited them by me providing a better service to their clients on their behalf I assumed that they would approve my training request and put me through the course. How wrong was I. I had my training request rejected three times. For me if a company is not willing to invest in your education it is time to start thinking about leaving.
On a slight detour, a teacher of mine once said that the best job in the world had three qualities.
- You enjoy your job.
- You are paid well.
- You don’t have to commute very far.
Now he said this in jest but looking back I think this is, on the whole, quite apt. I would add a fourth to the list from my own experience.
- You enjoy your job.
- You are paid well.
- You don’t have to commute very far.
- You learn new things.
Applying this to my experience at work, yes I enjoyed my current role. However I had to fight far too hard to get there and put up with an enormous amount of stress doing roles that were completely inappropriate for my skill set and that I did not enjoy in the slightest. I had to travel an awful lot. I think I went three years travelling up and down the country on a weekly basis living in hotels and sleeping on trains. What this did for my relationship, health, and sanity I cannot begin to describe. Some people absolutely love that life. I did not. And finally was I learning new things? Yes and no. Everything I learned I learned on my own late at night and on weekends. It felt I was putting in a heck of a lot of effort for little reward.
So late in August I handed in my resignation. I remember telling my friends that it was one of the hardest letters I had written. I felt that I was turning my back on the company. I felt that was letting them down. Leaving them high and dry. I sat for about half an hour staring at my screen with only, “Dear Tim” completed as I couldn’t find the words. After I hit send I suddenly thought. Wow! That wasn’t that hard at all! I should have done that years ago!!
Now let me be clear. I didn’t expect them to hand hold me through my career. Nor did I expect them to give me special service. I am but a tiny cog in their vast machine. I did, however, expect a two way business relationship at the very least. Some respect on their part to their employees’ needs. Training would have gone an long long way. This kind of business relationship is unsustainable.
What surprised me was that it was met with little fanfare. Hardly any at all. I’m still not quite sure whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. I filled out forms I handed back my equipment I left. I had one phone call the Monday after I handed in my resignation from my first line manager who tried to talk me out of it. And to his credit he had been fantastic whilst I was managee. However even given his senior position he still could not guarantee any change to my working conditions. They seem very comfortable with the process of letting people go. I’ll go one step further and say that they are masters at bumbling along and hiring people to replace people that had been hired to replace other people rather than look after the ones that they already have.
I think eight years is quite a long time to stay in a place that you’re not getting the best out of. Onwards and upwards I suppose!