Handed in my notice

[Dieselboy]

So after 2 months since signing the contract and accepting an offer, the department of immigration has finally transferred my visa and I can now start. So handed in my notice which upset the ceo and now he's trying to get me to stay.

Without going too far into it, I'm demotivated at my current place because of various things, one being management threatening to fire unless you meet ridiculous deadlines, however recently that person now no longer manages a single person. The ceo says that all of the things I am displeased about are changing or have changed.

The real question is, is it possible once de-motivated in a role; to turn that around and start a fresh? I dont think it is possible, may be for a few months things might seem good but I fear that demotivation will set in again.

Anyone been in this position?

[wintermute000]

I think you're right to bail. From what you've written in the past, the company is mid-market so unlikely to offer you the opportunities to develop your networking skills in the manner that you want. In my experience once your unhappiness sets in, its almost impossible to reverse, and I've never seen a company / management actually pull its head out of its arse.

If you do stay, negotiate one heck of a pay rise, then give them 3-6 months to shape up. That would pretty much be the only scenario I would even consider staying in your shoes.

[GeorgeS]

Hello Dieselboy,
even though i am pretty young and my experience is around 5-6 years in IT, i can say that at the moment you are starting to feel frustrated about something if that will not change asap then you will be demotivated, and then the end is near, no matter what are the reasons, is it low salary? stress/pressure at work? crappy mgmt? just bored and you are seeking a new challenge? They always can offer more money if they really want you, but the real question is why you are frustrated? Because you may think that (example) i do not like my salary but usually is not just the salary, this is what we want to think but deep inside us there are more things we dont like and when they come out you are ready for the move.
I have been demotivated for 2 reasons and maybe a 3rd is on the way . On the first one, job was really boring for me and my skills, at least my manager was pretty cool and he understood it after a discussion we had and i was able to move to a new role inside the company that it was more suited to me and my future goals. So after i moved to the new role i really enjoyed it, cool cases, great atmosphere in the team but the mgmt was really crappy, the only thing the manager was saying was something like " more challenges for everyone, it will be challenging" , you were asking something and the questions were stupid, a superior of him was asking if we as team can do it and he was saying yes! Example: how i can support palo alto or fortinet when i had a 3/4 days basic training with almost no hands on etc? He was just a YES only guy  with his superiors.  So i decided to leave after 2.5 years there. I still remember that he tried to offer me a really good salary to stay but i knew from before that the money will not make me happy. So my advice is really think what is the reason of your demotivation, there is a high possibility they will try to keep you there and offer you a better salary, what will happen if you accept the raise and after 3/4 months you feel the same demotivation? The worst part here is that you will not only feel demotivated but even guilty to let them go

[icecream-guy]

I think you are burning your bridge,  stiffing that other company may get you on some employment blacklist (paranoia sets in, you know the one every employer checks to make sure you are in the good?). Also, don't stiff the Fed, they have memory like an elephant and you are wasting my tax dollars.  If you've made a commitment, follow through with it.  you've decided to make a change, pursued that change. If you feel you career is not advancing as you desire it's time for a change. As for the promises, they are just that, unless you are seeing actual change, it's probably not going to change. (but it may). Unless you want to give in to your career, accept the delivery of a dump truck load of cash. roll over and get your tummy rubbed. begone.

[deanwebb]

Thank the CEO for his efforts and dedication. Tell him that it was a pleasure to work for him and that he was one of the best things about working at (x). Then say, "But I'm not running away from my job here at (x). This is a great opportunity that I'm moving toward, and it's getting me to feel excited and refreshed in my career. It's an opportunity that I simply have to go and try for myself, even if it's a huge mistake. It's something I have to do. You know what it's like to have a passion. You know what it's like to take a risk. You know it will be hard work, some of the hardest in your life, but you do it because you're thinking of that reward, maybe years down the road, but you're thinking of it. I've been reaching for the stars, and it looks like I might just catch one this time."

[routerdork]

If you do stay, negotiate one heck of a pay rise, then give them 3-6 months to shape up. That would pretty much be the only scenario I would even consider staying in your shoes.

I did this about two years ago. At the 6 month point I gave notice again. Not quite the same scenario, I wanted to keep my boss, but the new CTO brought in his own people. Things just got worse and they eventually ended up hiring two new guys to work right alongside me as Sr. Design Engineers with no experience.  So I bailed on the best paying job I've ever had. Just wasn't worth it. I went through all the motivated/demotivated stuff over and over.

[deanwebb]

Agreed. Never use a job offer to force a pay rise. Leave on the best terms possible, because you never ever know when you'll be heading back there... or when someone from there will be waiting for you at your next job.

[routerdork]

or when someone from there will be waiting for you at your next job.

dun dun dun 

[Nerm]

I just put in my notice a few weeks ago in a similar situation to yours. It was just time for a change to an employer/position that offered more career development/advancement, deeper pockets, etc for the future.

[Dieselboy]

We had the chat about 20 mins ago, and I explained I had thought it through over the weekend and I'm still going to move jobs.

Regarding job prospects, there is a lot here to offer. The CEO wants to push me to CCIE and they sent me to Cisco Live last year in Melbourne which was pretty Amazing since I had not seen Melbourne or even been to Cisco Live before.

There's a lot of reasons why I'm leaving but I didn't give many reasons as thought they would be belittled. New job is 15 minutes from home whereas the current one is 1 hour. This is the first time I had worked as internal IT in about 10 years and I'm looking forward to going back to supporting many customers again - you always have new challenges. I'm looking forward to moving away from advising our software developers to reboot their machine / quit and restart an application when they have a software issue with MS Word, for example.

There was a suggestion that I could have stated a figure to get me to stay but I didn't want to entertain any conversation such as that. I'm actually leaving for a tiny amount less, so that's not a driving factor. Enjoyment of the job is the main reason, to sum it up.

Thanks for your help, 

PS working for the government is a bit of a no-no here. Recruiters generally wont get you interviews if you have been / are employed by the government. More than one recruiter has told me this, because the government departments are so very laid back. My last role I was contracted out for a gov. department and typical day in the life of the CTO: 9am start, rolls in somewhere between 930am and 10am. Coffee trip from 1030am to 1130am. Then lunch from 12pm to 130pm. Then another afternoon coffee trip somewhere late afternoon. And this was mid-week, image Fridays with a 4pm finish. When you first get "deployed" somewhere you try and at least make somewhat friends. I did go with them on the coffee trips a couple times but had to decline as I just wasn't able to get all my tasks completed.

[Nerm]

Congrats and good luck!