Started a new job on Monday

Paul Boz

Since the start of this year, I was very unhappy with my job. I was forced to change teams and I did not enjoy working for my new bosses, did not like the politics, and did not like being treated like a sales person. I did not like being told I had a sense of entitlement because I wanted to be compensated commensurate with my knowledge, skills, and certifications. I was also pretty upset with the volume of travel which I was being forced into. When I started that job I was assured travel would be around 50% and that I would be allotted time in the office to complete my reports. By the time I left I was sometimes out of the office for five to six weeks at a time. The straw that broke the camel’s back was having my (two years late) honeymoon surrounded with four on-site trips. For five weeks straight I didn’t have more than two nights in a row in my own bed and hardly had time to enjoy my honeymoon. All of that being said, I was an unhappy camper and made it known.

About two months ago I left the company with the intention of enjoying a summer break and relaxing. However, literally one day after I left a local recruiter reached out to me through TE forums poster Shaqazoolu. She expressed that she wanted to get together to meet me so that she could try to find me a local job. I’d never dealt with a recruiter before and didn’t really have any sort of urgency so I obliged and we met up. I wound up forming a great professional relationship with her and within one day (two days after I left my job), she had an interview lined up with a local company. Over the next six weeks I had no less than four on-site interviews and met with at least 20 individuals. I started my new job on Monday of this week and love it so far. My commute is only five to ten minutes longer so that’s great. I am a security engineer for the nation’s largest home health care company. My primary job role is to evaluate, design, and implement security controls such as firewall management systems, wireless IDS, and many other neat technologies. Our group is broken into engineers who are either system or network specific, so I’m obviously interacting a lot with the network team. It’s nice to not have to implement a firewall but have the power to audit it and make changes. Our network spans 50 states, over 20,000 hosts, and 100+ offices. We’re publicly traded on the stock market so we also have to maintain strict compliance. Needless to say I don’t think I’ll be getting bored any time soon.

I think the nicest aspect of my transition has been moving into a much more professional work environment and validating my security skills and knowledge. On day one I was working on projects and contributing, and that’s a great feeling. For the first time in a long time I feel like my skills are actually valued. For my first time working with a recruiter I don’t think it could have gone any better. I left my job and had a new one lined up in one day, without any effort what so ever, and without looking. I seriously miss working with several of the people I used to work with but I’m still in the same city so its not that big of a deal. I’m also like a mile from the local sushi buffet so my old friends know where to find me

Feel free to ask any questions about the interview process, recruitment, or just general questions about transitioning from consulting.

tpatt100

Great post, glad you found something better. The travel you were doing does sound like it would wear anybody down.

Paul Boz

Yeah, the travel was what killed me. I could have kept up with the travel if I had time to either write my reports or had someone else to. The travel beats you down when you aren't afforded enough time in the office to get your work done. It forces you to write reports in hotels until 10:00pm and you never get a break. I'm also getting paid a hell of a lot more now, so so much for that sense of entitlement

earweed

Great to hear you're liking this new job better. I noticed you hadn't been on here in a while.

Bl8ckr0uter

Congrats.

Paul Boz

earweed wrote: »

Great to hear you're liking this new job better. I noticed you hadn't been on here in a while.

I went "gone fishin" as they say. I got three platinum trophies on PS3 and beat at least six other games. I got a ton of yard work done and slept in until noon for at least a month and a half. I didn't stay away from TE for any reason other than that I didn't really turn my computer on.

Zartanasaurus

Great story. Very ballsy of you to leave your job with nothing new lined up in the current job market. How did they react when you turned in your notice?

Paul Boz

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

Great story. Very ballsy of you to leave your job with nothing new lined up in the current job market. How did they react when you turned in your notice?

I didn't turn in a notice.

Michael.J.Palmer

Paul Boz wrote: »

I didn't turn in a notice.

That's even better, . I'm getting to the point now that I'll do the same thing if/when I get an offer for the position I just interviewed with. To make matters worse in my situation, I'm the only tech they've got on staff who can work Monday through Wednesday so if I just up and leave, they might as well close those days until they find someone else.

veritas_libertas

Congratulations Paul! I really enjoyed your story, and the fact that you were willing to stand up for yourself.

Zartanasaurus

Paul Boz wrote: »

I didn't turn in a notice.

Did you grab a couple beers and deploy the emergency chute?

dynamik

Good Riddance.

rogue2shadow

Epic win PB!!! Congrats man!

shaqazoolu

Should probably give me a finder's fee.

Paul Boz

shaqazoolu wrote: »

Should probably give me a finder's fee.

I'd give you a hand job but you're a prude.

nel

Paul B,

well done mate, im so pleased for you as your a great guy! hope it all works out by the sounds of it your onto a great gig there!

shaqazoolu

Paul Boz wrote: »

I'd give you a hand job but you're a prude.

That's never stopped you before.

ipconfig.all

people need to show respect to the employers, they took you in and they gave you a job it is sometimes not nice leaving work without a notice so they can find someone to do your work so they will not have any business down time because business down time equals money. This is why employers look for someone who respects the company and someone who will not job hop and leave in the middle than a know all technical expert.

veritas_libertas

ipconfig.all wrote: »

people need to show respect to the employers, they took you in and they gave you a job it is sometimes not nice leaving work without a notice so they can find someone to do your work so they will not have any business down time because business down time equals money. This is why employers look for someone who respects the company and someone who will not job hop and leave in the middle than a know all technical expert.

Umm, where did that come from :

earweed

He probably didn't read how Paul had been treated before leaving

dynamik

ipconfig.all wrote: »

people need to show respect to the employers, they took you in and they gave you a job it is sometimes not nice leaving work without a notice so they can find someone to do your work so they will not have any business down time because business down time equals money. This is why employers look for someone who respects the company and someone who will not job hop and leave in the middle than a know all technical expert.

While I agree with this in principle, it was a mutual decision to part ways in this case. They ran him into the ground, and they knew it. He didn't just go Office Space and stop showing up.

Shaqazoolu and I have things covered

Paul Boz

ipconfig.all wrote: »

people need to show respect to the employers, they took you in and they gave you a job it is sometimes not nice leaving work without a notice so they can find someone to do your work so they will not have any business down time because business down time equals money. This is why employers look for someone who respects the company and someone who will not job hop and leave in the middle than a know all technical expert.

Respect is reciprocal. You show me respect and I'll show you respect.This isn't the turn of the 20th century. Just because you give me a job doesn't excuse you from treating me right. Besides, it takes about four months to fill a position there and I wasn't in any position to give that kind of notice. How on earth did you get the impression that I punked out because of job hopping? That's absurd.

Ryan82

I agree. Now if he had just up and left without any notice just because something better came along without having expressed his dislike for the way things are going then I would say that is inappropriate. But if you get treated like crap and tell them they are treating you like crap and nothing changes, then who gives a damn about them?

Congrats on the new job man! I hope it proves to be challenging and rewarding

arwes

Congrats on the new job, Boz! By 50% travel I wonder if they meant yearly. I hope everything works out well at your new place!

ipconfig.all

Paul Boz wrote: »

Respect is reciprocal. You show me respect and I'll show you respect.This isn't the turn of the 20th century. Just because you give me a job doesn't excuse you from treating me right. Besides, it takes about four months to fill a position there and I wasn't in any position to give that kind of notice. How on earth did you get the impression that I punked out because of job hopping? That's absurd.

My apologies Paul, I did not fully read the comments (was a bit sleepy) yeah I agree with you Paul and congratulations on the new job.

Paul Boz

arwes wrote: »

Congrats on the new job, Boz! By 50% travel I wonder if they meant yearly. I hope everything works out well at your new place!

That's what 50% travel means, and its what I signed up for. I was traveling more like 75% towards the end.

ipconfig.all wrote: »

My apologies Paul, I did not fully read the comments (was a bit sleepy) yeah I agree with you Paul and congratulations on the new job.

It's all good.

arwes

Paul Boz wrote: »

That's what 50% travel means, and its what I signed up for. I was traveling more like 75% towards the end.

Durrrr. Yeah, math part of the brain was switched off. Serves me right for posting & playing WordFeud at the same time.

hex_omega

Is this company American Home Patient?

Paul Boz

hex_omega wrote: »

Is this company American Home Patient?

No. Why?

hex_omega

I used to work for them. Home health care provider.

I guess they are not as big as I thought.

BroadcastStorm

ipconfig.all wrote: »

My apologies Paul, I did not fully read the comments (was a bit sleepy) yeah I agree with you Paul and congratulations on the new job.

What you talking about willis :P

Congratz on the new job Paul!

Paul did you break the 3 digits barrier?