Starting A New Job

[radiodave]

I'm leaving the company I started with right out of college 17 years ago.  On the one hand, they've been good to me, but they are sad to see me go because I've acquired so much knowledge of our products and how to maintain them.  On the other hand, we were acquired by another company 3 years ago, and it hasn't been the great thing the new company kept promising.  Lots and lots of changes, and new policies that are making it a pain to do our job.  I've been the caretaker of several old tools, and with so many changes to our network some of them don't work anymore.  I discovered that I'm the only one in the company who can use one of our compilers, simply because our IT group doesn't know enough Unix to know how to enable other people to log on to use it.  Talked with our network engineer to see what will happen after I'm gone and made a strong case for preserving my Unix account so others can use it, but it's "against company policy", though she sympathizes completely and agrees that the new owners have made things difficult for everyone, and that we're just supposed to "deal with it", even if it means they are shooting us in the foot, so to speak.

 

I have to remind myself that the new job I'm going to sounds exciting, and it's a little mom-and-pop company that isn't feeling the effects of an oversized company 3000 miles away telling us how to do our job.  The guy I'll be working for is actually a former colleague from my present company, and he was very eager to interview me because he remembered me and knows what I can do.  I'll be designing new things instead of trying to keep 10-20 year old products alive that just won't die.  I also have to remind myself that what happens after I leave really isn't my problem if our owners won't listen and make our products unmaintainable, or if they delete my Unix account and nobody can use the old tools anymore.  Many long-time people have been leaving over the last few years, and it feels like the right thing to do, but I feel a little like I'm letting my colleagues down.  It's hard to leave the friends I've made there over 17 years.  Still, it's better than when some other people left and left no documentation behind.  I've told them I want to help them as much as I can before I leave, and my boss is happy for me finding an exciting new opportunity.  He's grateful for the training and documentation I've been providing, and he wants to make sure they don't have to call me after I've left unless it's a real emergency.

 

Just venting slightly, it's been a bit stressful trying to transfer knowledge, racking my brain for all the things I have to pass on or teach people about.  I still can't help but wonder what will happen after I leave at the end of next week.  Not to mention it's going to be a big change going from being the expert in the company's products to being the rookie again.

[Logjam]

Radiodave,

 

From your posts (and handle!) I've inferred that you, like I, work in a field of technology. As to being bought out (or spun off, or whatever) and getting new marching orders from someone someplace that has no idea of your work culture, etc. - been there, done that. This will sound harsh, but - I've discovered/decided - ultimately, you have to take care of yourself. Yes, I am a BIG believer in ethics in the workplace, and I've struggled with leaving friends "stuck", but life is too short to keep slogging in a job where you clearly see that most of what you are doing is lining some one else's pocket while providing little or no value to customers or the world at large.

 

I expect this will prove to be a blessing in the long term. Hang in there, best wishes! Regards, Logjam

[ilikekicks]

Thus why I stay out of the ' technology ' fields. Theres always too much to learn/know and it changes too often to be settled into a routine of sorts.

 

I left one area of work for something totally different and found it quite rewarding. Not rewarding because of the work itself, but a different place with different people. The scenery change can be a welcomed thing even though we feel we might ' miss ' out past area.

 

It might be good for your soul in doing this move .

[Dr. Shoe]

I worked for a firm that was part of a national company but was a relatively small player in the field but highly specialised. When I started everything was fine and we were ticking along nicely. Then we were absorbed by our "parent" company who wanted us to continue our specialisation and also pick up some of the "conventional" work too. Although nothing really changed apart from the little bit of extra work that we could easily handle, our service level was down on what other depots were doing. We had several changes of management until a "big hitter" from head office came down to troubleshoot. After a few weeks he realised why the service level was lower and that there was nothing that could be done other than dropping our specialist work and allow a rival to pick it up. After that Head Office left us alone.

[Heelster]

I can understand where your coming from. I started at a smaller business, and grew into the IT guy, but after two aquisition phases, I am no longer in charge, and from what I saw, I'm kinda glad they took it out of our control. They can botch it all up themselves, and I can watch and laugh.

[Guest]

I did a similar change 17 months ago love learning a new product/system. I got so complacent over the last years I needed out and with an invite for redundancy package was perfect.

Finding after a rest period some thing good was a total boon and now stepping up into a team leader role gives a better future even just for a few years until retirement.

 

Enjoy the change.

 

Al

[Pumped]

Two years ago I was layed off from my job of 12 years. I was running a 4 man department. Imediately after I left two of the workers I was in charge of quit and went to the competition. The last person lasted about a year before he left. Now the company has a problem in that they need people to do the work we were doing, but they are unable to find any qualified help, so they hire whoever they can and the customer gets shoddy work. They went from a four man team that was profitable, to a one man department that is losing money and customers. The funny thing is the owner was trying to trim some expense and he killed the only department in the company that was making money. When I was there we had a total of 35 workers in the field in the various departments, and now they are down to about 10 workers. It appears the company is doing the slow spiral down the drain.

[radiodave]

Thanks all, I appreciate your input. Looking forward to moving on, and it's no big secret that many folks are not liking our assimilation into the Borg collective. All I can do is make sure the tools are working, people are trained, and there's sufficient documentation. If they shoot themselves in the foot after I'm gone, then all I can say is "oh, well". I think it was pretty telling that some of my colleagues asked if there were any other openings where I was going. :-)

[mlroseplant]

Thanks all, I appreciate your input. Looking forward to moving on, and it's no big secret that many folks are not liking our assimilation into the Borg collective.

The Borg collective. LOL.

[Guest]

You should offer to maintain the old stuff as a contractor and do it on the side. I assume you can do it remotely. Side question. My son is interested in computers. What is a good job area he should look into Have you ever noticed how a company can come up with the formula to make it work, but when someone else buys it, they try to stream line it or half way do it and it just does not work.

[Bubba136]

You should offer to maintain the old stuff as a contractor and do it on the side. I assume you can do it remotely. Side question. My son is interested in computers. What is a good job area he should look intoHave you ever noticed how a company can come up with the formula to make it work, but when someone else buys it, they try to stream line it or half way do it and it just does not work.

My advice would be to learn the art of computer hacking. Especially credit card accounts. To date, this "art" is almost beyond detection and, best of all, there doesn't seem to be any criminal prosecution or punishment connected with this most rewarding practice if one does get caught.