When's the right time to leave?

Crippled Potato

Crippled Potato

Crippled Potato

Associate
Joined
5 Sep 2013
Posts
412
I've been working as an engineer at my current job for a year and a half now and I've been struggling to enjoy it for these past few months. The design team in my office is about 12 people in total (plus management) My main role is designing products like the rest of the engineers but me and my senior colleague "Brian" do a huge amount of technical assistance for the computer system that we use throughout the company. We're often the first people to approach for problem solving for lots of departments. The main reasons i want to leave are:
  • The commute is too long, spending almost 3 hours every day in the car driving
  • There's incredibly poor employee retention. ~50% of the original team including the management have left or are leaving since I've joined. There's also a large dependence on contractors rather than permanent staff.
  • Brian has just gone on 3 months paternity leave, leaving just me and a huge amount of pressure and technical assistance to plug throughout the company. (I prefer design rather than technical assistance)
  • Struggling to time keep my work effectively. I often end up doing overtime to keep up while most of the team can leave on time (leaving later significantly increases my commute home)
  • Annoying office environment. Some of my colleagues just talk verbal diarrhoea all day which is a huge frustration when I have to go out of my way help them.
  • Unlikely to get a pay rise this year as I've got a new manager.
The main sticking point is Brian being on paternity leave. I'm on a 3 months notice and i don't have anything lined up yet. This is also my first job so i don't know the formal approach for handing in your notice. One other issue that i learned from Brian is that his annual bonus is linked to my performance during the paternity leave. I really don't agree with this as it wasn't discussed with me when setting objectives for the year. I don't want to create a situation where Brian loses money because I have handed in my notice.

So do i hand in my notice in now? Or wait a few months? I've been feeling this way about my job since Feburary, but decided to slog it out for a few more months to be sure.
 
a) Brian's bonus is not something you give any thought to, just look after yourself. It's a job.
b) I'm 53 and between the ages of 23-45, I spend 2.5-3hrs a day commuting to work. Whilst it felt bearable at the time (more so whilst in my 20's and early 30's), I regret how much of my life this has used up; time that could have been spend on more productive or enjoyable activities. Yes, you can listen to music or the radio but it's basically dead time.
c) If your unhappy in your job, start looking around for an alternative job asap. If you feel confident in your abilty to secure a better job, consider (carefully) resigning now to reduce the delay before you can start working for another company.
d) To resign, speak to your manager and inform them that you are going to resign. If money can "fix" the problem for you then is the time to discuss this. You can then confirm if they wish to receive your resignation via email or printed letter (I think most companies will accept email). the letter should be very brief and simply state that you are formally giving notice of your resignation and that your last day with the company will be in [insert date 3 months from day of email]. Don't waste time on fluffy stuff in your letter, it's just a legal process.
 
Don't hand in your notice until you've got another job lined up. As for your workload, if it's too much you need to tell your manager. But phrase it something like, "We have 6 tasks to do, A through F. With Brian gone, we only have the resources to do three. Which three do you want us to do?" And stop doing tech support: it's not your job and it detracts from your ability to do your own job." WRT Brian's bonus, this is a good thing both for him and you. He's the senior colleague, so this is the company encouraging him to bring you on.
 
The main issues you mention can't be fixed by your employer, the only way to reduce commute time is to move closer to the job, and to be fair if you're not willing to do that then it's obviously not the right job!

The employer is obviously not going to ban office banter either.

Therefore I would suggest you should be leaving for a new job at the earliest opportunity.
 
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Have you tried putting forward suggestions to making your department/team more effective, exciting and/or productive?

Are you willing to try and make a change and would you be willing to put the effort in? It's a good opportunity for you to step up and shine if you wanted to.

What about professional development - are you a "real" engineer? If so, start doing some work towards getting chartered or professional development.

The commute is something that only you can solve. In my first job I travelled a lot, often around the world - I thought it was awesome, but I also missed out on a regular group of "mates" in the UK since I was away so much. Hasn't stopped me thriving moving forward. My daily commute is around 3hrs also - but I don't resent it, I love my job and I'm well paid.

I'd still push for a pay rise though irrespective of manager.

You have got to make your own luck, and push the boat out - I'm not suggesting that what you have is fun, but only you can make changes. Either find a new role somewhere closer to home that appeals to you then hand in your notice, or do something about how you work and what you're achieving. Only you can do this. We've all worked in roles/environments we didn't like, however, you either grit your teeth and get on with it, or you vote with your feet.
 
Sorry for the delayed response, been ridiculously busy at home and at work. I've decided that I've now reached breaking point and that i want to hand in the notice in now. I've been constantly shifted around projects and pulled to support other departments by managers that it's become significantly detrimental to managing my workload efficiently. There doesn't seem to be any push from anyone to train or help me out even though there is a clear resource problem.
I've just done a modest workout of my workload for all my deadlines for next week and it's about 60 hours worth of work my manager has put me down for. Several of my colleagues have joked that i'm getting so overloaded in work that I'm about to hand in my notice in...

There's an element to truth to that so i'll oblige them. :D

The question i have though is what do i do to hand in my notice? What do i write etc? keep it short and simple? I've never done this before.

Energize said:
The employer is obviously not going to ban office banter either.
Click to expand...

It's not office banter really. I happily have chats over a brew for 10 minutes but a few people that i work closely with don't do work for hours at a time and I often have to plug in the gaps in their work. It's the contrast of work that I have to do compared to my colleagues work which is a big source of my frustration.

Freefaller said:
Have you tried putting forward suggestions to making your department/team more effective, exciting and/or productive?

Are you willing to try and make a change and would you be willing to put the effort in? It's a good opportunity for you to step up and shine if you wanted to.

What about professional development - are you a "real" engineer? If so, start doing some work towards getting chartered or professional development.

The commute is something that only you can solve. In my first job I travelled a lot, often around the world - I thought it was awesome, but I also missed out on a regular group of "mates" in the UK since I was away so much. Hasn't stopped me thriving moving forward. My daily commute is around 3hrs also - but I don't resent it, I love my job and I'm well paid.

I'd still push for a pay rise though irrespective of manager.

You have got to make your own luck, and push the boat out - I'm not suggesting that what you have is fun, but only you can make changes. Either find a new role somewhere closer to home that appeals to you then hand in your notice, or do something about how you work and what you're achieving. Only you can do this. We've all worked in roles/environments we didn't like, however, you either grit your teeth and get on with it, or you vote with your feet.
Click to expand...

I am a "real" mechanical engineer ;). But since I've joined there has been no indication of progression to chartership. I think handing in my notice will give me the boost to just get on with it and line a job quickly rather than let this situation drag out.
 
Sounds naff and you should leave. What sector is it out of interest? I'm also a mechanical engineer.

To be honest I'd find another job prior to notice then only give one month's notice. Do they pay you particularly well? 3months notice sounds out the ordinary for a graduate job.

Also handing a notice in isn't particularly hard... Plenty of templates online. Just email it across/have a discussion with your boss beforehand.
 
It's primarily conveyor design for the food industry. The pay isn't particularly impressive for the amount of work that I'm having to do to keep all the projects moving along.

I had a 40 minute chat with my department manager about my intentions to leave. He appreciated my reasons and agreed with me that the way my work is structured is impossible to achieve. He estimated that I had to put in 70 hours to acheive my deadlines for next week, rather than 60 which i initially estimated and the way that I'm constantly being shifted around makes life very difficult. Also we both agreed that there's little that either of us can do to resolve the commuting issue.

My manager has said that after this weekend he will do what he can to clear my schedule which is great and it will make my life easier. He also said that he wanted to do as much as he can for my personal development to keep my job attractive enough to stay. Even though I appreciate his response (It's a shame he's leaving too :D) I have doubts that the expectations on my work will change in the long term if it stay. I can see myself slowly creep into the same situation again. Currently, only my department manager and myself know about my departure. I haven't had any discussions yet with my immediate team leader.
 
Sounds like you should find a new place and give only 1 months notice all things considered.

Do they pay you for a 70hr week? (or 60hour?). I'm not sure about the food industry but I know a lot of others appreciate professional development/ CEng thus go for an employer which supports this route? (assuming you're degree educated?)
 
Is your overtime paid? If not stop working it I've never understood why people work excessive hours for free there are only two reasons that you can't get your job done during your contracted hours 1) your not up to the job 2) you have more work than you can reasonably be expected to complete. Explain the situation to you manager and ask him to choose which deadlines get missed, I have no problem with occasionally working additional unpaid hours at pinch points but if you are regularly working excessive time you need to stand up for yourself.
 
Look for a job and depending if you have some saving hand in your notice (a one or two liner should do stating your resignation and the date at a minimum). If new job wants you sooner - inform the company you will be leaving early
 
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