Abrupt realization today - time to move on.

After biding my time for over 5 years, waiting my turn for advancement and the next challenge at my company, I thought that finally my time had come once our senior engineer left for greener pastures recently. I work in a relatively small shop that runs 6-7 local network staff including systems, network, and desktop support.

Now, I have more or less been the go-to person for all systems engineering issues other than Cisco networking for a long time, and am the person that is always sought out for advice and feedback as it relates to anything internal to our department or initiatives that are visible to the business. I have been somewhat of a confidant to my manager as I am usually the first person outside of management that is brought into the loop on sensitive issues. I am the only person in the department who can communicate either written or orally worth a damn. I am recognized time and time again as a superior troubleshooter and certainly the best on the team by far. I have certifications coming out of my ears. I am able to manage multiple priorities well. I have technical breadth and depth that cannot even come close to being matched by anyone else in the department. OK, enough tooting my own horn...

So naturally, if a vacancy opens up that is a shade above where I am today, I would at least expect to be considered to fill that role. Not the case... after a long talk with the boss, it turns out that the plan is to make all the admin/engineering positions, including the vacant one, co-equal in status with everyone doing a bit of everything and officially having everyone sharing the responsibility that once was held by the senior person. After seeing my disappointment, I was given the token comment that they put in for a re-evaluation of my job role and a new salary analysis to see if I would be a candidate for a pay raise. I am not holding my breath.

Hence, after being let down time and time again, this recent revelation makes it evident to me that no window of opportunity will ever exist at my current company. Which stinks, because this is really a great company to work for.

Sigh.

blargoe

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Comments

Bl8ckr0uter

Leave. Life is to short man.

Actually what is more important to you, advancement or the comfort of the place you are in?

Essendon

I commiserate on you not getting what you wanted blargoe, a guy with your work ethic and skills should be rewarded. But if I put myself in the management's place and think from their angle, they have actually done good. Sure they pissed you off and it would piss me off too, but it gives the others a chance to do something worthwhile and improve their skill set. All this said, it's time for you to move on, you've been there 5 years which I think is past a typical tech's shelf-life. Bang out that resume and send it out. I'm sure you'll get another higher and better position before you know it. My company is looking for a Senior Systems Engineer, interested?

Psoasman

That's rough, putting in all the time and energy and then being passed by. Based on what you've said, its probably time to polish up the resume and look for a place with more opportunities for you.

vCole

Man, that's a bummer. I know the feeling and it really leaves a sour taste in your mouth. It doesn't hurt to look elsewhere,and you could get a significant raise for moving on. As hard as it would be to leave somewhere you've known for 5 years, shaking it up a bit may allow you to expand your skills and knowledge even more. So look at this as a good thing, not bad.

Webmaster

Sorry to hear that. "this is really a great company to work for" is worth something by itself and if you would get a decent pay raise... but I would not hold my breath either because it sounds like they want to save money in the first place with:

blargoe wrote:

make all the admin/engineering positions co-equal in status with everyone doing a bit of everything and officially having everyone sharing the responsibility that once was held by the senior person.

Also sounds impractical to me, especially the sharing the responsibility part. I can see it turn even more sour with you basically ending up filling the role but not getting the title and pay that should go with it.

effekted

I feel ya. Over the past year we've had our Sr Telecom person laid off and our Network Administrator leave due to work visa issues that the company screwed him on and I've taken on some of the items the Sr Telecom person did along with the quite a bit of the Newtork Administrator's load without any additional compensation. The company changed hands a few times this year so our org structure/pay scale was pushed back to the first of next year instead of this summer because ownership changed hands again a month before it was supposed to happen.

I plan on knocking out CCNA and possibly CCNA:Security while continuing to gain valuable experience and if they're not compensating me atleast decently than I'll be moving onto bigger and better things. Just this week a Field Engineer from a company we went through for wireless voip phones asked what our salary range was like and when we told him he was shocked and told us there's no reason we aren't at 75k+ (we're all under half and some low-mid 20's)

I've been reading TechExams for probably 3 years and see time and time again, to move up in job role and pay you pretty much have to go to another company.

Heny '06

If you wanna move up, you gotta move on!

Everyone

Webmaster wrote: »

Sorry to hear that. "this is really a great company to work for" is worth something by itself and if you would get a decent pay raise... but I would not hold my breath either because it sounds like they want to save money in the first place with:Also sounds impractical to me, especially the sharing the responsibility part. I can see it turn even more sour with you basically ending up filling the role but not getting the title and pay that should go with it.

Definitely looking to save money. It sounds like they don't plan on filling the vacancy at all, not even by hiring another person to be one of your "equals". So if you weren't already understaffed, you will be now.

ipSpace

That is too bad man.

We have a saying in my country...if you want a big raise or to move up, you must change the company..

I think it applies for you too now.

Version4

I was in the same boat as you for 7 years. The company was spectacular, the people were awesome. However, when it came to job roles and responsibilities the company was not very industry standard, except for management

Like you, I gave it a go for longer than I should have, but there was always hope for a better future that was talked into us. If I told you what we did in our position, you wouldn't believe me - so I'll skip that part.

Over the years, many positions were opened up, but we were passed by. Ironically the people that filled those positions only lasted a year or so. My realization happened much the same way yours did, but over a few years time. Over the course of those few years I discovered that I had made myself too valuable in the position I was in and that is what prevented me from moving further along in the company.

It was a very hard decision for me to leave the company because I liked everything about it and all the people, but it was a dead end career wise. To secure my families future, I need to advance, and to advance I had to leave.

Good luck on your decision!

veritas_libertas

Sounds like they are trying to make everyone happy, and that is a bad sign.

erpadmin

I can relate to what you're going through blargoe.

There are people who have been where I work at that have been here longer than I and have had their steps maxed out. Raises and the like are dictated by union contracts. However, management has the discretion to reclassify folks. I have a little under two years to max out my title. By that time, I'm going to have a firm talkin'-to with my management where we have to see where I'm gonna go. By the time I max out, I should have a MS degree. With what my title says, plus my own work experience, I should be able to move into management be it at where I'm at or someplace else (preferably in the state so I can retire with medical since I'll almost be ready to do that by the time I max out.)

Basically, it's a big if-then-else statement. If this happens, then I do that, else I go to plan B (and my plan B is basically go elsewhere...which I'll be ready to do.)

I've been doing this for a long time, and I can pretty much sense the bullcrap. I've learned to make my own path over the years and many times it's been fruitful. Sometimes there were bumps, but as long as I kept trucking, things always worked themselves out.

instant000

Hah. That is kind of pitiful. I remember when a past manager said we would basically have everyone doing a little bit of everything, which was a sign for me that we weren't going to replace a recently departed engineer. I left within a month after that. Also, you can tell when you're the go-to-guy. However, being the go-to-guy doesn't necessarily pay any better than being the good-enough guy.

It kind of hurts for you, that you can't get paid more there, but maybe they don't need someone as skilled as you. It could just be time to move on.

IEWANNABE

Why not start your own business?

Essendon

IEWANNABE wrote: »

Why not start your own business?

I second the idea blargoe. Give it some thought, will ya?!

blargoe

First of all, thanks to everyone for their comments. I always appreciate your support and feedback. I have taken a few days to step back and consider whether I have overreacted; I am now all the more convinced that it is time for me to take the next step forward. Well past time, actually.

I was just perusing an old thread that I had posted a couple of years ago on my challenges on the job and future career development (http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/47507-overgeneralized-overworked-unsure-next-step-long-rant.html), and stepping back and looking at this again, I realize that I have remained in my current position for at least a year too long.

One huge thing that kept me from looking around is related to my prior manager being promoted into a position with our parent company (who holds about 2 dozen companies in the same industry sector, some much larger, some about the same size as us). He sort of reeled me in with some empty promises about a potential bigger role in our parent company's new shared infrastructure, servicing about 25 companies and over 15,000 mailboxes. I was one of a very few picked to help with the services infrastructure design and vendor rating and selection. I should have known better than to hope anything would pan out from that. After all that work, all of the new positions were handed out to the people at Headquarters.

Even figuring on that not working out for me, I justified continuing my employment here because of the continued training which I have been afforded, and the pipeline of interesting (to me) projects that was a continual stream. For the longest time, there was that "next big thing" that was going to be valuable experience or another notch for the resume. Well, that stream has pretty much subsided, and now that the shared infrastructure project is about over, I'm realizing that I shouldn't have stayed around this long. I should have cut the cord sooner and struck while the iron was hotter. Not being given the obvious opportunity for advancement recently with a senior team member leaving was the slap in the face I needed to wake me up.

My biggest hurdle is going to be finding a suitable position in a small IT market in a rough economy. I want to get paid fair market value, but I also have to get out of this rut. I am totally demotivated in my current position and I am afraid it will start to show sooner than later.

cisco_trooper

inSecure.ro wrote: »

That is too bad man.

We have a saying in my country...if you want a big raise or to move up, you must change the company..

I think it applies for you too now.

This applies everywhere. Those who think otherwise have had a rare experience. I get 6% raises when I stay at a company. I get 25% raises when I leave. So far that has held true and I don't expect it not to.

blargoe

Essendon wrote: »

I second the idea blargoe. Give it some thought, will ya?!

I have given it some thought in the past. As far as working for myself goes, the only type of thing that really appeals to me at this time is getting established as an independent consultant, and doing some IT instruction on the side, like many of the VMware and Microsoft training instructors that I have encountered are doing. I think I need more field experience (as in, exposure to more diverse types of companies and infrastructures - probably could gain this type of experience working for a solutions provider) and business skills to pull that off. I'm also in a small market and am tied down to this area for the time being. It wouldn't be my next step, but it is something that I will always keep on the table as a possibility.

blargoe

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Sounds like they are trying to make everyone happy, and that is a bad sign.

That's sort of what I was thinking. Our current manager, she is all about being fair and equal, even to a fault. But "equal" doesn't always mean "fair"...

blargoe

Everyone wrote: »

Definitely looking to save money. It sounds like they don't plan on filling the vacancy at all, not even by hiring another person to be one of your "equals". So if you weren't already understaffed, you will be now.

We're definately filling "a" position, it's just going to be a different position than the one that was vacated. We're already phone screening. But I did ask the question... "Do you think you will be able to justify keeping three of us in this position by this time next year"? I got an honest answer... the thought has crossed her mind a few times, but she didn't think it would be a problem.

blargoe

Essendon wrote: »

I commiserate on you not getting what you wanted blargoe, a guy with your work ethic and skills should be rewarded. But if I put myself in the management's place and think from their angle, they have actually done good. Sure they pissed you off and it would piss me off too, but it gives the others a chance to do something worthwhile and improve their skill set. All this said, it's time for you to move on, you've been there 5 years which I think is past a typical tech's shelf-life. Bang out that resume and send it out. I'm sure you'll get another higher and better position before you know it. My company is looking for a Senior Systems Engineer, interested?

Australia would be one hell of a commute for me

But thanks.

the_Grinch

I would see if the raise comes through, in that time polish up the resume and send out feelers. No raise, then you are ahead of the game and ready for interviews. Definitely sucks, but sometimes you do just have to move on. Always scary at first, but I always found that the more experience you have the easier it is. Good luck!

blargoe

It's funny that when I shared with my manager yesterday my intent to resign my position, after the initial shock and "why?", the first thing out of her mouth was that more money for us was already approved, and to let her try to match what I had been offered by my future company. Just waiting on our Sr. Director to get back from vacation. I'd have thought something that pertinent would have been shared already.

So... now, they're recruiting for not 1, but 2 open positions on a 3 person admin team. I hate it for them, I really do. The remaining guy will probably get a nice raise out of it

It's actually a pretty good job, I've just gone as far as I can go with it.