I have to make a decision soon 2

[HemiBuell]

So, I am currently working at a great job in a temp to permanent position. Perm is based on if a new product line takes off and it has. I have been here for two months.

My current company (company T) is really small but the past year has grown like crazy. Got rated in the Boston Globe as one of the top ten small medical device in MA. There is tons of growth potential here, but nobody above me that I can learn from directly. The only problem I have with company T is the lack of a senior engineer to provide career direction to me based on his personal experience. Something which I valued in my previous job. Small companies are also more risky.

Well I have a job offer from a great company (company A&A). One of the top medical device companies in the world (seriously), maybe the best. It is actually within a group at A&A that I have been applying to since my 3rd year in college (about 5 years ago).

I applied and interviewed a couple months ago. They have a lot of openings and are busy. So I finally got the offer.

I need to accept by Friday (two days away).

The commute is the same, salary is similar. Benefits at the A&A are bit better. People do not leave A&A. You stay, move up, get fat and rich, and then retire.

So, do I ask my current boss about my standing within company T? Do I mention the new job offer? I currently have no benefits and am in need of medical insurance because of my alergies.

I'm thinking if it was looking really good for me here they would have already said something to me.

I have completed all of my assignments here on time and done correctly.

Anybody have any advice?

Maybe I just need to feel out my current boss gracefully?

The last thing I want to do is to burn a bridge.

I hate being pressured with a decision.

-Chris

 

[bioengr82]

For what it is worth:

Company T:

no clear direction, no benifits, no one to learn from, not full time (yet?), questionable future.

Company A&A:

Established leader in your field, benifits, money, stability.

From what you say, I wouldn't look back. Is there somthing you expect to gain at company T that you won't gain @ A&A?

 

[HemiBuell]

I don't know what is to gain by staying where I am. I do know that I really enjoy my current job.

However, I have been told by several people familiar with the group that I got the offer from that it is the perfect job for my skills/interests.

I am new to these types of decisions so I really don't know what my criteria should be for deciding.

I am really not sure if I can be honest with my boss about this. I wish I could tell him my dilemma and not get looked down upon.

The two people who I know I can ask from my last job are on vacation this week. Typical.

It would be so much easier to just be a union iron worker. Plus the view is great.

-Chris

 

[EddyC]

Go with A&A and merely tell everyone when they ask that you got an offer that you can't refuse. No details beyond this are necessary. And if you get a counteroffer, so much the better. It will then be your opportunity to leverage yourself to a higher salary and better work. Happens all the time.

 

[EngJW]

From an old timer: make your list and compare jobs, then make your decision and live with it. If you decide to leave, there is no need to discuss it with your boss, but leave on good terms. If you are a young person, this is just the beginning of many such decisions. Once you make your choice, don't look back even if it turns out to be a mistake. Some day you will not have the opportunities or will not be able to make the choices.

 

[astructurale]

Sounds like to me you have already made a decision in the back of your mind. Don't feel bad about leaving a company. Like EngJW said this is just the beginning of such decisions! Wonderful opportunities await!
Good luck!

 

[epoisses]

Agree. And don't put pressure on your current boss. He can't give you what you are looking for anyway (people to learn from). Or do you think a higher salary would make you stay at company T?

 

[PSE]

It sounds like you have been offered your dream shot and are looking at reasons not to take it. The only one being the possibility of burning a bridge where you currently work. I would recommend talking with your boss about the position at company A&A after having received a written offer (assuming you have one and your Friday answer deadline is not in response to a verbal). Remain a professional and keep this in mind. Bridges have multiple ends. You may not burn it but if your current/former boss decides to there is nothing you can do about it anyway. Take your dream shot and see where it goes.

Regards,

 

[SomptingGuy]

Turn the question around. If your current company had to fire someone and to do so meant choosing between you and somebody head-and-shoulders better than you, what would they do?

Loyalty isn't all it's cracked up to be. Fire them if they aren't the better employer.

 

[ScottyUK]

SomptingGuy,

That is a marvellous way of looking at it. 'Fire your employer'. A star for you.



----------------------------------

If we learn from our mistakes,
I'm getting a great education!

 

[HemiBuell]

I think you are right SomptingGuy. That is a good way of looking at it. I am really nervous about not only burning bridges but makeing the right choice.

They don't teach career decision making in school.

So, as soon as my boss is out of his meeting, I'm going to fire him!!!

No, I'm going to be polite, explain the situation, and leave here on the best terms possible.

I wonder how much notice I have to give? Do I owe two weeks notice?

 

[jmw]

One question, the company you are working for is getting big quickly; the company that wants to employ you has had your resume many times, any connection that they now want to hire you? Are they direct competitors? is this a spoiler? do they just want you for a short term advantage over their competitor?
What did your current company say about making you permanent?
This may be a situation where growth is causing too many people to be firefighting and taking too many people for granted. It's a human failing but a most unfortunate one in company managers. None the less you have the legitimate opportunity to approach your boss, remind him of the promise made to you and ask about your future "When will I be made permanent?" (note: "When" not "if") Ask if they are hiring new people and if there will be a "guru" recruited that you can work with and learn from? (do this in the right way and it can make you look very good, the bad way makes you look insecure).

Personally I would never get into a job auction, the question has been discussed in many threads here and some research will find you some excellent responses. Beware, some of us are jaded cynics and others incurable optimists, you will have to balance the advice against your first hand knowledge of the situation and your own personal ethos.

Keep your alternative job opportunity to yourself, it isn't a good idea to try and use this to parlay a better deal and especially not with the prospective employer. This is your hole card. If, after taling to your boss you decide to go, go.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[SomptingGuy]

I can't claim any credit for my alternative viewpoint (fire your employer). It was something a college friend said to me back in 1990...

I was sponsored through University by a company. This involved spending a year with them before UNiversity and then each Summer whilst at University. I also got a good bursary to suppliment my grant (remember grants?). I really enjoyed my experience with them and I naturally felt honour-bound to work for them on completion. However, where I was a bit concerned about the company's future (rumoured takeovers, site closures, etc).

During my final year I accidentally stumbled on my dream job and through my previous experience, was highly qualified for it - more so than many of the other new graduates. I was made a good offer.

I wrote a (goodbye) letter to my sponsoring firm and an acceptance to this new employer. Those letters sat on my desk for days while I wrestled with my conscience. Then my friend suggested I turn the situation around and think about it the other way. I posted the letters. I've never looked back!

 

[HemiBuell]

Well that didn't go well. Boss was not pleased at all. Basically wants me out of here ASAP. Whatever, I guess now I have a weeks vacation to do some fishing. My birthday is next week too, so perfect timing.

 

[epoisses]

What do you mean it didn't go well, had you expected him to be pleased? He'll get over it during the weekend.
Focus on your next job!

 

[HgTX]

If he took it that badly, yet another reason it was a good idea to leave.

Hg

Eng-Tips guidelines: faq731-376

 

[casseopeia]

So HemiBuell,

You definitely have the other gig, right? Just making sure.



"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

 

[HemiBuell]

Casseopeia, I made sure I had the offer letter in my hand before I said anything.

I'm excited this morning. Having a meeting here at my current company today to figure out what I need to finish up and then I start on the 1st.

Along the way in my short career I have made some good friends and really did my best to keep up those relationships. I am happy that I did that because all of those contacts offer the best advice.

I learned in the last two weeks that being a professional is more than just a degree and some knowledge. It's about personal skills can making good career decisions too.

Without the advice of more expereienced friends and the contacts on this board I would definitely be stressing about my decision. However, I am excited and really looking forward to putting my best foot forward.

Now, another question. At a new job is it best to jump right in aggressively or to sit back and observe for a few weeks?

-Chris

 

[epoisses]

Well... I guess you should jump right in enthusiastically but not aggressively. There will be 1001 things to learn in your new job including basic skills like where's the bathroom and what design standards do I apply, so while you're in the listening and taking notes phase, some modesty would be appropriate.

Glad to know you're happy about your decision.

 

[jmw]

Pension is something you used to get when you retired.

Pensions are being phased out with a badly synchronised policy to end retirement as an option.
Typical management ploy.

Population dynamics mean that there are too many old fogies approaching retiring age and not enough money for pensions as there are too few young folks coming along to pay for the old folks retiring.

The solution is to make pensions worth nothing. This makes workers more amenable to the idea that they never retire, they just die on the job(even if they have to leave a happy engineering career for stacking shelves at the supermarket.

In the UK this approach is well advanced but facing some problems.

It began with a certain Newspaper tycoon looting his workers pension fund and then falling of his boat and drowning. Where is the money?

Then the chancellor decided to tax pensions as much as he could to make them as worthless as possible.
Then the low interest rates mean that there is insufficient growth to suppport final salary pensions so they change to to "money funds" which most older folk have insufficient of and insufficient time in which to compensate.

The next government move is to "rationalise" state pensions, which weren't worth a lot anyway.

Now they think they are at the right point to suggest retiring at 70, especially as all you'll do if you retire is get in the wifes way, divorce and need two houses instead of one (unless you invest in a garden shed - not to live in, though it might come to it, but to keep out of the wifes way and from upsetting the routine she has adapted to while you were at work all day, and thus avoid divorce. A curious thing, while she might grumble about how much time you spend doing unpaid overtime, she will never complain about how much time you spend in the shed unless you are enjoying it too much... there is no chance of you stopping for drinks on the way home etc.).

The next step is to get the retirement age up to the point at which more people will die than retire and they can then tax the remaining money funds to death.

The two best things you can do are bury your money in the garden and buy a shed.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com