Paralyzed at the thought of leaving my job, how to decide to stay or go?

210mike

This is for some of the more experienced guys around here. I'm very happy with my current job and company, but a Lead System Admin position opened up at a company I would be willing to work for and I'm just paralyzed when trying to decide to even apply for it. I'm sure this post is going to be mostly cathartic for me, but any advice anyone can offer is welcomed.

I've been with my current company my entire professional career. I started in my early 20's working in a call center while I was working on my AAS at community college, moved into an internal desktop support role, and from there have moved up from desktop support, to system administrator, to my current Sr. System administrator role.

Currently I'm one of 2 Sr. Sys Admins on staff, and have a high level of input and responsibility regarding the global IT infrastructure. I serve as the lead for all things Windows/Active Directory, manage our VMware environments, Office365, and other global IT infrastructure related services. Very little non project work at this point. The company is good sized. Over a dozen global location, 4K+ users, billions a year in revenue, a very healthy IT budget, and I make a good wage. There really is no reason to leave this job. I'm coming up on almost 13 years with the company though and I feel like I might be missing out by not changing jobs.

It's petrifying though, this is the only corporate job I've ever worked. I'm very comfortable, well taken care of, and have a great working environment. I'm basically a big spoiled baby at this point.

I can think of the following cons by leaving this job:

• Due to 10+ years of tenure I currently get 22 paid days off in addition to company holidays and 8 sick days. Getting 4+ weeks of vacation at another company is going to be impossible.
• Extremely relaxed working environment. I can pretty much show up anytime between 8 and 10, and as long as I get my work done my boss is happy with my performance. I can duck out for appointments in the middle of the day, work from home if needed, and pretty much do whatever I need to. Most environments are not like this. I'm not sure if an environment where I needed to be in a cube by 7:55 AM every morning is the best fit for me. It would be an adjustment for sure.
• I have a very high level of input into the general direction of IT, while I'm not a decision maker I can heavily influence things in specific directions. Going to a larger company may make me 'just a cog in the system' which I may have trouble adapting to.
• We have an excellent benefit package that I haven't seen matched anywhere else short of Google or other tech companies.
• Work/Life balance is beyond excellent

On the other side of things, in my current position, I have the following cons:

• I'm not located in one of the primary company sites, I feel my career has no further path with this company without relocating to a part of the country I don't want to live in. The potential new job is at the company HQ. I have no desire to be in management, but I don't see a position past Sr. System Admin in my current environment. The potential new job is for a Fortune 100 company that is large enough to have several Lead Sys Admins, and even Enterprise IT Architects which is my ultimate career goal.
• I have a long commute some days. I can put 400+ miles a week on my car commuting for work. I didn't mind it a few years ago, but honestly it's getting really old at this point. The potential new job is 10 minutes from my house. Gas savings and less wear and tear on my car would be significant not to mention getting hours of time in my week back
• I could be making more cash compensation. My non cash compensation more than makes up for it, and it would take a hefty raise to get me to leave this place, but strictly looking at cash I feel I'm a little below where I would like to be.

I'm pretty sure at this point I'm at least going to apply for the job. I haven't interviewed anywhere in almost 5 years, and my most recent resume draft is 4 years old at this point. If I were to be offered the potential job I wouldn't leave my current job for anything less than a 20% raise and a minimum of 3 weeks of vacation per year which is probably unlikely to happen, so I'll just treat this is a training exercise at this point. I place a big premium on the flexible work environment I currently enjoy and the good amount of vacation time I have. I have a couple little kids and my time with them is precious to me.

Like I said, this post is mostly cathartic for me, but if anyone has any advice, I'd love to hear it. I'm scared of change, but sometimes change can be a good thing.

lsud00d

The more senior you get, the easier it is to negotiate with the next company as far as flexing their initial benefit offerings. That said, some are steadfast and won't budge, but you can be stern/play hardball too if those extra vacation days are that important to you.

Change is scary but only the initial anxiety is the difficult part. After that it turns into fun and you get to feed your brain again because you're working in a whole new environment.

That said, definitely update your resume and apply for the job. You can go as far as you want in the process while making your decision, but you'll never get anywhere without tossing your name in the hat.

discount81

Wow your post is almost exactly the same position as me, almost all of your pros are the same as mine, flexibility, high input into company technical decisions, decent benefits and time off, relaxed work environment etc

And I am also located at a site that is not the HQ with 0 chance of career advancement unless we are bought out by a larger company, which is a possibility.

Usually I have not been scared of change at all, but I am damn comfortable in my current role.

Currently I am looking for other work more so for higher compensation and a more interesting, but I am only considering telecommuting jobs unless something amazing came along.

TheProf

Definitely a tough choice to make...

Personally for me, career growth is very important. This is not because I want to make more money, but because of learning and exposure to new technology that I might not be exposed to otherwise. 13 years at a company as an IT professional, is a really long time. However in your case, because you kept progressing, you had a good reason to stay, and to be honest with you, I probably would have done the same thing. With that said, leaving a comfortable job for uncertainty is never easy! especially when there are kids involved.

I am also not always the best advice giver because I am a risk taker and not everyone is comfortable with that. With that being said, if I were in your shoes, I'd definitely be looking at new opportunities, especially since you're looking to move into Architecture roles. I would even recommend to work for a different industry all together. Having experience working for different industries is also very valuable because typically, IT could be done differently.

In terms of conditions, you do seem to have great flexibility, vacation time, benefits, etc and chances are, you will probably lose some of that by switching roles, however that should not always stop you from progressing. To give you an example, I went from a large company, 10,000+ employees with great benefits and flexibility to a smaller consulting firm for the sake of getting the experience that I know I will need later on in my career. The choices you make need to be carefully considered, but in the end, don't just look at what you currently have, but look at what you'll be working towards so that you are able to achieve your goals in the long run and not prevent yourself from trying.

joemc3

Chew on my experience for awhile. I have been at the same company for 14 years. I make decent money and I am leaving it for a par time call center job. I have zero fear over it. I will take a pay cut for awhile and I believe in myself to perform better than the others and get promotions.

Interviewing doesn’t hurt. Even if you don’t get the job at least you got out there and got more interview experience. Don’t tell anyone that you are interviewing. My lady had and offer tried to negotiate and then they pulled the offer. Nothing is done until it is in writing and signed. Whatever you feel you lost will come back in time especially after you go up the ladder.

ninjaturtle

I love coming across threads that look like you wrote them. I completely can relate to your list of what you'll miss if you do decide to move on. I'm in the same dilemma myself.

Here's what I've been telling myself ...you'll get most of that back at your next job. Probably not everything, like the time allowance you have in the morning (gosh I love that now) and being able to skip off to take care of appts. But you would be surprised what you'll get back once you build up your stamina at the next job.

At the end of the day it's the career objectives for me. Am I doing what I truly love to do at my job? Am I truly a network engineer, or just some IT JOAT guy? For me, I want to be a network engineer. It's my passion, my joy, my reason for spending countless hours in the lab and studying.

Obtain the career and the title you want, the pay and benefits are sure to follow ...or at least we hope.

Cheers,

anhtran35

I once job hopped to a company because of the pay. The manager was a A $ $. I nearly got into a fist fight with him. I found another job in 6 months and re-signed. A year down the road he got fired. He tried to befriend me on Facebook. That didn't work out. If you are happy with where you are at then stay. Get more certs. When you are ready to move do it. Sometimes money and title is not all it seems.

210mike

Wow, thanks guys, great responses.

One thing I don't think I touched on is the career growth aspect of things.

At this point in time I'm still very fulfilled at my current job. I've helped make some really great improvements in the last two years, and the next two years are full of projects to make things even better. I've been in my current position about 18 months now and don't feel that I've outgrown it. I still learn new things all the time and feel good about my role and the work I do. The company the potential job is at though doesn't often hire externally, so it's a once in a while opportunity that you have to take advantage of when it comes around

I'm definitely going to apply at this point, and the nice thing is I'll be in the power position, if I get interviewed etc. I can do things on my terms since I don't need the job. I can walk away if vacation hours don't meet my needs, or the work environment isn't what it should be. I guess it's always nice to negotiate from a position of strength.

kiki162

You are at the top and bored from the sounds of it. Time to look.

Remember something, if you want to have a fulfilling career, you need to take a risk in order to move forward. I've seen way too many people in the same positions for 20 or more years, and it's like Groundhog Day for them. Same exact stuff all day long, and they never took the risk to move into something different. Plus you need to look at your current job market in your area. Are the jobs in your field available, or would you need to look at moving, or obtaining additional certs to make yourself a bit more marketable.

I've been looking myself, so don't feel guilty over it. I have some ppl at work that I talk to about it and say that you have a good secure job. Yes that's true but I have zero room to move anywhere. So you have to look at what's more important to you overall.

The_Expert

Let me chime in... I left a State job after 16 years - which was extremely scary. However, I am glad I did! People tend to become very comfortable the longer they stay at one place. Yes, I had a lot of flexibility and also a lot of time off - but I wasn't really being challenged anymore.

Most IT Recruiters will now advise to switch companies every 5 years... Why? Because a move to another company will expose you to new technologies you might not get exposed to by staying in one place for a very long time.

Moving from a comfortable spot is very scary. I haven't had to interview in over 16 years... can you imagine how I felt?

Anyways, ultimately the decision is up to you. I say at the very least apply for the position and see what this other company has to offer. Who knows? You might be pleasantly surprised. I would probably take the new job, just to not have to commute so long every week. Time is very precious... I wouldn't want to spend it on the road all the time.

BradleyHU

-Due to 10+ years of tenure I currently get 22 paid days off in addition to company holidays and 8 sick days. Getting 4+ weeks of vacation at another company is going to be impossible.


Not true at all. I've been at a few places where starting PTO is 20+ days.


-Extremely relaxed working environment. I can pretty much show up anytime between 8 and 10, and as long as I get my work done my boss is happy with my performance. I can duck out for appointments in the middle of the day, work from home if needed, and pretty much do whatever I need to. Most environments are not like this. I'm not sure if an environment where I needed to be in a cube by 7:55 AM every morning is the best fit for me. It would be an adjustment for sure.

It all depends on the manager. You might get a new boss tomorrow, and he'll demand you be in by 8am.

-Work/Life balance is beyond excellent

That can change in an instant. Company gets new mgmnt, or you get a new boss who's a workaholic, and thinks ya'll should be too, etc...


-I have a long commute some days. I can put 400+ miles a week on my car commuting for work. I didn't mind it a few years ago, but honestly it's getting really old at this point. The potential new job is 10 minutes from my house. Gas savings and less wear and tear on my car would be significant not to mention getting hours of time in my week back

This would be enough for me to want to change roles. 400+ miles a week is crazy.

Mishra

You need to go to a senior manager/director/vp (probably not your boss) at your current company (especially if you have been there that long) and talk to them about your con list.

Tell them you would like to join in on a technical leadership career path. Ask how you get there and what you should do to get there. A written career path could get you excited enough to stay at the current company.

Ask to work from home 1 day.

I think some simple career path goals from your current company would keep you there. Many senior managers understand that career goals are important for people so you will probably do just fine talking to someone about this.