Give this job/boss a mulligan and review in three months?
July 1, 2016 2:10 AM Subscribe
So I took a job to change my life and industry back in January. There were extended negotiations and a massive interview process and even a couple of test (take home) that pretty much doubled as free work. In person, there was a lot of body language and communication I didn't get but I finally have now. The worst of it is, we're at the point where I said we'd renegotiate or I'd leave and now I find out it's all been blown to hell.
My industry sucks, and people have been leaving my part of the country for years since the Great Recession. I can't move.
Instead, I changed industries and took this new job, bringing along significant relevant experience. I was an "ironworks pipefitter" but now I'm in charge of organizing "fence builders". Once I've got a few more years experience, I can run all kinds of "construction" projects as a manager and director.
The interview process took a few months, and I was the best candidate that came through in their multiple months of searching. They are a small company that are trying to expand and have brought me on as a project manager to replace a retiring director (timeline 3-4 years as of the date of my hiring).
However, I was not the candidate they were expecting. They were expecting a kid with some experience they could grow into a manager and director. I showed up almost fully manager-capable. Their offer was made at something like 1/2 of what the job pays in the real world (but they think is a lot).
When I accepted the job at 1/2 the market rate, I told my boss explicitly that in six months we would sit down for a review and renegotiate the position and salary. Boss said fine.
I prepared a short, two page self-review and analysis of the company and how I'd grow the role, how stuff I can do with the team can save us tons of money and stuff ... lots of stuff that is also justification for bringing me up to 5/8ths to 2/3rds the market rate. I prepared it a month ahead of time because I knew my boss had to take it up the chain.
Turns out, my boss, who admittedly has not clue how to manage people, only took the raise and benefits change page to the next level. Everyone said no. It wasn't even so much a conversation as an aside between boss and the Bosses above.
After a serious heart to heart this week it turns out boss never told anyone of the "in six months Anon is going to want to have a serious talk about a raise, and took this job conditionally."
Next week, the bosses' boss is going to be in town. BB is never in town, and when they are are insanely booked. I have a meeting scheduled with BB to talk about my future, and boss is aware of it.
So ... how crazy is it to talk to BB (who is usually out of town and I don't have a lot of contact with so far but it's growing) and say something like ...
Options:
Mulligan conversations, kick the can down the road.
Skip the mulligan, just try to make BB like me more (rubbed BB the wrong way once and haven't been able to shake it). Quit in a year if I still don't get the significant raise.
Quit now or soon (job hunt got hot this week). Leaves them in a lurch with some things falling apart and staff taking sudden personal leaves that have nothing to do with the job that I think we can weather even if I'm not here.
If I quit, I have a few options, but not much.
One of our tertiary customers is offering my position at market rate and with my Boss' recommendation, I'm a shoe-in. It's apparently a much harder place to work but market rate is still better than what I've been making for the last 10 years between layoffs.
I have a "roof builder manager" type job I'm in the strong running for that's at the 2/3 market rate in the wings (interviews shortly). Two hour commute.
Freelance roofing, pipe laying, and painting jobs and hope to string it together. I suk at freelancing, but some of my new contacts are helpful (and my Boss has offered to throw some painting contracts my way from time to time).
The company is a small mom and pop that can afford to pay me. They are trying to grow but have training wheels on learning how to do that. They hired an executive coach to help them grow the organization. They've been stumbling but I really think they can put their minds to it and do it ... and then I have a job for the next 13 years until I'm retirement age. Doing something cool and fun.
My industry sucks, and people have been leaving my part of the country for years since the Great Recession. I can't move.
Instead, I changed industries and took this new job, bringing along significant relevant experience. I was an "ironworks pipefitter" but now I'm in charge of organizing "fence builders". Once I've got a few more years experience, I can run all kinds of "construction" projects as a manager and director.
The interview process took a few months, and I was the best candidate that came through in their multiple months of searching. They are a small company that are trying to expand and have brought me on as a project manager to replace a retiring director (timeline 3-4 years as of the date of my hiring).
However, I was not the candidate they were expecting. They were expecting a kid with some experience they could grow into a manager and director. I showed up almost fully manager-capable. Their offer was made at something like 1/2 of what the job pays in the real world (but they think is a lot).
So ... how crazy is it to talk to BB (who is usually out of town and I don't have a lot of contact with so far but it's growing) and say something like ...
"Look, I'm not throwing Boss under a bus here. I get that boss didn't pass up the chain of command that I took this job conditionally. So this is Boss' mulligan. Lets look at where we're at, where you see things going, and we'll talk salary at the end of October."I love this job. I can do it in my sleep and I sing inside my head when I'm not annoyed that I'm paid so little. Even if I leave in six months, I have a lot more opportunities then simply based on the industry contacts I'm making.
Options:
If I quit, I have a few options, but not much.
One of our tertiary customers is offering my position at market rate and with my Boss' recommendation, I'm a shoe-in. It's apparently a much harder place to work but market rate is still better than what I've been making for the last 10 years between layoffs.
I have a "roof builder manager" type job I'm in the strong running for that's at the 2/3 market rate in the wings (interviews shortly). Two hour commute.
Freelance roofing, pipe laying, and painting jobs and hope to string it together. I suk at freelancing, but some of my new contacts are helpful (and my Boss has offered to throw some painting contracts my way from time to time).
The company is a small mom and pop that can afford to pay me. They are trying to grow but have training wheels on learning how to do that. They hired an executive coach to help them grow the organization. They've been stumbling but I really think they can put their minds to it and do it ... and then I have a job for the next 13 years until I'm retirement age. Doing something cool and fun.
I agree that you need to quit soon. Of the options you list, going to the tertiary customer seems to make the most sense.
Since you've rubbed BB the wrong way in the past - and given the tone of this question I can see exactly how you would rub someone wrong - I do not think your "mulligan" conversation is a good idea, or likely to be fruitful.
Anyway, you didn't ask this, exactly, but your tone here is extremely superior and overbearing. You'll be more successful no matter what you do next if you approach this as, "I'm really happy here and wondering what I can do to grow my role/be successful." It reads as if you've made and are making demands, right now.
posted by schroedingersgirl at 3:36 AM on July 1, 2016 [15 favorites]
Since you've rubbed BB the wrong way in the past - and given the tone of this question I can see exactly how you would rub someone wrong - I do not think your "mulligan" conversation is a good idea, or likely to be fruitful.
Anyway, you didn't ask this, exactly, but your tone here is extremely superior and overbearing. You'll be more successful no matter what you do next if you approach this as, "I'm really happy here and wondering what I can do to grow my role/be successful." It reads as if you've made and are making demands, right now.
posted by schroedingersgirl at 3:36 AM on July 1, 2016 [15 favorites]
Don't have the conversation!
Find another job. They don't pay. They won't pay. Stop banging your head against a wall.
posted by jbenben at 7:18 AM on July 1, 2016 [6 favorites]
Find another job. They don't pay. They won't pay. Stop banging your head against a wall.
posted by jbenben at 7:18 AM on July 1, 2016 [6 favorites]
You can talk with your boss's boss about your role and why you would like a raise and think you deserve one, but don't do it so adversarially, like you're framing it here. You're not offering them a mulligan; you're discussing a compensation issue. They either agree to pay you more or they don't.
In the meantime, keep looking for jobs elsewhere. Don't quit until you have one lined up. When you get a better job offer, whether you define that as paying you what you perceive to be market rate or something else, take it and say good-bye to your current job.
posted by J. Wilson at 7:53 AM on July 1, 2016 [4 favorites]
In the meantime, keep looking for jobs elsewhere. Don't quit until you have one lined up. When you get a better job offer, whether you define that as paying you what you perceive to be market rate or something else, take it and say good-bye to your current job.
posted by J. Wilson at 7:53 AM on July 1, 2016 [4 favorites]
There is some amount of variance in salary offerings when you are in a small market and especially when you are dealing with small companies. The combination of small markets and small companies mean hiring doesn't happen very often, which means the companies in question don't get much feedback on market expectations. Thus, I am not surprised when salaries vary 10%-25% for a similar role.
A company does not offer you 50% of market rate as an accident or as a miscommunication or as a misunderstanding about your situation or the market. Companies offer 50% of market rate as a business choice that the cost of paying employees market rate is less than the cost of replacing employees when they leave often to higher paying jobs. This is a valid business choice from their perspective. Let's say market rate for your position is $75,000. Three months at that rate is $18,750. However, in general, an employee's overhead rate is somewhere between 1.5x and 2x their salary. So, your company is saving around $28,125 to $37,500 for your mulligan.
That's a heck of an offering to your company. Even if they end up losing you in three months, they're getting three months of labor for a heck of a low rate.
I don't think it matters whether you have the conversation now, three months from now, or a year from now. You will never get market rate at this company. They have made a business choice to pay employees less than market rate to improve their profit. You have to make a business choice to start looking for new jobs in order to return to market rate.
posted by saeculorum at 7:54 AM on July 1, 2016 [8 favorites]
A company does not offer you 50% of market rate as an accident or as a miscommunication or as a misunderstanding about your situation or the market. Companies offer 50% of market rate as a business choice that the cost of paying employees market rate is less than the cost of replacing employees when they leave often to higher paying jobs. This is a valid business choice from their perspective. Let's say market rate for your position is $75,000. Three months at that rate is $18,750. However, in general, an employee's overhead rate is somewhere between 1.5x and 2x their salary. So, your company is saving around $28,125 to $37,500 for your mulligan.
That's a heck of an offering to your company. Even if they end up losing you in three months, they're getting three months of labor for a heck of a low rate.
I don't think it matters whether you have the conversation now, three months from now, or a year from now. You will never get market rate at this company. They have made a business choice to pay employees less than market rate to improve their profit. You have to make a business choice to start looking for new jobs in order to return to market rate.
posted by saeculorum at 7:54 AM on July 1, 2016 [8 favorites]
I'm going to go against the grain and say have the conversation. Why wouldn't you? At worst the whole thing will blow up and you will have to leave. You're already prepared to do that. At best they will learn a little something about where they are and where they want to go (with your help) and will agree to the concessions you've asked for.
I mean, be diplomatic about it of course, but there's never anything wrong with standing up for yourself. If nothing else it will be good practice at selling yourself and your ideas in the event that you need to do so again in the future.
posted by vignettist at 7:55 AM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
I mean, be diplomatic about it of course, but there's never anything wrong with standing up for yourself. If nothing else it will be good practice at selling yourself and your ideas in the event that you need to do so again in the future.
posted by vignettist at 7:55 AM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
What are you talking about with this 'mulligan' as if your boss did something wrong?
You were offered a job.
You said, "I'll take it, but I'd like to renegotiate salary in six months."
Six months later, you tried to renegotiate salary.
Your employer looked at your proposal and decided not to offer a raise.
It really doesn't matter whether your boss communicated with the higher ups at the time of your hire. I can't imagine the higher ups would have said 'No, turn this person away - we will never be open to renegotiating salary and they need to know that now!' Similarly, I can't imagine they would have said, 'Ah, yes, promise this person that we will definitely meet their demands at renegotiation time - it's a done deal!'. No matter what your boss communicated, the higher ups would almost certainly have said, 'all right, let's cross that bridge when we come to it.' You came to it, they decided not to proceed. Ball is in your court, but it doesn't seem to me like anyone did you wrong here.
posted by Ausamor at 8:14 AM on July 1, 2016 [12 favorites]
You were offered a job.
You said, "I'll take it, but I'd like to renegotiate salary in six months."
Six months later, you tried to renegotiate salary.
Your employer looked at your proposal and decided not to offer a raise.
It really doesn't matter whether your boss communicated with the higher ups at the time of your hire. I can't imagine the higher ups would have said 'No, turn this person away - we will never be open to renegotiating salary and they need to know that now!' Similarly, I can't imagine they would have said, 'Ah, yes, promise this person that we will definitely meet their demands at renegotiation time - it's a done deal!'. No matter what your boss communicated, the higher ups would almost certainly have said, 'all right, let's cross that bridge when we come to it.' You came to it, they decided not to proceed. Ball is in your court, but it doesn't seem to me like anyone did you wrong here.
posted by Ausamor at 8:14 AM on July 1, 2016 [12 favorites]
First, you list a lot of jobs that pay below market rate. Sounds to me like the market is lower than you think if all these jobs pay less than whatever you think the market it. The market is what people are willing to accept. Maybe it is the difference between union v non-union pay?
I think you have nothing to lose by asking BB for the raise. I would still look elsewhere, but the worst case is already what you have, a low paying job giving you experience in a new area.
posted by AugustWest at 8:16 AM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
I think you have nothing to lose by asking BB for the raise. I would still look elsewhere, but the worst case is already what you have, a low paying job giving you experience in a new area.
posted by AugustWest at 8:16 AM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
Leave now. In the future, don't take jobs at half the pay you want.
posted by destructive cactus at 8:30 AM on July 1, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by destructive cactus at 8:30 AM on July 1, 2016 [6 favorites]
You gave away all your power when you accepted the job on the condition they...think a thought, where the only gamble they were taking is that you'll leave if they blow it off entirely...but you might not muster up the momentum to leave. And you bought the wink-wink "okay, we'll do that thing you just asked heh", which now puts you in the position of the sucker.
And your boss never told anybody because he had no intention (and likely no authorization or budget) of giving you a raise. And if you try to make the same deal again, you still aren't getting a raise. And you'll just keep staying and staying, sternly scheduling meetings, indefinitely. You're acting like they misunderstood and you're going to give them a "mulligan" on the oopsie they made. There was no oopsie. This was 100% on plan.
Since you ought to leave anyway, you don't have much to lose by trying to go over your boss's head, but you may want to redial your expectations that BB is going to understand the greater truth of this situation. He may very well point out to your face that they didn't want you, they wanted someone less experienced who one day - when the company was making more money, presumably, or has evaporated in the heat death of the economy so it doesn't matter - might get the money you want right now. Just because you were overqualified doesn't mean you were a better deal than someone who would be happy with the job as listed. They only wanted someone to do that job.
There is a risk that going to BB will mean getting fired. If that's a risk you're willing to take, go for it.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:19 AM on July 1, 2016 [6 favorites]
And your boss never told anybody because he had no intention (and likely no authorization or budget) of giving you a raise. And if you try to make the same deal again, you still aren't getting a raise. And you'll just keep staying and staying, sternly scheduling meetings, indefinitely. You're acting like they misunderstood and you're going to give them a "mulligan" on the oopsie they made. There was no oopsie. This was 100% on plan.
Since you ought to leave anyway, you don't have much to lose by trying to go over your boss's head, but you may want to redial your expectations that BB is going to understand the greater truth of this situation. He may very well point out to your face that they didn't want you, they wanted someone less experienced who one day - when the company was making more money, presumably, or has evaporated in the heat death of the economy so it doesn't matter - might get the money you want right now. Just because you were overqualified doesn't mean you were a better deal than someone who would be happy with the job as listed. They only wanted someone to do that job.
There is a risk that going to BB will mean getting fired. If that's a risk you're willing to take, go for it.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:19 AM on July 1, 2016 [6 favorites]
It is nearly impossible to get more than a minor adjustment in salary within a year of starting a job. No matter what was discussed verbally, if it's not in writing that on reaching X milestone Y will occur where X is a tangible event (like getting a certification or making a certain level of sales) and Y is the raise you want, this conversation is not going to go well.
I'd work the tertiary customer angle.
posted by randomkeystrike at 10:18 AM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'd work the tertiary customer angle.
posted by randomkeystrike at 10:18 AM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
Tertiary customer angle.
However, you don't have a lot to lose having a talk with BB - since your B is recommending the tertiary position, maybe they can also give you a rec to BB - best case scenario is that they plop you into a full management position at a different site (?).
It seems like this is your boss' second mulligan; the first was taking you on for a position that you are massively overqualified for. I can assume that you had thought long and hard about taking a position at 1/2 market, is the job description that you signed on for accurate, at least?
posted by porpoise at 12:18 PM on July 1, 2016
However, you don't have a lot to lose having a talk with BB - since your B is recommending the tertiary position, maybe they can also give you a rec to BB - best case scenario is that they plop you into a full management position at a different site (?).
It seems like this is your boss' second mulligan; the first was taking you on for a position that you are massively overqualified for. I can assume that you had thought long and hard about taking a position at 1/2 market, is the job description that you signed on for accurate, at least?
posted by porpoise at 12:18 PM on July 1, 2016
Don't take a job for less than you're willing to accept. Ever. Even with a plan in writing, there's always wiggle room that tends to favor the employer.
Have the conversation, don't, doesn't matter. Your tone and presumptions will win you no friends in this situation and you should leave the place you're being underpayed, if you're worth more.
posted by abulafa at 5:33 PM on July 1, 2016
Have the conversation, don't, doesn't matter. Your tone and presumptions will win you no friends in this situation and you should leave the place you're being underpayed, if you're worth more.
posted by abulafa at 5:33 PM on July 1, 2016
The conversation you propose having with BB is the kind of conversation I would walk away from chuckling in a "can you believe he said that?" way. You're going over your manager's head to have a conversation with his manager - there's nothing inherently wrong with that - but you're doing so for a reason that doesn't make sense and you want to approach it as though you and BB are both close and peers. You can only say, "I'm sorry he didn't tell you this was conditional," if you're going to follow that with, "but it was, I didn't get the pay bump, and I'm leaving." There's no leverage in what you want to say to him. BB is not going to go, "OH, this was conditional? Woah, I thought you wanted more money just because!"
Most importantly: if I was BB and you said that to me, then your boss told me Tertiary Customer wanted you and he was gonna give you a rec, I'd tell him what you did just so he has a full picture of what he's endorsing if he decides to recommend you.
Go with the tertiary customer and keep your mouth shut. If you'd get a good rec today don't ruin it for yourself tomorrow.
posted by good lorneing at 7:52 PM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
Most importantly: if I was BB and you said that to me, then your boss told me Tertiary Customer wanted you and he was gonna give you a rec, I'd tell him what you did just so he has a full picture of what he's endorsing if he decides to recommend you.
Go with the tertiary customer and keep your mouth shut. If you'd get a good rec today don't ruin it for yourself tomorrow.
posted by good lorneing at 7:52 PM on July 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
I prepared a short, two page self-review and analysis of the company and how I'd grow the role, how stuff I can do with the team can save us tons of money and stuff
Maybe your boss didn't take your self-review and analysis to his boss because he thought it wasn't any good? Maybe he was saving you the embarrassment?
posted by yesster at 7:10 AM on July 2, 2016
Maybe your boss didn't take your self-review and analysis to his boss because he thought it wasn't any good? Maybe he was saving you the embarrassment?
posted by yesster at 7:10 AM on July 2, 2016
Mod note: From the OP:
My summary voice is terse. I am not conversationally or professionally terse or twerpy.posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 4:06 PM on July 8, 2016
TL;DR: I didn't bring up salary, just responded when asked, and spent most of the week in yelling rage and tears in private. Maybe they thrive on humiliating me or are trying to goad me into quitting (but would assume a level of intelligence on their part I no longer can credit).
1. My meeting request with BB was specifically stated "To discuss my future role here".
2. I entered the meeting with that as a conversation starter. "BB, It seems as if we have gotten off on the wrong foot. Boss suggests I talk it through with you to understand it better." I was then told by BB that BB had heard that sometimes I'm not 100% a team player but declined to provide a single example.
3. I had a backup discussion ready, too. "So this [general] role was held by XYZ until 2010, and then by Boss, and you hired me to be an [assistant] role. What's the history of all this, how did it happen and where is it going?" We had a long chat about it.
3. BB brought up the raise. I said something about that yeah, I guess it seemed out of the blue, especially without the supporting "infrastructure doc" because Boss said he wasn't sure he should share it. BB ran over my thread on that and said "Of course it can be shared. Nothing can't ever not be shared. Can I see it?" I handed it over. He put it in his laptop bag and we kept talking.
Several times I mentioned that none of this was meant to go over Boss' head, that Boss was fully aware of why I was talking to BB and that Boss had encouraged it.
The meeting concluded (early because BB had scheduled to talk to someone else for the second half of our allotted hour). On our way to the door, BB said that a salary bump really wasn't in the budget and that's all there was to it.
I said I understood and went back to work after grabbing a coffee, muffin, and good cry.
The next day, on the way to the airport, BB handed me the "infrastructure doc" back and said he'd read it and he'd like an electronic copy. I said I'd send it. He also said to book a meeting for the day after so we could discuss the document. The document had NO mention of a raise. Just 'where I am, where I see the role growing, and a look at our infrastructure and how to improve it'.
The day after that, I sent the "infrastructure doc", with additional notes on one other product change I'd been building with feedback from others for our flagship product. I apologized for the delay in sending, mentioning that I'd added on an additional page about FLAGSHIP PRODUCT. Copied my Boss on it (who is offline for a few weeks).
That afternoon, BB said "Give me your cell phone number as I think you'll want to discuss this in private". I complied, mystified, had the document open and ready for note taking. The majority of the time was spent by BB telling me that there's no budget for a raise, and they don't plan to make budget for a raise, and what I consider "senior" work they consider "assistant" work and they have no plans to add a "senior" role.
No discussion of the content of the document. He was probing me hard to see if I was quitting. I said no, and I mentioned again that I enjoy the job and if all else fails at least I'm not under a no moonlighting contract for the first time in 20 years. His response was "That doesn't sound right. I'll look into it and get back to you. And I didn't hire you but I wouldn't have if I'd known we were going to have this discussion at all."
I said I understood and went back to work.
I forwarded the employment documents I'd received as part of my hiring to BB. BB said he'd let me know what one of their friends' company does and just follow that model because they hadn't expected I needed a no-moonlighting clause as part of my employment agreement.
I ignored the email as it didn't seem to require a response and went back to work.
BB sent back my "infrastructure doc" to me, the other BB, the VP of keeping shit going, and my boss, telling me again that a raise wasn't in the picture because they hadn't budgeted for it and weren't going to and they were paying more than they'd planned on anyway.
I ignored the email as it didn't seem to require a response and went back to work.
Made it through until 5, shut down my computer for the night, and went home.
I know, I know, DTMFA. I'm just in a tizzy and now will be all weekend as well. I don't know when Boss will come back. I don't know when all the top level people are going to dive bomb me again with the little nugget that "SURPRISE MEREDITH, THERE'S AN AIRPLANE TO SEE YOU (and you're not getting a raise)". I don't know when top level people are going to ask me to sign a non-mooonlighting agreement or GTFO. (non union industry, "right to work" heavy Red Republican state).
And these children are a major player in their industry. If I quit under a disagreement or am fired, I have zero chance of working for any company remotely affiliated with this company, ever. I'm just trying to get in my one year so I have the required experience and can move to an opportunity with a more mature organization (though even with six months of experience I've been applying furiously outside the industry to get back into software).
Can't not work. I am not paycheck to paycheck but I'm seriously thinking about looking up shady boiler room jobs just to have a job. Who needs a soul when you have a paycheck, amirite? Some of those junior position jobs I turned down with an hour commute and 1/3 market rate are looking good right now. I've not heard back from the tertiary customer but I don't expect I will, either. That job posting (senior position like the work I do now, but at Market Rate) and all the job postings for the company suddenly shut down about six hours after I applied and I don't have any expectation of hearing from them.
Good luck, but it looks like you've proven yourself to be immune to management guidance.
posted by yesster at 6:14 PM on July 9, 2016
posted by yesster at 6:14 PM on July 9, 2016
[Your original question and your follow-up both have strong indications that you are in a manic episode.]
posted by yesster at 6:28 PM on July 9, 2016
posted by yesster at 6:28 PM on July 9, 2016
Mod note: From the OP:
BB never came back with a no moonlighting agreement.posted by taz (staff) at 6:08 AM on September 11, 2016
Redid our family budget with my partner, bit into savings to make a camel hump to live off of, paid off my car (lowering monthly nut), starting to look for freelance clients peripheral to this industry (from my old industry) with an eye towards quitting to "take care of my family by going out as a flexible freelancer" in a few months in a non bridge burning way. Been making good this industry contacts at a good rate so I can pivot back to either industry after I resign. Puts us a couple years behind saving for college and retirement but gets me running room to freelance or find a real manager position that pays market rate.
My boss is fine with being a reference though I have not mentioned leaving again and am working as if I were staying. But I don't expect any freelance work or references from them.
Another person left in the middle of all this and the colleague who replaced her has very similar complaints about this place (not the low pay part, but she's not an "assistant" and in a higher revenue department with longer hours expectations.) It started out as bitching about the benefits near-bait and switch (health ins is so bad Im dumping my kids from it) ("you get a week vacation after nine months" is ACTUALLY "you have the right to start accumulating vacation days at 1.62 hours per week after nine months"). The job is "flexible" but she and I can't ever work from home (maybe in a few years ... One gal who has been there six years now gets two days a week). Aside from concerns about who to work with while her boss is on maternity leave, she mostly mirrors my concerns about lack of training, planning, structure, coherence, and BBs new insane email policy.
This policy is of only emailing who he wants to hear from to cut down on the size of his inbox (as opposed to everyone who needs to know). I loaded up the two separate IM clients required to talk to BB now that he's on email strike while my boss takes a three week vacation. And I get to be office manager while she's gone, too. Ah the joys of being an assistant for a few more months. Biding my time... Biding my time ....
I'm sure the thread will be closed by the time I quit. So the end will be happily ever after once I get my dues hard paid for industry cred and strike out alone.
Mod note: From the OP:
I quit, and quit, and quit. Felt okay about it, made it most of the way through the post-I-quit speech before I dropped the firebomb on the bridge. Boss kept asking me why I wouldn't stay if I loved the job and after saying "you don't pay me enough and my lists for leaving vs staying are horribly long (leaving) and short (staying)" about ten different ways. Kaboomed out with something along the lines of "there isn't a single thing about this company's management style I can live with" and something that rhymes with "I can't take your continuously pissing on everyone and everything in your 'keeping it real' management style".posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 9:46 PM on November 23, 2016
So the bridge is in flames behind me, when I see my boss in a social context they ignore me and then bitch about me when I leave (three other people trying to escape the company report this crap to me). BB loudly denounced me and everyone else who quit that week (it was a bad week and they lost 15% of staff though 2/3 of us offered a notice period that was flatly rejected) as useless dead weight in front of the remaining staff. Ruling through sheer intimidation will fail them but not soon enough to please my immature desire for the revenge of living well.
And the nightmares have finally stopped. I get a little triggered when I lunch with future escapees but I also know it helps them get through the day between interviews to get the heck out. "Lunch is like therapy."
On to the next adventure!
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I mean, yeah, have a conversation with them and make your argument but don't expect anything to come of it, your boss has already proven he will tell you a bald faced lie to keep you, so their promises are worth nothing. If they pay peanuts, they should get used to employees leaving as soon as they're offered market rate.
posted by Jubey at 2:46 AM on July 1, 2016 [19 favorites]