Switching Jobs. Is this fair to my current employer?

[purbeast0]

sounds like the OP is being MORE than reasonable. when i left my previous company i told them that they can email me if they have questions about stuff i worked on and i would be glad to help them out when i have time, simply because i cared for the people i worked with.

but the fact he told you 2 weeks would burn bridges, i would not have offered any additional help at that point.

 

[SunnyD]

Sounds like you are easily replaceable.

I was the last developer this company had at the time. The other two had already quit, without any notice. In my case (and part of the reason the other two quit) the issue was that the owner of the company was an irrational asshat that acted like a baby if he didn't get his way.

 

[RagingBITCH]

I was the last developer this company had at the time. The other two had already quit, without any notice. In my case (and part of the reason the other two quit) the issue was that the owner of the company was an irrational asshat that acted like a baby if he didn't get his way.

Sounds like it. There's been a few at my last job that got told to GTFO. When I put in my 2 weeks, they begged me to stay longer. I said no, did my time (including a few late nights past midnight), then got ragged on my last day because I hadn't checked the status of a build by the new guy. I said it's your f-ing problem not mine...turned off my PC, and proceeded to leave before noon.

Amazing what some companies will do. I'd have preferred to get told to GTFO like you did Sunny.

 

[yllus]

It's really not that hard. It sounds like he's offering 'free' email help as a courtesy. If it becomes a PITA you just stop answering or respond by saying "I can't get to this until XXX." Pretty soon the requests will stop. I've never offered the extended support to an employer but they have usually sent me emails anyway. I was always happy to answer as a courtesy but only if it was somewhat convenient for me.

Starting from a position of hurt feelings, any delay in answering these e-mails will be seen as an affront. It's entering into a no-win situation if the goal is to assuage the feelings of the ex-employer.

Also - it always surprises me that this needs to be said: Don't offer your services for free. Ever. Would the company provide you with free product?

The 3 weeks is fine but I'm not too sure it's a great idea to be providing email help thereafter especially if you're working for a competitor. If they find out, you may be fired from your new job.

Also an issue.

 

[soulcougher73]

If you were his best employee and he valued you he would pay you what you are worth. meaning match other employer + 10% or something.

You did all need to do with 2 weeks notice.

 

[soulcougher73]

I would have done 1week after he mentioned the "burn bridge" phrase.

This also.

 

[soulcougher73]

Sounds like you are easily replaceable.

As is everyone.

 

[bonkers325]

The bridge was never there. He is upset that you figured out you're worth more than he's willing to pay you.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

As is everyone.

Correct. I laugh when people say they can't be replaced. Trust me, everyone can be replaced -- maybe at much greater expense of course, but some executives have such huge egos that they'll pay 3x your salary to replace you just so they think they "won."

 

[mikegg]

Thanks for all the replies. I honestly felt like crap when he said that. He also tried to convince me to stay by saying how he saw me as on the fast track to becoming a director here. But even as a director, I highly doubt that he wanted to double my salary.

He kept saying he was surprised at my decision but I think he was just mad that he couldn't keep me working at a bargain.

 

[JimKiler]

Exactly...even if the layoff was for "reasons out of our control," they still wouldn't hesitate to cut your last check on the day they send you packing...with ZERO notice.

Stick to the two weeks. If he gets bitchy...pack your stuff and walk out the door.

+1

 

[onza]

Thanks for all the replies. I honestly felt like crap when he said that. He also tried to convince me to stay by saying how he saw me as on the fast track to becoming a director here. But even as a director, I highly doubt that he wanted to double my salary.

He kept saying he was surprised at my decision but I think he was just mad that he couldn't keep me working at a bargain.

Don't stress it man. He's just upset / angry and you found something better. His loss for not wanting to hold onto you. And seriously? FUCK HIM for making you feel bad. If he was a good boss he would say hey man great working with you, and I know you will do great instead of all his negative cuts towards you.

one more time - FUCK HIM.

 

[KaOTiK]

You are being more then reasonable. They wouldn't give you any notice if they found a better employee/deal to replace you with.

 

[torpid]

I have no direct knowledge about this, but I thought that giving an unwarranted bad reference was grounds for a lawsuit and as such many companies don't even give ANY reference. Implying that they would give you a bad reference because you "only" gave the customary 2 weeks is a bad idea on their part, IMO.

 

[mrCide]

You shouldn't have caved. 2 weeks is adequate, any more is just an employee being generous to a company that was generous to them, usually.

 

[nanette1985]

It took you nine months to figure out that your employer is mainly interested in himself?

I do consulting for big companies - I often teach executives, directors, and senior managers online marketing techniques. Most of these people are being paid at least 2x as much as me. Also, I was tired of working with clients who sometimes make me want to tear my hair out.

LOL. And you think this will change? Any client worth anything is going to make you want to tear your hair out. Welcome to the wonderful world of web marketing. Also, those execs, directors and senior managers are being paid more than you because they are execs, directors and senior managers.

There is no normal for giving notice. Any of my employees who've left have basically just said good-bye. And I've always known that they were going to leave before they said anything.

Best to you at whatever job you end up with.

 

[sjwaste]

The fast track to director should have been immediate when you gave your notice. Otherwise he's just trying to keep you around until he can find a replacement. Vague promises are worth just that.

 

[mikegg]

It took you nine months to figure out that your employer is mainly interested in himself?



LOL. And you think this will change? Any client worth anything is going to make you want to tear your hair out. Welcome to the wonderful world of web marketing. Also, those execs, directors and senior managers are being paid more than you because they are execs, directors and senior managers.

There is no normal for giving notice. Any of my employees who've left have basically just said good-bye. And I've always known that they were going to leave before they said anything.

Best to you at whatever job you end up with.

It didn't take 9 months for me to figure this out. Obviously, I knew it was a business and my boss was just trying to do what's best for his business.

The funny thing with consulting people much higher up than you is that you know in your heart that you are smarter and more capable - otherwise, why would you be the one teaching them? You just don't have the sheer number of years of experience to get a job at their level yet. I've worked with directors and executives who almost ruined their companies by making decisions that they have absolutely no experience on. It's amazing how incapable some of these people are who were promoted to senior manager level+ positions.

 

[RagingBITCH]

It didn't take 9 months for me to figure this out. Obviously, I knew it was a business and my boss was just trying to do what's best for his business.

The funny thing with consulting people much higher up than you is that you know in your heart that you are smarter and more capable - otherwise, why would you be the one teaching them? You just don't have the sheer number of years of experience to get a job at their level yet. I've worked with directors and executives who almost ruined their companies by making decisions that they have absolutely no experience on. It's amazing how incapable some of these people are who were promoted to senior manager level+ positions.

For someone who got conned into working another week and support via email, you sure are cocky. They hired you on to do a role, not because you are smarter. Why would an executive do the programming himself if he knows nothing about it? The whole point is to surround yourself with people that are experts in their field.

If you were smarter, you wouldn't have caved. It's easy to criticize people for making stupid decisions and yes, considering I work for a global worldwide company - I meet my same share of idiotic higher ups - but not all of them are the complete idiots you mention.

Suck up your pride and move on.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

The fast track to director should have been immediate when you gave your notice. Otherwise he's just trying to keep you around until he can find a replacement. Vague promises are worth just that.

This.

Your boss was throwing out the Director position in an extremely lame attempt to keep you working at his company. Don't fall for it if he brings it up again and while you're talking to him, tell him your new company said they need you in 2 weeks so you can't give 3 weeks notice.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

It's amazing how incapable some of these people are who were promoted to senior manager level+ positions.

Have you heard the saying "It isn't what you know, it is who you know?" That explains why many people get promoted while the ones who do the actual work and keep a company running aren't.

 

[Doppel]

Two weeks is not law. It is a COURTESY that in an ideal world both parties will give. 3 weeks you only give if YOU want to. If you feel guilty after giving 3 weeks you should t. At all! Boss should be buying you lunch each day. DO NOT Let him walk over you during it. Standard hours, no weekends.

FACT: email help is a major major HUGE mistake. Fkin epic mistake! Do not do any of it unless you are billing at a strong hourly wage in 15 min increments. AND you need to check new employer's rules of employment. They may not take kindly to you moonlighting--though they may not care either and I think state laws differ in whether an employer can have a say in that or not.

Your boss can pound sand. Money talks not his placating drivel about fast track to being a director unless he is able to make that happen now. I fell for something like that once but money talks.

 

[mikegg]

For someone who got conned into working another week and support via email, you sure are cocky. They hired you on to do a role, not because you are smarter. Why would an executive do the programming himself if he knows nothing about it? The whole point is to surround yourself with people that are experts in their field.

If you were smarter, you wouldn't have caved. It's easy to criticize people for making stupid decisions and yes, considering I work for a global worldwide company - I meet my same share of idiotic higher ups - but not all of them are the complete idiots you mention.

Suck up your pride and move on.

Not being cocky at all and I don't think every person higher up is an idiot. Most are very intelligent or they wouldn't have gotten there even if they had connections.

Here's an example of something I saw from one of my clients:

-CMO convinced board to give him $3 million to redesign the site
-CMO promised double or triple the traffic after
-Site is redesigned and launched.
-The first day, none of the engineers or online marketing directors could figure out why their traffic completely dropped. My boss, who was trying to get them as clients at that time figured out immediately that they blocked Google from crawling their site with robots.txt file. This is a mistake that small businesses can make - not multinational major company.
-Even after fixing this issue, they completely screwed up their site architecture and technicalities and traffic dropped by 50%
-I was brought on to figure out why their traffic still dropped
-Figured out that their staging site was actually public, their search engine optimization was non-existent, their URL redirects were done by an intern and supervised by a senior manager.
-In the end, we were able to regain their traffic but their CMO got demoted, one VP got fired, 3 managers laid off

This is a repeated pattern that I see with major companies. Instead of hiring the person with a many years of experience, they should hire people who are great at one thing and good at other things. Valve, the makers of Steam, does hiring this way and they have been extremely successful.

 

[sourceninja]

Thanks for all the replies. I honestly felt like crap when he said that. He also tried to convince me to stay by saying how he saw me as on the fast track to becoming a director here. But even as a director, I highly doubt that he wanted to double my salary.

He kept saying he was surprised at my decision but I think he was just mad that he couldn't keep me working at a bargain.

My hard rule is to never take a counter offer. I've seen too many friends lose great jobs by taking counter offers only to be unemployed 6 months later.

 

[mikegg]

Have you heard the saying "It isn't what you know, it is who you know?" That explains why many people get promoted while the ones who do the actual work and keep a company running aren't.

Yea, that's what I figured. Don't get me wrong, most people who get promoted deserve it but there are still a lot of people who are incapable of doing their jobs right.