So I changed jobs at the tail end of last year. Staff Operations position became available at the site as someone moved offshore, I was the natural replacement - same skillset / trade background - and know the site (arguably and demonstratively) better than a lot of the Ops techs already. So much so that it was assumed I would walk into the position by everyone there. Got to the final interview and smashed it. Week goes by and on a Monday morning I get the "Unfortunately..." Discussion with the Ops Lead. Was very frustrating getting that feedback as it was incredibly positive, ideal candidate bla bla bla. The position was awarded to an external candidate that, how shall I put it? Has a bit of a reputation for being a liability... Also turns out his father is friends with the hiring manager so I lost interest at that point. Definitely cleared my head and made my mind up that I was no longer needed there and started actively looking...
And through the magic power of LinkedIn I saw a position open at a power station 10 minutes down the road from the house and was interested so started doing some background research on the company and its key player staff, as you do. An hour or so later the plant manager messages me asking if I was interested in the position, and if so to send a CV over. They had me come in the next day for an interview and a week later job offer was on the table after a quick phonecall on my journey to work. It meant a slight paycut, but my daily travel time would go down to 15-20 minutes total as opposed to 55-70 minutes each way... Said I'd mull it over and get back to them. Got to work, one thing annoyed me and I thought ******** to this, phoned him back and accepted straight away.
My two immediate colleagues, and friends, understood and supported the decision despite being disappointed to see me go - will make their lives quite a bit harder as I do/did a
lot. Emailed my boss with notice and then the panic started. Because I had switched to contracting a few years prior and then jumped back into FTE post-IR35 (joyous blanket assessments...) my years service was reset and I was back down to two weeks notice, much to my delight. I was like a giddy child at Christmas. So much stress, annoyance and anger instantly lifted and that was the best two weeks of working in a long time. Several conversations with the management team asking if I could extend my notice period - I relented and gave them extra time. A two whole days, taking me up to Friday December 16th and starting the new job the following Monday - no more room to extend that period any further!
So since then I've been enjoying the new job. Slightly different role - I'm an instrument and controls technician and now a combined electrical, control and instrumentation technician so I've picked up the C&I elements without issue, and just acclimatising to the electrical side of things for now. Seems a lot more empowered to implement change here too - coming from one of the biggest players in it's industry to a relatively small operator that is trying to run very lean means they're keen to hear how other people do things, what lessons can be learned etc which is right up my street.
Interestingly a second vacancy came up for the previous position due to internal promotion, and I was kept as a "hire at next opportunity" candidate meaning the job was offered straight to me before being advertised. Took a weekend to have a good think about it and a lot of soul-searching but ultimately decided I didn't want to go back - none of the plethora of issues I had were addressed, the site had gone from bad to worse in the three months I've been gone, would be returning to the stupid commute (though shift work, so working 14 days out of 35) on top of 12 hour shifts. The money and benefits far outweighs what I get at the new place, but you know what? Sod the money. My mental health has gotten so much better I'm like a new person. I've got energy to do things, I'm picking up old and new hobbies, I have so much more spare time each day (no kids yet, but that was a factor for the future), and we're financially comfortable as we are anyway so don't need to be chasing the money like nothing else matters.
Hiring manager was shocked when I said no, but I was incredibly polite about the whole thing and even said had I have had half the commute I'd probably be saying yes to it, but that commute was absolutely killer and I'd definitely end up in car crashes doing that commute in combination with the 12 hour shifts...
Cherry on the cake was at the start of the new year my new employer did a pay review and I'm now on more than what I left too!
So long post... But TL;DR: changed jobs, mental health skyrocketed, old place wants me back - no chance!!
But feedback was good, and they said any other positions they have come up they'll give me a call.