New manager in....me out

reppgoa

So I am currently working on a federal contract and they brought in a new infrastructure manager. Its been 2 weeks and I dont think I have been micromanaged this badly since I was a pvt in the Army. Needless to say I put in my 2 weeks today. Feels good man.

And no, I dont have anything lined up. I live in the DC Metro area and its not hard to find a new job. I have about 2 months of living expenses saved up, if I cant find a new job in 2 months then I have bigger problems.

NinjaBoy

By the sounds of it, this manager has issues with trust, delegation and creativity (and/or with upper management pressures on him/her). IMO, not the best way to run a department.

Roguetadhg

Good luck. I find it interesting that you would have this problem with your ITIL certs.

reppgoa

Roguetadhg wrote: »

Good luck. I find it interesting that you would have this problem with your ITIL certs.

What do you mean?

networker050184

Very dangerous move even in the DC area. I probably would have given the new boss a little more than two weeks though. They might need to be a part of every little detail (micro managing) in the beginning to make sure they have a handle on everything.

Good luck!

Roguetadhg

Isn't the ITIL framework supposed to help project management?

networker050184

So because he/she has ITIL certs it means he/she won't get a bad manager?

reppgoa

networker050184 wrote: »

Very dangerous move even in the DC area. I probably would have given the new boss a little more than two weeks though. They might need to be a part of every little detail (micro managing) in the beginning to make sure they have a handle on everything.

Good luck!

Not so dangerous for me, I still have many months of my GI bill left. $2200 a month for rent when my rent bill is only 600 is pretty nice

networker050184

The GI Bill certainly will be a nice way to keep yourself afloat. I need to start using mine one of these days. Maybe I'll put in my notice too!

chrisone

You made a decision whether it was the right one or not , it doesnt matter anymore. Be aggressive in job hunting, call back the employers you had interviews with (always show interest and follow up), Redo your resume, ADD NEW STUDY GOALS IN RESUME (employers love to see your enthusiasm and will to improve and obtain certs), stay positive. Chances are you will land a better paying job without asking for more money in the interview

New year is coming up man, it was probably destiny for you to start it off in a great new positive way!

reppgoa

networker050184 wrote: »

The GI Bill certainly will be a nice way to keep yourself afloat. I need to start using mine one of these days. Maybe I'll put in my notice too!

Doooo EEEET

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I probably wont start job hunting seriously just yet. I have 9 months of GI Bill benefit left. I will most likely finish up my degree, grab some certs,and look to relocate in about a year. Who knows! Thats the beauty of it

paul78

Just my 2 cents, don't burn any bridges when you leave. If the new manager is an issue, maybe they won't last. And I would suggest not disparaging the manager as a reason for leaving either with your current employer or any prospective employers.

Good luck in your studies. Sounds like you have a solid plan.

chrisone

reppgoa wrote: »

I probably wont start job hunting seriously just yet. I have 9 months of GI Bill benefit left. I will most likely finish up my degree, grab some certs,and look to relocate in about a year. Who knows! Thats the beauty of it

I hear you man, definitely take the positive in this situation. OMG it feels so great to leave a bad job and expect nothing but the better in return! LOL! Dude you are in the driver seat, totally!

higherho

TS / SCI + Vet = new job in about 2 weeks in the DC area. Good luck!

reppgoa

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Not interested in contracting anymore. I am gonna look for a smaller business. I want to do IT for a company, not as part of a contract.

tpatt100

Except the government is arguing over budgets so new contracts might be on hold, I ran into that problem the last time it happened. We were getting ready to start a new project and we got put into a holding pattern for a while.

W Stewart

Don't wait to long to start looking. It is great to be marketable in an area with a lot of opportunity and I know the feeling of being able to walk out on a horrible job and nothing feels better at the time. I remeber walking out on a hospital job where I was working as a Nurses assistant. My parents pushed me into that while trying to get me to go to nursing school. I got fed up with my micro manging boss and my low pay. One day a patient just ticked me off so I left and never looked back. I may have found myself working some crappy telemarketing jobs for awhile but thanks to those crappy telemarketing jobs, my girlfriend found a connection that helped me get my start in IT. Now I'm making more then twice what I was making at that hospital.

N2IT

Sometimes you have to work through that initial phase with a manager. There will always be an element of growth between two individuals. There is nothing wrong with Micro managing it actual works.


Either way your decision has been made I wish you the best.

dave330i

With the holidays & fiscal cliff, it could be a while before you find something.

W Stewart

N2IT wrote: »

Sometimes you have to work through that initial phase with a manager. There will always be an element of growth between two individuals. There is nothing wrong with Micro managing it actual works.


Either way your decision has been made I wish you the best.

Maybe it works at call center jobs where your goal is to get a lot of labor for a low price and you could care less about employee turnover but other than that, micro-managing is a good way to lose talented employees. The manager at my current job just got let go because some of the techs weren't getting along too well with him. I actually thought he was cool but I work night shift so I only spoke with him an hour a week at the most and I've only been here a month.

paul78

W Stewart wrote: »

Maybe it works at call center jobs where your goal is to get a lot of labor for a low price and you could care less about employee turnover but other than that, micro-managing is a good way to lose talented employees.

That's not entirely accurate. Micromanagement is a legitimate style of management. It can lead to having more successful employees and production. Most people tend to confuse the difference between having an authoritative bullying-style or need for unnecessary status/performance reports versus actual micromanagement which focuses on the correlation of details to make informed decisions.

Any company that doesn't support micromanagement has a legitimate style of management does need to be clear about how it handles employee accountability. In that sort of company, subordinates carry more risk because decisions are delegated to them. Conversely, in a company that accepts micromanagement, judgement and decision making errors fall squarely on management.

No doubt - there is such a thing as a bad micro-manager but that is also true of hands-off managers.

N2IT

Paul I actually perfer to work with for micro managers. I have found that we are always lock step together and usually deliver without very little rework. I found more often than not macro managers are usually inexperienced and try to find favor with their team by allowing them freedom.

I undestand that both style can have good and bad managers. As for me I would rather work for a task master than someone who is all over the place. The number 1 thing that will run me out of a job is not stress but chaos. I will not totarate chaos.

QHalo

N2IT wrote: »

As for me I would rather work for a task master

Sorry, but this was immediately what I thought when you said that.



"You got those TPS reports N2IT?!?!?"

W Stewart

If that's what you consider micro-management then I could see it as a legitimate style of management. I'm just used to the call center style of management where they monitor your every bathroom break.

N2IT wrote: »

Paul I actually perfer to work with for micro managers. I have found that we are always lock step together and usually deliver without very little rework. I found more often than not macro managers are usually inexperienced and try to find favor with their team by allowing them freedom.

I undestand that both style can have good and bad managers. As for me I would rather work for a task master than someone who is all over the place. The number 1 thing that will run me out of a job is not stress but chaos. I will not totarate chaos.

If there's one thing that would make me quit a job, it would be lack of proper training and a manager that just doesn't know what he's doing. I just left a job like that a month ago because nothing makes me madder than looking incompetent because I wasn't properly trained to do my job.

powerfool

I would have at least waited until I had a few phone interviews with a few solid prospect before I submitted a my notice, even in DC. Yeah, you can find something fairly easily, but you are risking picking up another job that you won't like just to pay the bills because you have put yourself in a tough position. You don't just want any job, else your current job would be fine... you want a better fit... its going to be harder to pull that off, now.

powerfool

N2IT wrote: »

Paul I actually perfer to work with for micro managers. I have found that we are always lock step together and usually deliver without very little rework. I found more often than not macro managers are usually inexperienced and try to find favor with their team by allowing them freedom.

I undestand that both style can have good and bad managers. As for me I would rather work for a task master than someone who is all over the place. The number 1 thing that will run me out of a job is not stress but chaos. I will not totarate chaos.

I can say that I cannot stand working with micro managers, and my team of 30 engineers would likely all leave if they reported to a micro manager. We are all super Type A personalities... a micro manager comes off as seriously insecure to us. Further, with very serious Type As, it would be a complete waste of effort, we micro manage ourselves just fine.

goldenlight

I wish I was that brave.

N2IT

I can work for either or as long as the have a road map/master plan. People who can't adapt to different management styles are limited to how far they can go up. Eventually you will run into a micro manager and have to deal with it.

Claymoore

One of the rules by which I live is you can ask me to do something or tell me how to do something - not both.

Take Christmas lights as an example. My wife asked me to hang some lights on the house and then left for the afternoon. I made the installation decisions based on location of electrical outlets, the availability of a ladder, ease of installation and removal. She returned and wanted to make a bunch of changes. I reminded her of my rule, handed over the lighting project, and went back inside to watch what was left of the football games.

I don't like micro managers and would not choose to work for one - I don't need a babysitter. I can't handle being responsible for something and have someone else in the middle of my business, telling me what to do about my responsibilities all day. However, I like really strict by-the-book project managers. When there are tight deadlines and lots of moving parts, I want someone who is involved and not easily pushed around, even if that means a few more managing my manager tasks than I would like.

Back to the OP, glad you left before your manager made your job miserable. Life's too short to put up with people like that if you don't have to.

jmritenour

I think micromanagers have their place - it's just not above me in a supervisory role.

I know some very smart, hard-working people who are absolutely horrible at prioritizing and managing their time. Those types need a taskmaster to keep them on track.

BradleyHU

i understand about leaving because of micro-managing, but i would have had something lined up first. no matter how good your qualifications are, you never know what can happen....