Quote:
Originally Posted by TorqueDog
Serious question: What made you apply and accept the position with the new company instead of trying your hand at a promotion at your current employer?
The reason I ask is that there has never been a time I can think of where I was ready to accept a position with a new company while I was happy with my employment at the current one (short of being offered an opportunity I would be a complete fool to decline which is completely hypothetical at this point), and it's a big reason why I've never accepted a counter-offer, even if the money did end up ahead of the new role.
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Long story short: discussions had taken place for a long while about my desire to move up, both from a professional development standpoint and the quality/scope/responsibility of what I was doing. When that gained traction and they did their thing (job assessment/needs assessment essentially), they came back with a level of promotion that I was not happy with. I confirmed that based on everything up to that point, what was presented to me was the direction it would go in and they confirmed.
At that point, I had already been looking for the right opportunity elsewhere for a while, and had already had a verbal offer for this other gig. I think I was rather professional about it, gave my reasoning for why I would not be taking the ‘promotion’ and explained why I felt it was in the best interest of the business to seriously reevaluate their direction so they were positives for success when I left.
Fundamentally, the original promotion was as dead-ended as the role I was in and didn’t appropriately capture the work I was doing and its importance. I didn’t spend nearly a decade at that place doing my best to ultimately make a move that anywhere else would have been a given 7 years ago.
I made the decision that while a step down and backwards to the place that had extended the offer would be hard, it was more likely to lead to where I wanted to go in due time; something that was evidently not going to happen if I stayed where I was an accepted the ‘promotion’ (and confirmed as such directly with leadership).
Once I have my notice, the counter to get me to stay was a very exciting opportunity (middle management ####, so nothing crazy), but creating and leading a new team and the base position I currently held. Honestly I was pretty hung-ho, and very understanding that this was such a new position with the business needs still being identified it would take some time.
Today however, it feels remarkably like they wrote a cheque they couldn’t cash and have me doing work that will cover them if I walk away. I don’t want to say I feel used, because well, it’s a job that pays well, but it does feel again like because I do the job, rather well, and with a good attitude, that the urgency on their end is gone. Worse yet, what was presented as a ‘for me’ position with a ‘small’ chance it could require posting is now ‘for the entire world’ position with a small chance I’ll get it.
I really don’t mind that latter part; if I can’t get the role on my merit, I don’t want it. I don’t need professional favours held over me. But it would have been really ####ing nice to not be dicked around for years, then sucked off to stay only to be dicked around again at the cost of a pretty rare opportunity elsewhere.
I like my job, I like the people, I like the business. But I can’t stay in the same level for years hoping it’ll pay off. Did that, and it’s apparently gotten me absolutely no where.