Did I just get myself fired or did I do the right thing?

[OutHouse]

I think you may have jumped the gun over one incident.

It was an emergency, people freak out.

a user not being able to VPN is not an emergency.

 

[slackerinabox]

Freedomsbeat you are very naive. Your main issue is you are not looking out for yourself first, but your company. And they are doing the same thing. The fact that your turnover rate is over 20% tells me all I need to know about the company. That is a ghastly turnover.

There are people in the company making more than you. The faxt they don't have money for you is because the company is truffling or they see you as a sucker.

The fact you would even dream about two month notice is hilarious but also sad. When you get a new job you give two weeks. During that two weeks you work 40 hours/week and nothing more. And when you leave you think on them no more and give no support except at an hourly rate higher than what you used to make. You are making the mistake people new to careers make which is getting bent over the barrel and not doing anything about it.

Whether two months is enough for them or not is irrelevant to you. Why do you care? Thy don't care about you as proven by the promotion and no salary change.

Well, there's official notice and there's "oh, you want me to start tomorrow? Sure, I'll quit my old job over the phone." I'm looking out for myself and my family, don't you worry. Two months was the reality that I haven't even started looking for a job - it's also less weird when I show up to work in a suit (for an afternoon interview), I did give notice after all.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Mistake #1
Giving 2 month notice. If you want to leave #1 is finding a job FIRST (before you let your employer know).

As for rest of the stuff, sounds like you handled it proper. Personally I would never take a job that required me to be on a call/available during MY LIFE....but that's just me.

 

[slackerinabox]

Mistake #1
Giving 2 month notice. If you want to leave #1 is finding a job FIRST (before you let your employer know).

As for rest of the stuff, sounds like you handled it proper. Personally I would never take a job that required me to be on a call/available during MY LIFE....but that's just me.

Yeah, another aside is that I'm moving (we get the keys to the apartment next weekend but the actual move is mid-July, lots of painting and minor remodeling leading up to that). I figured going on a job hunt while dealing with all the other stress would be overwhelming so I said 2 months. Right now my notice is in limbo, he asked me to reconsider and I haven't said anything.

 

[SP33Demon]

Why would you just assume you're a goner? You did the right thing, wait until she comes back and gives you one more reason to leave. No need to knee jerk decision this, especially if you're otherwise happy about your job.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I think you did the right thing. You might still get fired for it, but unless they explicitly tell you you're on call and you agree, you're not on call. Until then, no one has the right to be pissed if you act like you're not on call.

 

[Black Octagon]

Freedomsbeat you are very naive. Your main issue is you are not looking out for yourself first, but your company. And they are doing the same thing. The fact that your turnover rate is over 20% tells me all I need to know about the company. That is a ghastly turnover.

There are people in the company making more than you. The faxt they don't have money for you is because the company is truffling or they see you as a sucker.

The fact you would even dream about two month notice is hilarious but also sad. When you get a new job you give two weeks. During that two weeks you work 40 hours/week and nothing more. And when you leave you think on them no more and give no support except at an hourly rate higher than what you used to make. You are making the mistake people new to careers make which is getting bent over the barrel and not doing anything about it.

Whether two months is enough for them or not is irrelevant to you. Why do you care? Thy don't care about you as proven by the promotion and no salary change.

I was about to post pretty much the same thing. But in the grand scheme of things I think the OP stands to gain the most by:
- Trying to get a good written reference from a colleague who's not a douche (making sure it refers to the empty but nice sounding job title)
- Updating his CV to integrate these above and beyond tasks he's been doing since the fake promotion
- Looking for a new job at a company that pays people according to the responsibilities of the role
- When the time comes to quit, calmly and politely explaining to the brass exactly why he is leaving
- (optional: pre program another server crash just before the company's next financial audit)

 

[Doppel]

So, freedomsbeat, now your boss knows you don't care about the job so much and you're desperately trying to leave. If you find another job no new employer will let you start two months later. Your boss knows this. He also knows that if he finds a new employee tomorrow he won't tell that person "congrats--btw you cant start for two months". No, he will tell the person to start now and you are out in two weeks.

Nobody in this thread has or will tell you giving two months notice without even having a new job is a good idea.

When interviewing for a new job you leave the suit in the car.

 

[slackerinabox]

So, freedomsbeat, now your boss knows you don't care about the job so much and you're desperately trying to leave. If you find another job no new employer will let you start two months later. Your boss knows this. He also knows that if he finds a new employee tomorrow he won't tell that person "congrats--btw you cant start for two months". No, he will tell the person to start now and you are out in two weeks.

Nobody in this thread has or will tell you giving two months notice without even having a new job is a good idea.

When interviewing for a new job you leave the suit in the car.

Work in a city and commute via subway... It's going to be awkward no matter what, but I'm not disagreeing with you - the 2 months thing was a bad idea but I had to do SOMETHING at that moment and couldn't give 2 weeks notice without a job.

 

[SunnyD]

Two MONTH notice?

 

[Vdubchaos]

Yeah, another aside is that I'm moving (we get the keys to the apartment next weekend but the actual move is mid-July, lots of painting and minor remodeling leading up to that). I figured going on a job hunt while dealing with all the other stress would be overwhelming so I said 2 months. Right now my notice is in limbo, he asked me to reconsider and I haven't said anything.

tell him you reconsidered and take that 2 months off the table......meanwhile, look for another job.

Win Win

Learn from it by never EVER again giving "2 months notice" and keep your head down with the bitch....

 

[Doppel]

The subway makes it harder but I think you should go to your boss and try to make amends and patch this up--and keep looking for a new job. If the patch works, great, if not you have a new job, but to on the assumption that t won't work.

 

[SheHateMe]

I think the OP is fried.


I mean...fired.

He asked you to reconsider and you didn't respond? lol

 

[DaTT]

One of two things will happen here, you will either get a raise or be let go.

 

[slackerinabox]

I think the OP is fried.


I mean...fired.

He asked you to reconsider and you didn't respond? lol

He asked me to think it over and get back to him, he wasn't asking for an immediate response. I probably will be let go, hopefully it's a lay off to reduce the potential for drama.

 

[BurnItDwn]

So, tell them you have reconsidered, but you will not put up with their immature behavior and that you will work 40 hours and expect comp time for any extra. Also, you are not an entire IT department but 1 person. If they want 24/7 coverage they need to spend the money to have enough staff. Tell them you rommend a team of 3-5 employees, or, they can offshore and hire about 100 off shore consultants who will make a lot of extra work for them.

 

[ultimatebob]

I think the OP is fried.

I mean...fired.

He asked you to reconsider and you didn't respond? lol

I think that he's both! You don't make a rash decision like giving two months notice after getting a nasty e-mail from your boss without feeling totally burned out by your existing job first.

If I threatened to quit every time I get a nastygram from management where I work now, I would have been gone years ago. There are lots of VP, Director, and CxO types around here who are quick tempered and ready to hand out blame.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

a user not being able to VPN is not an emergency.

I consider it one...means I better check the server to make sure that this is not a server issue or else a shitstorm is coming.

 

[Exterous]

for example at my company we send out a daily report of any after hours pages, either system generated or user generated. if a user pages us for some stupid shit that is not an emergency their manager will get notified.

I haven't been part of a company that does this but I have heard that some bill department budgets for after hours support. Would definatley make the managers more concerned about frivolous calls but it would take the right kind of culture for that to work

You never tip your hand. You suck it up, apologize, find a new job, then quit. Let them know in the exist interview your issues.

If he was never told of an after hours expectation what does he have to apologize for? Maybe have a discussion about how to address the issue in the future but apologizing for the situation in question (resigning aside) is asking to be walked on

a user not being able to VPN is not an emergency.

In general I agree with you but have encountered this a couple of times where it was an emergency

 

[finbarqs]

Instead of being emotional about this situation (but who can't be?) make a informed business decision. Act as if you are your own company, and your job is your client. Think about the supply and demand of your role. Once you know what you're worth, then capitalize on it.

Use the threat of quitting not as a emotional response, but a strategy to to capitalize on your value. Remember, it's not you being an asshole or a jerk. It's business, as it always should be.

 

[olds]

God i wish i worked for you! the compensation package for the improper firing would be awesome!

OP works in an at will state.

 

[slackerinabox]

I consider it one...means I better check the server to make sure that this is not a server issue or else a shitstorm is coming.

Yeah, if you knew the user who had the problem ("I'm just a small time girl, I aint know nothin' 'bout dem computers!") you'd know right away that it was a case of 'you do it!' and a refusal to follow pretty simple directions. And I vpned in later that night to just make sure it wasn't a network wide issue. I don't really get snippy about user ignorance since I believe we're all skilled at other things, I do get annoyed when she a) didn't try b) aggressively tried to call me during father's day and c) ratted me out to my boss D) my boss taking her side is what REALLY pissed me off

The next morning I "fixed" her issue and, yes, it was a case of not reading the 4 bullet point instructions and took me all of 3 minutes to logmein to her and hit CONNECT (I already set up the vpn connection, she didn't know how to click connect .. seriously).

 

[MaxPayne63]

He asked me to think it over and get back to him, he wasn't asking for an immediate response. I probably will be let go, hopefully it's a lay off to reduce the potential for drama.

If a valued employee tells you he is thinking about quitting then you deal with that on the spot. You don't say some weasel words then tell them to think about it or get back to you. That's what you do if you just want a few more days/weeks of cheap labor, or if you think they're a doormat.

Start looking for a new job ASAP.

 

[Vic Vega]

Its better than nothing.

No the fuck it's not. Are you retarded? My time is worth far more than a quarter an hour and yours should be too.

When I go on call (12 hour shift) it's $325 whether I get a call or not. If I get a call I bill those hours at the overtime rate.

I would never work for a company which didn't pay for on call. If the company doesn't value your time you shouldn't value them.

OP, find another job. Your company sucks. Your boss sucks. You can do better.