Just applied for a job outside my current company of 18 years.

[IC3]

I've been job hopping, I hate the interview process, CV tailoring... Apart from that, its nice to work with new tools, new team and the amount of experience and skills you get is worth it in the end. I'm not sure about non-technical roles, but for technical roles its great.

 

[malachi]

I've been job hopping, I hate the interview process, CV tailoring... Apart from that, its nice to work with new tools, new team and the amount of experience and skills you get is worth it in the end. I'm not sure about non-technical roles, but for technical roles its great.

I agree, even if the job doesn't work out. You still learnt a new skill while there.

 

[shifty_uk]

It feels stifling and restrictive and regressive.

Sounds like you’re definitely making the right decision. Your heads in the right place in terms of wanting to get stuck in and progress. Same can’t be said about others in the workforce.

I don’t envy anyone applying for jobs in this climate but keep at it, somewhere else will be lucky to have you.

 

[sidimmu]

Only just caught this thread, but will give you a hint at my own past in here:

Employment issue, advise please.

Hi Everyone! Long time lurker here, looking back now I should have sorted my account out ages ago and got posting, feel like a bit of a **** now for not doing so earlier. Big fan of the project logs and GD! I am looking for advise regarding my current job as I am in a bit of bother and running...

forums.overclockers.co.uk

For reference, I ended up leaving the initial previous job in Dec 2016, worked at new business in a different area to what I studied, spent just shy of 6 years there working up, getting my skills etc. But I was respected more than previous company, earning more money, more opportunities for future.
They decided they didnt want me going into management, so I stepped away and gone out as my self now.
Best thing I have ever done.

The grass might not always be greener, but you wont find out if it is unless you go have a look.

 

[HangTime]

In round numbers I did stints of 5yrs, 8yrs, 6yrs, 1yr, 1yr, and current role just over 2yrs. I'd say in general the grass is always greener, I've never really regretted changing company. Arguably the one I was at for six years was the best company, but the workload was unsustainable and I was significantly underpaid after getting promoted and taking on a lot more responsibility.

What you do need to come to terms with is the fact you'll go from having huge amounts of tacit knowledge and everything being 'obvious' to hearing words thrown about by colleagues where you have absolutely no idea what it means. You won't know who to talk to about different issues, and you might go from being a "go-to" oracle that has the answers for others, to being a complete newbie people don't trust with some tasks. You'll have done things a certain way for 18yrs and subconsciously think that's how everywhere does it.

 

[Ev0]

I moved from somewhere after 10 years where I liked working, but got tempted away.

8 months later and the place I moved to made the whole European team redundant, so hindsight wasn't the best of moves.

Since then things have changed at the original place (they sold the product I worked with off to another vendor) so with further hindsight there'd have been big change for me anyway

 

[OspreyO]

Please regale me with tales of how things were much better after moving from a long term job or company. Posters of failure and disasters will be blocked, I don't need that additional worry. Thanks for your support.

I was in an IT start up that went from a small company to a big corporate went public etc. an But it went bad after that, a nasty line manager and redundancies and a merger. Went all corporate. Voluntary redundancy was offered and I took it. It was like a huge weight was lifted. I hadn't realized how stressed I was till I left. Was an amazing feeling. Went contacting after that for a few years which was great fun.

 

[Nasher]

I moved from somewhere after 10 years where I liked working, but got tempted away.

8 months later and the place I moved to made the whole European team redundant, so hindsight wasn't the best of moves.

Since then things have changed at the original place (they sold the product I worked with off to another vendor) so with further hindsight there'd have been big change for me anyway

Happened to me twice in one year with 2 American companies. The UK economy is not going well, a lot of business is pulling out or cutting back. American CEOs love a good staff reduction to try and quick fix things though. Or to make "bold decisions" which are very bad ones.

I'm working for a Japanese company now and the culture is a lot different. The execs aren't just picked from a pool of the most obnoxious people they can find.

 

[Kautya]

I had done it before where I moved from a company where I'd worked for 12 years to another place as we had our pay frozen due to losses etc and cost of living was starting to bite us a bit. The thing that is most challenging is forming a network of people that you need when you want things being done quickly without treading on peoples toes. It was easier with the company where I had worked for 12 years as knew most people that I could go to when we had challenges to speed things through. I think generally now the sector I work in is looking challenging with lots of redundancies happening around so its hard to leave and go join a new business, in case they start cutting jobs.

 

[Ev0]

Happened to me twice in one year with 2 American companies. The UK economy is not going well, a lot of business is pulling out or cutting back. American CEOs love a good staff reduction to try and quick fix things though. Or to make "bold decisions" which are very bad ones.

I'm working for a Japanese company now and the culture is a lot different. The execs aren't just picked from a pool of the most obnoxious people they can find.

I was unfortunate in finding out after I'd joined that it was just an appallingly ran company

Don't know how they are still in business given how much it's declined over the last 2 years.

 

[Nasher]

I was unfortunate in finding out after I'd joined that it was just an appallingly ran company

Don't know how they are still in business given how much it's declined over the last 2 years.

One of the ones I was at has been in a downward spiral since a US corporation bought it before covid. The US corporate owners paid a LOT of money for it and it was profitable, but they are running it in to the ground as they have no idea how to actually run a company. Every year they make millions in losses, even though their market is growing fast.

Some of the people they let go were engineers who had been working there for 40 years. Their skill set is pretty unique and they will never be able to replace them. The logic on the UK side was what happens when they get new contracts and actually need these people to design products...

They set up a place in India to try and pass some work (cheap) over there. But Indian engineers have a reputation for being terrible and... well.. they are. They pretend to know what they are doing, but never finish and the works ends up coming back to the UK just before deadline.