In my last post I mentioned that my situation had changed. And so it has. I left a stable but stressful job in August for new pastures. It was definitely time. But why did I make the jump, and why now? And was it the right move?
Okay, why now?
If we’re to discuss them why my new job is a better situation for me than the old one, we must start with the obvious. While the old job was a good place for me for quite a while, the stress level steadily rose until it was intolerable. There was a simple reason for this: my department had gotten more and more shorthanded over my tenure at the company.
That, in and of itself, might not have been too bad, but the company showed no signs of replacing the people who left. Given that some of the workload done by those who had left had been added to my pile, this was concerning at best. Was the company trying to replace those people? If they were, I’m not sure how hard they tried. Perhaps the company just hadn’t adjusted its compensation packages for 2023. Or, based on some of what I’ve heard, several years earlier, even.
The real kicker, though, was that even though it was obvious that those of us who were left were working harder and longer than previously, it wasn’t a crisis for the company. After all, things were still getting done, right? So what if it was wearing the employees out? And thus, there was no reason, at least as far as the company was, to change anything.
Add to that the fact that I received a good offer, and switching jobs was a no-brainer.
And I left with my head held high. AI-generated photo.
Why not before?
Weren’t the issues I just mentioned an issue prior to my making the jump? Of course they were. I suppose you have to know yourself, your employer, and your situation. Sometimes it’s time to pull the trigger, but sometimes it’s time to wait.
I turned down a good offer several months ago. It was better in several ways than the job I eventually left, but I said no. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it actually came down to the fact that although it sounded good, I just didn’t have a good feeling. And sometimes you just have to listen to your gut when you get feelings like that.
(And that feeling turned out to be justified for reasons unrelated to the job itself. The day after I turned it down, my car got totaled. This car. This would have meant I would have to take the train into downtown and then walk across the downtown area just to get to work. This would have quadrupled my commute time, which was not a trade I would have been willing to make.)
Did changing jobs improve things?
Is this really a question? Of course it improved things! I spelled out pretty well why I thought it was the right time to leave my previous position.
Basically, every single thing that was an issue with my old company is not one with my new employer. It is a much more laid-back atmosphere, and, as I learned recently, there is way more support where I am now. Previously, if I had a pressing deadline, I was pretty much on my own. Now, however, I have found that I have a lot of support, which has helped me quite a bit.
(As always, I’m being rather vague because I don’t want to give too much personal or professional information away.)
Is the new place perfect? Of course not. I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t prefer to pull a Purple and retire now. But since that isn’t an option at the moment, this is a much better situation than where I was.
A few more things…
Random things that I want to say but which don’t fit too well into the framework above:
- As I said, I liked the old job for quite a while. It was way better than the one I had before, in which I had two bosses who had the combined business acumen of a first-year MBA student…along with no regard for their employees’ needs or lives.
- I’m still getting used to the new schedule with the new employer, and so that has caused my inability to post with any regularity to continue. But as I settle into this new routine, hopefully my posting consistency will improve.
- There are other things that I have given more time to doing, which I have tweeted about (speaking of things that I can’t do as much now…).
Regardless, I’m in a much better place now than I was. Hopefully this trend continues.
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