This Business and Moment...

I'm currently on a contract around 25 miles/45 minutes from home, the commute is easy and the job is as well. It's a simple setup, which has been built by idiots which me and a few others are trying to fix. Two main issues really, 1) is the simple setup (16 hosts, 200 VMs, not huge really). I want something more to get my teeth into. 2) is the lead engineer, who is probably one of the worst micromanages I've ever worked for. He isn't technical at all. There's been a few times I've just walked out of meetings or discussions with him and I've at times felt like just going home. I really can't stand working for him But, the money is good, the commute is simple and hardly ever run into traffic. The contract runs until May and will likely extend.

I've been offered a contract elsewhere, doing pretty much VMware which is what I want to do. There's over 1000 nodes, all done via Orchestrator and using automation and tools like Ansible, basically working in a DevOps type of environment, which I've never done so I'm keen to learn. The job sounds much, much more interesting and it's more money as well, by £75 a day. The issue is the commute, it's up to 55 miles and 1h each way, although I would have to deal with the M4/M5 at Bristol, so some days that might be 90 minutes and at worst 2h. On the whole those if I time it right it can be done in an hour. The contract is for 12 months and will likely extend beyond 3 years.

Take the risk and jump ship or take the easy route?
 
ChrisD. said:
I'm currently on a contract around 25 miles/45 minutes from home, the commute is easy and the job is as well. It's a simple setup, which has been built by idiots which me and a few others are trying to fix. Two main issues really, 1) is the simple setup (16 hosts, 200 VMs, not huge really). I want something more to get my teeth into. 2) is the lead engineer, who is probably one of the worst micromanages I've ever worked for. He isn't technical at all. There's been a few times I've just walked out of meetings or discussions with him and I've at times felt like just going home. I really can't stand working for him But, the money is good, the commute is simple and hardly ever run into traffic. The contract runs until May and will likely extend.

I've been offered a contract elsewhere, doing pretty much VMware which is what I want to do. There's over 1000 nodes, all done via Orchestrator and using automation and tools like Ansible, basically working in a DevOps type of environment, which I've never done so I'm keen to learn. The job sounds much, much more interesting and it's more money as well, by £75 a day. The issue is the commute, it's up to 55 miles and 1h each way, although I would have to deal with the M4/M5 at Bristol, so some days that might be 90 minutes and at worst 2h. On the whole those if I time it right it can be done in an hour. The contract is for 12 months and will likely extend beyond 3 years.

Take the risk and jump ship or take the easy route?
Click to expand...

I would take the risk because you will be learning a new skill which will benefit you later in life.
 
Last edited:
Maccy said:
@ChrisD. 2 things to ask here first:
  1. How long have you been contracting for?
  2. How long have you been in your current contract for?
Click to expand...

1) Since the end of 2012.
2) Since November. The commute is really, really nice, pretty much bang on 45 minutes and decent roads. There's barely ever any heavy traffic. It's nice to know when I'll be home. Also if I left at this stage of the project I think I would be burning some bridges. I'd really like to get it finished off as I've been promised better work and I don't think a rate increase come renewal would be out of the question.

malachi said:
I would take the risk because you will be learning a new skill which will benefit you later in life.
Click to expand...

randomshenans said:
Yea, as above for me.
Click to expand...

I know but I don't want to burn any bridges and I know the new commute would start to annoy me after 6 months.

Another thing to consider is that a good mate of mine is starting at the current role soon, he lives close by so we will be car sharing, which saves £.
 
Last edited:
ChrisD. said:
I know but I don't want to burn any bridges and I know the new commute would start to annoy me after 6 months.

Another thing to consider is that a good mate of mine is starting at the current role soon, he lives close by so we will be car sharing, which saves £.
Click to expand...

You need to do what's best for you, not the company or your mate. Because when it comes to progression, burning bridges etc is the last thing to think about.
 
In a peculiar situation, even though I'm not actively looking for a manager role I keep getting emails and phone calls about vacancies for pharmacist manager the thing is I could have become a manager a few months ago with the company I just left. Whilst I would like a career change into becoming a data analyst, I'm not getting very far with getting into an entry level role
 
ChrisD. said:
I've already had the interview, they offered me the job this morning.
Click to expand...
Ah sorry my bad, that does put you in a bit of a pickle then!

I'd go for it, the commute is only an extra 15 mins on top (providing the traffic behaves of course) and you've been contracting for years and done ~3 months at this one so as you've got the offer on the table then the balls in your court.
Do you have much of a notice period in your current contract and would the new one be happy to wait for you?
 
Do the commute, get the skill and find something closer to home.

I started 30 miles from home, knowingly took a job 54 miles from home (in order to gain experience in a larger environment) then used my skills to move closer and for more money less than 10 miles from home.

Sounds like you've already made up your mind about staying but I think you'll regret it.
 
Maccy said:
Ah sorry my bad, that does put you in a bit of a pickle then!

I'd go for it, the commute is only an extra 15 mins on top (providing the traffic behaves of course) and you've been contracting for years and done ~3 months at this one so as you've got the offer on the table then the balls in your court.
Do you have much of a notice period in your current contract and would the new one be happy to wait for you?
Click to expand...
I'm only on a weeks' notice but the new client are happy to wait for a month.

I know it’s only 15 minutes more but this morning example it was showing as 1h30. I know someone who works there 3 days a week and she says the commute is a nightmare so she gets a hotel most days. I know I’ll get annoyed with it within a few months and if not I definitely would once the daylight hours start getting shorter at the end of the year.

This morning I spoke to the tech lead who hired me, not the micromanager and he says he’s got much more interesting stuff for me beyond the end of the current project.
 
skaif said:
Cool, drop me a trust should you need me!
Click to expand...

Lo mate,

Ok chargers are here and I've got 2 that I need testing. Fast charge and normal speed charge. If you want you can trial the normal charge option for me?

It's still fairly new tech so the efficiency isn't 100% when transferring to battery wirelessly.

I'd need you to run a gadget - phone ideally to start with, then something else that has QI functionality, then see how long it takes to charge to a decent level.

One thing I've noticed with these chargers, I've taken them out for a look and a play with already so it's not 100% new out of the box in case you're wondering why it's opened already, is when the battery is over 80% done, the charger takes longer to force the last % up to 100%. So it would be interesting to see how you get on.

Drop me a trust with your details and I'll get in touch :)
 
subbytna said:
Lo mate,

Ok chargers are here and I've got 2 that I need testing. Fast charge and normal speed charge. If you want you can trial the normal charge option for me?

It's still fairly new tech so the efficiency isn't 100% when transferring to battery wirelessly.

I'd need you to run a gadget - phone ideally to start with, then something else that has QI functionality, then see how long it takes to charge to a decent level.

One thing I've noticed with these chargers, I've taken them out for a look and a play with already so it's not 100% new out of the box in case you're wondering why it's opened already, is when the battery is over 80% done, the charger takes longer to force the last % up to 100%. So it would be interesting to see how you get on.

Drop me a trust with your details and I'll get in touch :)
Click to expand...
Dropped you a message!

What tech is it using? Be interesting to compare it to the Samsung Duo - would need to read up on its specs as not sure it offers fast charge.
 
This week has been so crappy on the whole ASM/ project I'm on. It's all crap. Project, software, vendor. All crap.
I can't complain too much, as it doesn't max me out, I mean it should more, but I'm always blocked. Everyday. So whatever.

Been a bit of a random week though, as on Tuesday I read a blog about writing a book. This is something I've wanted to do for years. I'd love to write a series of kids books tbh, even ones for the age of my daughter, so like ±4yrs old and that. I've always wanted to do a few really, I'm not short of things to say haha and then reading this post I didn't realise that now the barriers to do this yourself are incredibly low. You can self publish easily on amazon. Holy crap!? No way!
So, I started typing. And typing. And it turns out I wrote a book. I mean, it's about 50 pages, so it's not exactly a huge book, but a boo nonetheless!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N34WFVL/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1548398375&sr=8-1&keywords=unthunk

I know @Phate has seen :P but thought I'd share. It's cheap, get yourself on the pre oder. It's genuinely one thing I can now tick off my bucket list and it's all rather funny! Yea, this week I wrote a book.

Oh, and Goat Clash is being dropped hopefully publicly today out of test beta! Which is cool
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom