Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
(OP)
Hi,
Here's my situation in brief:
I'm the sole mechanical engineer (and only engineer) at a company that sells products in piping. I was hired on two years ago to steer the company in an engineering direction. Provide technical assistance to customers, provide technical support for our products, and train industry in our products. I report directly to the company owner, (a non-engineer) and we're about 20 people strong.
Two years later, that technical work is now basically by gone the way-side. I've moved into inside sales and am doing some small technical projects, nothing major or resume defining. Customers, I've found out, NEVER, need technical assistance. And with recent new sales practices, I'm tethered to my desk doing inside sales all day, and while I'm good at it, I'm miserable. At this point I've learned all I can from this job technical info wise, and about sales.
My career goals are to work for a PE so I can get hours to get my own PE, preferably in MEP/AEC, or go to architecture grad school. I'm actively searching for a job right now, but no luck. In part, I think its because this work is so non-technical...
Luckily, I've saved up a lot of money working here (30k). I live at home, few bills ($500/month all said and done, add $200 for health insurance if I leave too). I could be unemployed for a solid year before I start itching for money.
I want to leave, so I can work on projects at home full-time for a grad school portfolio, search for a job full-time and maybe travel to see relatives (my grandmother is not doing so hot....).
BIG QUESTION: Is this insane to want to leave? I'm not getting any better technically, not learning any other business aspects, not getting PE hours and am now basically feeling mistreated. But still in this economy, would you tough it out?
If its not crazy, how would you go about leaving? What should I say? I want to keep this place as a reference, but I'm worried if I do that, then my boss (who will likely be unhappy I leave), probably won't be the best reference. Having this place as a reference is my biggest concern actually, anyone know of a way I can handle/resolve that?
Any thoughtful input is required. Just to put it out there, I'm not whining in a "oh poor me" sense, I'm very lucky to have got this job when I did, it started out pretty good for the first year and just went down from there. It's just that I feel like I have the means to leave, have maxed out my learning here, and now with these new sales practices implemented, am miserable.
Again, any thoughtful input is really appreciated!
Here's my situation in brief:
I'm the sole mechanical engineer (and only engineer) at a company that sells products in piping. I was hired on two years ago to steer the company in an engineering direction. Provide technical assistance to customers, provide technical support for our products, and train industry in our products. I report directly to the company owner, (a non-engineer) and we're about 20 people strong.
Two years later, that technical work is now basically by gone the way-side. I've moved into inside sales and am doing some small technical projects, nothing major or resume defining. Customers, I've found out, NEVER, need technical assistance. And with recent new sales practices, I'm tethered to my desk doing inside sales all day, and while I'm good at it, I'm miserable. At this point I've learned all I can from this job technical info wise, and about sales.
My career goals are to work for a PE so I can get hours to get my own PE, preferably in MEP/AEC, or go to architecture grad school. I'm actively searching for a job right now, but no luck. In part, I think its because this work is so non-technical...
Luckily, I've saved up a lot of money working here (30k). I live at home, few bills ($500/month all said and done, add $200 for health insurance if I leave too). I could be unemployed for a solid year before I start itching for money.
I want to leave, so I can work on projects at home full-time for a grad school portfolio, search for a job full-time and maybe travel to see relatives (my grandmother is not doing so hot....).
BIG QUESTION: Is this insane to want to leave? I'm not getting any better technically, not learning any other business aspects, not getting PE hours and am now basically feeling mistreated. But still in this economy, would you tough it out?
If its not crazy, how would you go about leaving? What should I say? I want to keep this place as a reference, but I'm worried if I do that, then my boss (who will likely be unhappy I leave), probably won't be the best reference. Having this place as a reference is my biggest concern actually, anyone know of a way I can handle/resolve that?
Any thoughtful input is required. Just to put it out there, I'm not whining in a "oh poor me" sense, I'm very lucky to have got this job when I did, it started out pretty good for the first year and just went down from there. It's just that I feel like I have the means to leave, have maxed out my learning here, and now with these new sales practices implemented, am miserable.
Again, any thoughtful input is really appreciated!





RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
So, my advice would not be to dream about some future economy where engineering jobs are handed out like Smarties (M&Ms), work with what you've got.
In your case yes two years is long enough, get out. I'd be inclined to look from where you are rather than resigning first.
Cheers
Greg Locock
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RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
That means that they are all potential next employers.
You should be using your position to get to know the hiring managers at all of your current customers.
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering
www.bluetechnik.com
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
1. Find a new line of employment
2. Quit current job
Option B (less desirable)
1. Quit current job
2. Find a new line of employment
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
You say you "live at home" -- most people do; however, I sense that you mean that you are still living in your parent's house rather than a place that you have the primary responsibility for the mortgage or rent.
If that's the case, have you sat down and had a serious talk with both your parents (not just the sympathetic one?) Are they really going to be ok with your quitting your job with no firm prospects of a new one? How do you plan to pay for grad school -- are you expecting them to cough up the money? And, without meaning to be harsh -- I seriously doubt you're going to spend a year at your grandmother's bedside.
Your $500 a month in expenses sounds like a car payment -- have you thought through all your other expenses ... car insurance, gas money, clothes, occassional dates (movies, dinners...)? And what happens when the two years go by and there isn't a job to be had -- what are you going to do then?
Before taking the bridge-burning step of quitting, ask your boss for a vacation -- even an unpaid one -- for two or three weeks. Do some of those projects you're talking about "full time" for those two or three weeks. Work in a visit to your grandmother. At the end of that time, you should have a better idea whether you seriously would spend your time "working on projects at home full-time for a grad school portfolio, searching for a job full-time and maybe traveling to see relatives" or whether your days are filled with surfing the internet, playing computer games, hanging with your high school or college friends, and generally "having a good time." If you find that your vacation time was the latter -- and especially if you're justifying how you spent your time off -- you need to keep working.
Patricia Lougheed
******
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RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
It's harder to explain to a possible new employer why you were out of work (if you quit, then look for a job). If you're having this much trouble finding work now, imagine what it would be like trying to find a job when you have 1, 4, 12 months of no work on your resume.
Stay where you are until you find a job. Take vacation days or personal leave for interviews, job fairs, searches, etc.
______________________________________________________________________________
This is normally the space where people post something insightful.
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."
"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity"
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
But that might "burn bridges" since it is such a small company. If you were an asset to your company, your boss should give you a reference, regardless if he is hurt about your leaving or not, though personal egos tend to hold grudges in small companies. I have to wonder if you have ever raised your inside sales position concerns with your boss or what passes for HR there? If you have never discussed with anyone how miserable you are, then no one there can do anything to try to change your situation.
It is common to leave an employer if one doesn't feel they are no longer growing professionally as an individual.
"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

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RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
If you don't quit, enroll in graduate school to continue learning and achieve your long term goals. Years ago I felt my brain atrophying a bit and enrolled in graduate school to exercise it and continued my employment. Inquire if your employer will assist w/ your educational expenses and if they'd expect some time of employment after you graduate.
You will always run into frustrations in many aspects of life. At your tender age, it may be viewed negatively to leave so quickly due to frustration. I would expect questions during an interview about that would be rather probing. Ultimately, if they apply enough pressure, you may crack during the interview process or some latent reason for leaving might be revealed. At your age, any employer will want a long(er) term commitment. If you aren't, they may discern it.
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
To respond to some of you:
MadMango: Yes, I did raise these concerns, they were swept aside. The phrase "just deal with it" came up several times.
Vpl: First, its just my mother (father passed in '06), and she's militantly for me leaving (just give them a letter tomorrow! she said). My grandmother is in India, so any trip has to be a month commitment at most, just to make a plane ticket economical. You're 100% right on the project stuff, and that's just where I know now how hard I have to work. Grad deadlines are approaching. But I will heed your words, and maybe try and see if over the next few weekends I can work hard full-time on my stuff, and if so I'll know I can pull it off full-time over the week. You're right, surfing the net and hanging with friends is no solution to this.
As far as bills go, yeah its more like $400/car $100 ins $150 student loans. Those are hard set bills. Gas is around $150/mo. + medical insurance would be $150-$200/mo. So it is more than I estimated. Since I wouldn't be leaving right away, I could save up for this stuff to cover me for a few months. Also, I already have significant cash stowed away to cover that in case of "catastrophe"
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
You have about a four week window to find another job if you quit without having one lined up. After that, HR weenies and recruiters alike will be inclined to pass over you _just_because_ you've been out of work for a month, or two, or six, or ... it just keeps getting worse.
1. Get another job.
2. Quit. Give NO reason.
IN THAT ORDER!
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
I've done option B at least 4 times during the inbetween periods of owning small businesses.
Option A is safer, but much less exciting. Just walking out gives a tremendous sense of well-being and empowerment, and a surprisingly positive impetus to discover the source of the next payday.
It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
I know because early in my career I bashed the President of the company (pretty badly too I might add)in a written exit interview. Of course, a few years later I applied some where else and gave this ex employer as a reference (thought for sure I had job cause had interview, etc). I never heard from the possible employer again. I suspected I got a bad reference so I hired a firm to investigate and sure enough he was bashing me beyond belief. I got a report from the company I hired, emailed to my ex employer and told them if I get another bad reference, I would sue. I have not got a bad reference from them since (they only give title and dates of employment now). I was promoted at the ex employer and always had stellar reviews so his bad reference was not justifiable. If it were, he would be within his legal right.
Anyway, I have since learned to not burn any bridges so as to avoid the headaches later on.
I would keep your job until you get another. As everyone said, it is much easier to get another when your employed. Kind of like a girlfriend - if you have one, all the women want you, if you don't they avoid you.
Good luck.
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
Step 2. Delete all useful files from your PC and set your background to be a picture of you flipping the bird.
Step 3. Learn how to operate the company PA system.
Step 4...
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
Step 2 hand in your resignation and leave.
It really is simple if you follow my 2 step process (in that order).
Use those sales skills to sell the product that you are most passionate about - yourself!
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
If so, then go ahead and jump. You're young and in as good a place on the risk/reward spectrum as you'll ever be. If, on the other hand, you've already decided to move on and the only question is now or later, then take the conservative road and find the next step before jumping off this one as our wiser (timid?) counterparts suggest :)
-
The answer is easy if you
Take it logically
I'd like to help you in your struggle
To be free
There must be fifty ways
To leave your employer
You Just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
ht
Patricia Lougheed
******
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RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
My exit interview statement was, and I quote:
I am too drunk to work here today, and too intelligent to work here tomorrow.
That was the first time I met the building security personnel.
I was out of work for a while.
I'm much better now.
Regards,
SNORGY.
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
Too many times I have been in situations where the response you described is the one I should have used, had I been able to summon the courage.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Fed up, ready to leave, how do I proceed?
Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com