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

[xSkyDrAx]

Usually individual user issues, especially after hours, is a no-no unless it's a total system failure or they're the head of the company. For your manager to get mad at you because a user can't follow directions and expected help after hours is utter bs. I wouldn't stand for that. Usually in our situation our boss would explain to them what type of situations after hour support entails.

 

[JEDIYoda]

I would have fired you if I was your boss or superior.

thank God your only some little snot nosed kid...

 

[randomrogue]

Here's the problem. Your boss went home that night thinking "damn I have someone who was about to quit" and stressed a little bit about that. Anything that adds extra stress is going to make him unhappy and he has the power to let you go, replace you, etc.

Next time don't threaten to quit and you'll be more effective since mostly that's what he's going to remember.

 

[Ancalagon44]

If they do "fire" you, after you resigned, it doesnt sound like a great loss. They dont sound like a great company to work for.

Sounds like your boss is just on a power trip - maybe threatening to resign will bring her back down to Earth? She now realizes she does not have complete control over you.

Start looking for another job, polish up your CV. Go for interviews if possible.

For one thing, I dont think any amount of money can make up for being treated like a whipping boy, just remember that. They can fix your salary, but it will be impossible to fix your boss. She is who she is. I would leave.

What opportunities for advancement do you have there?

 

[slackerinabox]

What opportunities for advancement do you have there?

That's the thing - I was steaming mad and, before I walked into the office, I emailed an old-timer there- told her what happened and she said "I'd hate to see you go but you're right - you're boss is rude and I've been here 13 years and every promotion has been in title only, my salary's a joke - it won't get better"

 

[Ancalagon44]

Well then start making a plan to exit - what do you have to lose?

Or more accurately, what do you stand to gain by staying there?

 

[Doppel]

Sorry if this reads like a diary entry, just bitching. To preface, most of my experience and expertise lies in web management and I'm fairly good around drupal and the likes.. I was the web manager at my job until the it manager resigned, and was given a promotion in name only but not salary. I explained my reservations going in - "I'm not trained nor certified, and respect that it'll be a challenge and more suitable options out there, but I'll take the gamble..." Anyways, I've done a good job piecing together basic server management and troubleshooting, and google and tech forums have been a blessing.

Anyways, our sever room was over heating and I made documented attempts to remedy the situation every few weeks.. "It's really too hot, we're blasting the ac but we need additional cooling or venting - it's critical." Anyways, my attempts were rejected 'until next fiscal year,' but I continued to try whatever bootleg fan cooling I could try. Long story short - our financial server dies on us. And an incomplete backup set too! So I stayed late every night last week, beyond 11 pm on occasion (and arrange babysitting) to get this fixed, terrifying because I never did anything more complex than reboot a server before, let alone replace 3 drives and reinstall windows server, sql, and configure the whole mess from scratch.

So stressful week - flashforward to FATHER'S DAY, my first with a toddler (the kid wasn't really aware last father's day). .. I get a call during Iron Man 3 (old, I don't get out much) and get out of the show with 3 voicemails about vpn issues. I'm all "come on, it's a sunday and I'm not required to be on call." I instead continue with my night since it's very hard to troubleshoot away from a computer since i'm no expert... Anyways, monday morning I return to 8 messages on my voicemail and several angry emails from my boss. "You're expected to be reachable...This is unacceptable."

I forward that email to my COO, storm in and offer my two month notice. He plays it cool and says "I understand where you're coming from.. She's being unreasonable, you're right. I apologize for her and I'd like you to reconsider.. think it over some more, you're doing a great job here" He's been very nice to me since, but she's away and hasn't confronted me yet. As she's a V.P., I'm probably a goner... Worth it? I'm feeling oddly liberated and guilty for being a tool as well.

Get a new job.

Any time a company promotes you without a raise it is a sign the company has spend thrift whores running it. You will never make a lot of money there and will always have to beg and plead and threaten.

Also, it seems by your own admittance you are not qualified for it, and if you're rebuilding an entire machine when in the past you'd only been rebooting them it lends credence to that. They will fire you soon if you don't get a new job yourself. I strongly urge you look for work aggressively.

I forward that email to my COO, storm in and offer my two month notice. He plays it cool and says "I understand where you're coming from.. She's being unreasonable, you're right. I apologize for her and I'd like you to reconsider.. think it over some more, you're doing a great job here" He's been very nice to me since, but she's away and hasn't confronted me yet. As she's a V.P., I'm probably a goner... Worth it? I'm feeling oddly liberated and guilty for being a tool as well.

You are a little bitch in your boss' eyes. How do I know? Promotion with more responsibility and stress and no extra money. That's how I know. Also, who gives a two month notice? What's that, so that you can spend the next two months looking for work?

I think you need to find a new job and the second it is lined up and confirmed only then do you give notice to your boss.

Anyhow good luck, I am trying to be harsh so it makes an impression

 

[Doppel]

That's the thing - I was steaming mad and, before I walked into the office, I emailed an old-timer there- told her what happened and she said "I'd hate to see you go but you're right - you're boss is rude and I've been here 13 years and every promotion has been in title only, my salary's a joke - it won't get better"

Haha, of course that person isn't getting raises. They have been there 13 years with continual promotions and no raises, so their bosses know they are a little bitch and will keep taking it. The promotion in title is to make them feel good and it costs them nothing.

Truth be told my current employer is similar. Raises are very stingy indeed and when I got a promotion the raise was pathetic. However, I don't resent it too much because it's entirely my own willing decision to stay there and there are other benefits to the job that make it worth it, but I am under no illusions that they'll ever magically give me a 10% raise just for the hell of it, they sure won't.

 

[randomrogue]

Wait. Two months notice? Who does that? If I quit I give zero notice. If I resign I give 2 weeks. Even when I was a shareholder of a company I left within 30 days.

Keep in mind the job market isn't that great though. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. Get a new job first.

 

[Dari]

Why take the position when you're not ready for the responsibilities? Fuck the movie and answer your g-d damn calls. Whoever said you're expected to be reachable is absolutely right.

 

[KMFJD]

I would have fired you if I was your boss or superior.

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

 

[sourceninja]

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.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

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.

This was never about quiting. More like a childish fit.

 

[aceO07]

Wait. Two months notice? Who does that? If I quit I give zero notice. If I resign I give 2 weeks. Even when I was a shareholder of a company I left within 30 days.

Keep in mind the job market isn't that great though. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. Get a new job first.

The 2 months advance notice definitely sends the wrong signals. OP is weak and allowing them 2 months to replace him. That's extremely nice when you're mad..

If you're really mad, threaten to quit on the spot. See what they offer to keep you there. If you can't afford to make such a threat, don't make it until you're in position.

 

[rh71]

This was never about quiting. More like a childish fit.

you mean by the VP? Sometimes I feel like the higher-ups are the unprofessional ones. Happens at my wife's company all the time. They call her for personal PC issues too. Or the wife of an exec has an issue and they call her off hours. Ridiculous abuse of power. Typically we're eager to please so we do it. I commend the OP for standing up for himself. The VP should not be acting so franticly (and it shows) if it's not a sev1 type thing. A user unable to connect to VPN? Come on.

 

[xanis]

I think you did the right thing. Based on what you said in the OP, even if you get fired it wouldn't sound like a big loss to me. Do you want to really want to work for those kind of people anyway?

 

[DannyBoy]

Yep, the COO is above her. She does not react kindly to being spoken back to, I'm a bit terrified frankly.

Contractors saved my ass when I couldn't figure out why a crucial app couldn't communicate with the sql server - I bought him coffee, breakfast, and a cab for staying in late on my dime, because the company has an uncalled for no-tipping policy (he came when I thought we could save the server and provided excellent support when I had some brain teaser problems).

I'm so glad some people actually look after their contractors, you have eternal good karma from me for that.

FWIW, you've got nothing to worry about, the VP sounds like a fucking idiot and you did the perfect thing handing your notice in and making a point about it.

Not quite handed notice, but I had a similar thing last year when someone fucked me off to the nth degree and tried to manipulate some commit logs to make me look bad, so I literally jumped up and lost it when I discovered it and grabbed the CEO and told him I wanted to go for a coffee immediately or I was about to walk out the door.

CEO said he was really glad I did that because he could see what was going on and told me not to worry about the other guy and just continue getting on with my contract because the other guy was irrelevant and not worth the time to stress about.

 

[smitbret]

I would have fired you if I was your boss or superior.

And he would have sued you into next week since you are asking him to perform job duties that he is not assigned nor compensated for.

 

[Rakehellion]

I forward that email to my COO, storm in and offer my two month notice. He plays it cool and says "I understand where you're coming from.. She's being unreasonable, you're right. I apologize for her and I'd like you to reconsider.. think it over some more, you're doing a great job here" He's been very nice to me since, but she's away and hasn't confronted me yet. As she's a V.P., I'm probably a goner... Worth it? I'm feeling oddly liberated and guilty for being a tool as well.

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

It was an emergency, people freak out.

 

[Texashiker]

Anyways, monday morning I return to 8 messages on my voicemail and several angry emails from my boss. "You're expected to be reachable...This is unacceptable."

Are they paying you to be on-call?

Some companies will pay 25 cents an hour, or 50 cents an hour during on-call times.

 

[lxskllr]

Are they paying you to be on-call?

Some companies will pay 25 cents an hour, or 50 cents an hour during on-call times.

Really? I'd pay 25¢ per hour not to be on call. That isn't worth getting out of bed.

 

[slackerinabox]

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

It was an emergency, people freak out.

It wasn't really over one incident. The biggest incident was that I was promoted under false pretenses - it was heavily implied (let's talk details once you're in the position) that I would get some sort of compensation for the promotion (which is why I took it), and I did my best to have that discussion but it was always put off. I let it go because it was sorta a chaotic time with the other guy leaving and I was knee deep in knowledge transfer/training. Then I put my foot down and forced the conversation and was given a "oh, we know you're worth it but we can't do anything.Maybe next fiscal year."

I never talk money with coworkers but put 2 and 2 together - in a company of 20 something we've had 6 people resign over the course of 1.5 years.

I think I did over react honestly, I should have raised my issues and not given notice until I had something lined up, but it's just not in my dna to sneak off with sick days or have weird doctors appointments that are actually job interviews (it's also tough because we don't have a dress policy and I'd be coming in dressed up).

I gave the COO 2 months because I was still in the middle of finishing up the server repairs (minor stuff, like accounting software plugins) - I didn't want him to think that I was giving up and quitting because I couldn't figure something out and used her as a scapegoat (and me storming out then would have been awful since the restore was not 100%). I gave notice, finished all the plugin repairs that day, and felt like 2 months gave them the time to find a replacement and for me to train them briefly. Yes, it's "nice" but I have no grievance with the company (other than not getting a raise for a much more stressful job, I would be much more happier messing with html), I just wanted to make it clear that there's no need to be disrespectful, especially since I was under no obligation to put in the hours that I did to fix the issue and especially since the day she bitched me out about not being available was father's day (a day I take too seriously perhaps, but it's a sunday after all. My dad's not a young guy so it was more about him than me, even though I'm a relatively new dad.).

 

[Doppel]

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.

 

[OutHouse]

And he would have sued you into next week since you are asking him to perform job duties that he is not assigned nor compensated for.

sue for what? he took the job he would have no case at all for suing the company for firing him.

 

[Texashiker]

Really? I'd pay 25¢ per hour not to be on call. That isn't worth getting out of bed.

Its better than nothing.