Letting your employer know you are looking for a new position..

Do you think letting your employer know that you are looking elsewhere is the courteous thing to do, or simply setting yourself up for disaster for your remaining time with the company?

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erpadmin

levensailor wrote: »

I let my employer know what I thought and that I had filled out a few higher paying applications and got a $6k raise

Even if this did turn out to be a happy ending (and the book is still being written on that, btw), what you did, generally, is never a good idea, for the reasons that were already stated in this thread.

Forsaken_GA

snadam wrote: »

In retrospect, it was stupid to do that 'contractor' deal with them. I had a personal and professional disdain for management at the time. I do not, however, regret keeping them unaware of my job search while I was looking around and I'm glad I didn't put them as a contact.

This isn't the first time I've heard of something like this. In Nov. 2008, a friend of mine was going to be laid off. The company was having issues, under investigation by the SEC, and so on. They told him that if he willingly resigned, they'd bring him back on as a contractor for three months, with a generous rate. So he did so, and the deal lasted all of two weeks, when they just decided to let him go. Since he resigned willingly, he was screwed out of his severance.

So I fully agree with you to cut your ties cleanly. Once you've made the decision to move on, it's time to be a-goin'

dynamik

Paul Boz wrote: »

You’re a damn fool.

Wow! The next thing you're going to tell me is that the sky is blue

rwmidl

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

He made absolutely no attempt to retain me. He had decided I was leaving before I had. He basically decided to yell at me, said I wasn't a team player (which shocked my co-workers when I related this to them) and drew unfavorable comparisons to Brett Favre and Terrell Owens. I knew what he was doing, he was trying to make me feel guilty so I would stay. I didn't budge, I just accepted his comments, and answered his questions. As I was walking out the door, he said "I hope like hell they make you an offer."

There is never an excuse for a manager to "yell" at someone. And if his goal was to get you to stay, why would someone want to work someplace where they are treated like that? Personally I think this shows the lack of professionalism by the manager.

it_consultant

Reading through these posts make me realize how many of my IT brethren are in completely terrible employment situations.

eMeS

Paul Boz wrote: »

In principle I agree with everything you said. That place is one of the unique situations where principles go out the window though.

I think it's interesting that they made a show about where you guys work(ed).

Swamp People

MS

howiehandles

nanashi wrote: »

Since I'm a contractor working through a temp agency I have a feeling that my manager would just contact the temp agency and find a replacement before I can even get a new job.

depending on your value, I would say that's a safe bet. Unless your boss likes you, or there's the chance you can go perm.

howiehandles

Unless you're working with/for friends which you've know long before your job, I would be very, very, careful in letting anyone know your intentions for new employment. Its a buyers market, and if you think you cannot be replaced, you're most likely deluding yourself (and by yourself, I'm not referring to the OP, but to everyone, myself included). While your boss my appreciate your honesty, one has to be very careful in expressing your desire to leave, even if you're just using the threat of leaving to negotiate a better salary, or whatever perks you seek. Just because they're your buds at work, doesn't mean they won't seek the boss's favor by giving him some inside information with regards to your intentions.

Forsaken_GA

rwmidl wrote: »

There is never an excuse for a manager to "yell" at someone. And if his goal was to get you to stay, why would someone want to work someplace where they are treated like that? Personally I think this shows the lack of professionalism by the manager.

To be fair, I understood where he was coming from. Revenue was down. Headcount was already skeletal. And the churn was getting bad. In the past six months, six employees, representing about 40 years worth of experience, had left, leaving the institutional knowledge cupboard quite bare. So he was a little frustrated, and lost his cool.

The disappointing part for me was that he was entirely resistant to the idea that folks were leaving because of the way they were treated. For example, I hadn't had a raise in close to three years, despite working my tail off, and being paid well below the industry standard. One of the reasons I decided to leave was because the company I applied with gave me the money I was asking for, which was a 50% increase from my current salary. And yeah, I suppose you could say wow that's cool, change jobs and make 50% more, but it just goes to show how underpaid I actually was. I'm kicking myself because they didn't even blink when I told them my requested salary, I probably could have gotten more.

I will be very surprised if my former employer exists as an independent entity within 5 years. I just hope the folks who stayed behind don't get screwed over.

thenjduke

I had a real bad expierence at previous employer. I was working there for 3 years as Desktop tech and I helped out a lady build a PC who was really nice. Well she use to get all kinds of spyware and virus and she blame me one day that I was doing this. I showed her all the sites her son was going too which was **** in nature and explain alot of these sites install these items. Well it turned out she got so upset that she asked for the money back that I charged her for the PC. I gave her back the PC and asked for the PC back and sold it on ebay in parts and got back more money then what I sold it to her for. It turned out that she told my boss and my boss started to treat me different. He let me go two days later and I asked why and he said because of what I did to her. I come to find out two years later the boss was sleeping with her and no less she was married and had kids.

Mojo_666

thenjduke wrote: »

I come to find out two years later the boss was sleeping with her and no less she was married and had kids.

If the boss was dicking her why didn't he build her a PC?

erpadmin

Mojo_666 wrote: »

If the boss was dicking her why didn't he build her a PC?

You know women love guys with power....it was within his power to task the build to his underling, in this case thenjduke.

I've had a boss that was similar to this guy. In fact, when I was single, I was hanging out with my boss and his brother (I was less uptight about such things back then) and the girl my boss was dealing with had ****blocked me with the chick I was trying to get with. "She's getting marrried, blah blah blah"....funny how this chick never mentioned that once...I was quite angry that night and told my boss later that definitely wasn't cool. But he was ok with it, because apparently, he had sharing-the-wealth issues...lmao. This translated into raises and promotions too. So I knew I had to bounce.

thenjduke

Mojo_666 wrote: »

If the boss was dicking her why didn't he build her a PC?

Honestly because he was a IT Director and had no clue about computers. He was the Sales manager before being promotoed to IT Director. Trust me this place was a wierd deal.

Countryboi

see the rub of telling your employer that your looking for a new job is that if the trail goes cold and you dont get the jobs....he is going to know your unhappy and not in the future plans for the business...i think the best move is to keep your mouth shut...you stand to gain nothing from telling them

Stiltz79

I would never let my employer know.. I did that once and it didn't go over very well.

Paul Boz

eMeS wrote: »

I think it's interesting that they made a show about where you guys work(ed).

Swamp People

MS

Don't make me feel even worse for DVRing and watching every episode

Troy catches big gators man.

dynamik

Paul Boz wrote: »

Don't make me feel even worse for DVRing and watching every episode

Troy catches big gators man.

I don't even know what that trash is, and I'm not even going to bother Googling it. Give me back my Dexter Blu-Rays that you "haven't had time" to get through in three months.

Paul Boz

dynamik wrote: »

I don't even know what that trash is, and I'm not even going to bother Googling it. Give me back my Dexter Blu-Rays that you "haven't had time" to get through in three months.

I think I've emotionally ground to a halt with that show. Seriously, there is no respite from the suspense. Your new Dragon Age came in today by the way.

ON TOPIC: A friend of mine emailed me today asking if I knew of any jobs he could fill. He tried to bluff his way into a pay raise by spoofing some company and calling his current employer to do a reference check. He checked his company blackberry and his email wasn't working so he drove to work and his crap was already boxed up.

Lesson: You should only be your own reference / spoof an employer if you have nothing to lose, not if you're trying to get more dollars at your current employer. If you have something lined up and just want to see what kind of offer they'll make (if any) go for it. Otherwise good luck and I hope you like ramen.

Bl8ckr0uter

Paul Boz wrote: »

ON TOPIC: A friend of mine emailed me today asking if I knew of any jobs he could fill. He tried to bluff his way into a pay raise by spoofing some company and calling his current employer to do a reference check. He checked his company blackberry and his email wasn't working so he drove to work and his crap was already boxed up.

Lesson: You should only be your own reference / spoof an employer if you have nothing to lose, not if you're trying to get more dollars at your current employer. If you have something lined up and just want to see what kind of offer they'll make (if any) go for it. Otherwise good luck and I hope you like ramen.

That seems incredibly stupid. I would never do anything like that. I don't even like the fact that at the end of the weekend I will only have one paycheck coming in (good news is my wife has an interview on tuesday).

Devilsbane

You have to walk the walk if you want to try to talk the talk. looks like he found that out the hard way lol

A. I would never do this. and B. I don't think I would ever allow a place to contact my current employer unless I thought there was a for sure chance on the job and it was a good move.

Bl8ckr0uter

I just don't see how that person could have thought that was a good idea. I can see taking a calculated risk but that is just stupid. You just don't do that with people in authority over you. This guy brought a picture of a plastic knife to a gun fight. I just wonder what goes through some peoples mind sometimes. ...