The Job Search Woes Thread

[BitterTom]

Ok so bit of advice please.

I have been offered a new job which is one I initially wanted so that's great. Where I am now the atmosphere isn't great and my boss is, difficult shall we say. Easy decision to make here but I'm dreading tomorrow telling him. I'm not good at standing up for myself and if I'm honest he's a little intimidating. I hate terms like 'man up' or 'grow a pair' but I do need a kick up my arse and put me and my interests first. How would you go about it and when should I tell him, first thing or end of the day?

I had a boss like that. Work policy required a written resignation letter, so I put the letter on her keyboard. She later bitched to everyone that I was too scared to tell her to her face. She was right. It was a double-bind situation. In the spirit of that, tell him at the end of the day straight to his bully-ass face. It's hard not to be intimidated, but I know you can do it.

Thanks Mimi and Doc. I'm lucky I suppose in the sense that I haven't signed a contract here so no technical notice period. Would saying I finish at the end of the week be fair?

[Silent Majority]

Ok so bit of advice please.

I have been offered a new job which is one I initially wanted so that's great. Where I am now the atmosphere isn't great and my boss is, difficult shall we say. Easy decision to make here but I'm dreading tomorrow telling him. I'm not good at standing up for myself and if I'm honest he's a little intimidating. I hate terms like 'man up' or 'grow a pair' but I do need a kick up my arse and put me and my interests first. How would you go about it and when should I tell him, first thing or end of the day?

I had a boss like that. Work policy required a written resignation letter, so I put the letter on her keyboard. She later bitched to everyone that I was too scared to tell her to her face. She was right. It was a double-bind situation. In the spirit of that, tell him at the end of the day straight to his bully-ass face. It's hard not to be intimidated, but I know you can do it.

Thanks Mimi and Doc. I'm lucky I suppose in the sense that I haven't signed a contract here so no technical notice period. Would saying I finish at the end of the week be fair?

Yeah, it's less than he deserves. You can't encourage an atmosphere of intimidation and baulk when people leave it. So long as your other offer is 100% solid, fuck your current role. They'd discard you in a second if profit demanded it, they should receive the same amount of loyalty.

[Mimi]

Ok so bit of advice please.

I have been offered a new job which is one I initially wanted so that's great. Where I am now the atmosphere isn't great and my boss is, difficult shall we say. Easy decision to make here but I'm dreading tomorrow telling him. I'm not good at standing up for myself and if I'm honest he's a little intimidating. I hate terms like 'man up' or 'grow a pair' but I do need a kick up my arse and put me and my interests first. How would you go about it and when should I tell him, first thing or end of the day?

I had a boss like that. Work policy required a written resignation letter, so I put the letter on her keyboard. She later bitched to everyone that I was too scared to tell her to her face. She was right. It was a double-bind situation. In the spirit of that, tell him at the end of the day straight to his bully-ass face. It's hard not to be intimidated, but I know you can do it.

Thanks Mimi and Doc. I'm lucky I suppose in the sense that I haven't signed a contract here so no technical notice period. Would saying I finish at the end of the week be fair?

My rule of thumb is: if I don't care about burning that bridge, give as little notice as possible. I've only quit a few jobs like that. If you think you'll never need or want to go back, fuck it.

[BitterTom]

Ok so bit of advice please.

I have been offered a new job which is one I initially wanted so that's great. Where I am now the atmosphere isn't great and my boss is, difficult shall we say. Easy decision to make here but I'm dreading tomorrow telling him. I'm not good at standing up for myself and if I'm honest he's a little intimidating. I hate terms like 'man up' or 'grow a pair' but I do need a kick up my arse and put me and my interests first. How would you go about it and when should I tell him, first thing or end of the day?

I had a boss like that. Work policy required a written resignation letter, so I put the letter on her keyboard. She later bitched to everyone that I was too scared to tell her to her face. She was right. It was a double-bind situation. In the spirit of that, tell him at the end of the day straight to his bully-ass face. It's hard not to be intimidated, but I know you can do it.

Thanks Mimi and Doc. I'm lucky I suppose in the sense that I haven't signed a contract here so no technical notice period. Would saying I finish at the end of the week be fair?

Yeah, it's less than he deserves. You can't encourage an atmosphere of intimidation and baulk when people leave it. So long as your other offer is 100% solid, fuck your current role. They'd discard you in a second if profit demanded it, they should receive the same amount of loyalty.

I know there's 2 people off work next week so if he takes it calmly he may ask me to work that week as well. However as I mentioned I'm not under contract so end of the week should be fair notice. Like I said in the first message, I'm not good at saying no and I don't like letting people down but at the same time, with the stress of this job, a week is long enough.

[BitterTom]

Ok so bit of advice please.

I have been offered a new job which is one I initially wanted so that's great. Where I am now the atmosphere isn't great and my boss is, difficult shall we say. Easy decision to make here but I'm dreading tomorrow telling him. I'm not good at standing up for myself and if I'm honest he's a little intimidating. I hate terms like 'man up' or 'grow a pair' but I do need a kick up my arse and put me and my interests first. How would you go about it and when should I tell him, first thing or end of the day?

I had a boss like that. Work policy required a written resignation letter, so I put the letter on her keyboard. She later bitched to everyone that I was too scared to tell her to her face. She was right. It was a double-bind situation. In the spirit of that, tell him at the end of the day straight to his bully-ass face. It's hard not to be intimidated, but I know you can do it.

Thanks Mimi and Doc. I'm lucky I suppose in the sense that I haven't signed a contract here so no technical notice period. Would saying I finish at the end of the week be fair?

My rule of thumb is: if I don't care about burning that bridge, give as little notice as possible. I've only quit a few jobs like that. If you think you'll never need or want to go back, fuck it.

I'm uncertain about the actual rules of notice when I'm not under a contract. If an employer makes the employee's life hell in that notice period, if there's no contract, could they just walk?

[Dr. Medulla]

I'm uncertain about the actual rules of notice when I'm not under a contract. If an employer makes the employee's life hell in that notice period, if there's no contract, could they just walk?

Standard "I am not a lawyer" disclaimer, but if there's no contract, I'm not sure what recourse there'd be. If he could sack you for whatever reason, you can stop coming into work for whatever reason.

[Mimi]

I'm uncertain about the actual rules of notice when I'm not under a contract. If an employer makes the employee's life hell in that notice period, if there's no contract, could they just walk?

Standard "I am not a lawyer" disclaimer, but if there's no contract, I'm not sure what recourse there'd be. If he could sack you for whatever reason, you can stop coming into work for whatever reason.

Yeah, what he said. And I think in this case, do what's right for you.

[BitterTom]

I'm uncertain about the actual rules of notice when I'm not under a contract. If an employer makes the employee's life hell in that notice period, if there's no contract, could they just walk?

Standard "I am not a lawyer" disclaimer, but if there's no contract, I'm not sure what recourse there'd be. If he could sack you for whatever reason, you can stop coming into work for whatever reason.

Cheers, makes it a bit easier. Just wish it was this time tomorrow now, no idea how he'll react.

[JennyB]

I'm uncertain about the actual rules of notice when I'm not under a contract. If an employer makes the employee's life hell in that notice period, if there's no contract, could they just walk?

Standard "I am not a lawyer" disclaimer, but if there's no contract, I'm not sure what recourse there'd be. If he could sack you for whatever reason, you can stop coming into work for whatever reason.

Cheers, makes it a bit easier. Just wish it was this time tomorrow now, no idea how he'll react.

Good luck, Tom. The anticipation is definitely the hardest part.

[BitterTom]

I'm uncertain about the actual rules of notice when I'm not under a contract. If an employer makes the employee's life hell in that notice period, if there's no contract, could they just walk?

Standard "I am not a lawyer" disclaimer, but if there's no contract, I'm not sure what recourse there'd be. If he could sack you for whatever reason, you can stop coming into work for whatever reason.

Cheers, makes it a bit easier. Just wish it was this time tomorrow now, no idea how he'll react.

Good luck, Tom. The anticipation is definitely the hardest part.

Thanks Jen, not long now and it's all over.

[revbob]

Overall good advice so far. I've left 5 jobs in my adult life. It was always a little awkward and I felt bad about it twice more for the people I worked with. I only had one bad reaction and even that wasn't that bad. The boss was his usual passive aggressive asshole self but I stuck to the high road. I've genuinely been offered a standing option to return to most of them.

My advice if anyone is going to be a dick let it be him.

Questions:

How sure is the other gig?
When do they want you to start?
Did you give them a start date?
What if the current employer offers to meet or exceed your new offer?

My advice would be to always keep your options open and don't burn bridges. I know in my type of work (small talent pool for the area) there is a good chance I could cross paths with someone from my past jobs and I have.

My guess is the guy will be disappointed but won't hold it against you.

[101Walterton]

So 25.25W turned 17 last week and got himself a part time job working for a well known chain of juice / smoothie bars.
He did his first full day on Saturday not a particularly busy branch as not in a mall etc. so only 2 staff.
Day 2 was on Sunday but from 4pm he was on his own until 7pm when he had to cash up and close the shop!
I’m impressed he took it all in his stride and that they trusted him to do it but concerned that they put that much faith and responsibility on him???

[Dr. Medulla]

So 25.25W turned 17 last week and got himself a part time job working for a well known chain of juice / smoothie bars.
He did his first full day on Saturday not a particularly busy branch as not in a mall etc. so only 2 staff.
Day 2 was on Sunday but from 4pm he was on his own until 7pm when he had to cash up and close the shop!
I’m impressed he took it all in his stride and that they trusted him to do it but concerned that they put that much faith and responsibility on him???

Wow. When I was 18, I took a year off between high school and university (hated school and my final grades showed it, and I'm not sure I would have even gotten into university right away). One job I applied for and was offered was at a furniture place. It was advertised as sales and delivery, but when it was offered to me, the owner said he was going on vacation for, like, 3 or 6 months (it was a crazy long time), and needed someone to run the entire operation. I didn't have the self-confidence to think I could do it or the slackitude to not give a fuck and run his business into the ground, so I didn't take the job. Looking back, I wonder if it was some kind of set up to let his business go under for some reason.

[Kory]

So 25.25W turned 17 last week and got himself a part time job working for a well known chain of juice / smoothie bars.
He did his first full day on Saturday not a particularly busy branch as not in a mall etc. so only 2 staff.
Day 2 was on Sunday but from 4pm he was on his own until 7pm when he had to cash up and close the shop!
I’m impressed he took it all in his stride and that they trusted him to do it but concerned that they put that much faith and responsibility on him???

Wow. When I was 18, I took a year off between high school and university (hated school and my final grades showed it, and I'm not sure I would have even gotten into university right away). One job I applied for and was offered was at a furniture place. It was advertised as sales and delivery, but when it was offered to me, the owner said he was going on vacation for, like, 3 or 6 months (it was a crazy long time), and needed someone to run the entire operation. I didn't have the self-confidence to think I could do it or the slackitude to not give a fuck and run his business into the ground, so I didn't take the job. Looking back, I wonder if it was some kind of set up to let his business go under for some reason.

You could have made out like a bandit.

[Dr. Medulla]

So 25.25W turned 17 last week and got himself a part time job working for a well known chain of juice / smoothie bars.
He did his first full day on Saturday not a particularly busy branch as not in a mall etc. so only 2 staff.
Day 2 was on Sunday but from 4pm he was on his own until 7pm when he had to cash up and close the shop!
I’m impressed he took it all in his stride and that they trusted him to do it but concerned that they put that much faith and responsibility on him???

Wow. When I was 18, I took a year off between high school and university (hated school and my final grades showed it, and I'm not sure I would have even gotten into university right away). One job I applied for and was offered was at a furniture place. It was advertised as sales and delivery, but when it was offered to me, the owner said he was going on vacation for, like, 3 or 6 months (it was a crazy long time), and needed someone to run the entire operation. I didn't have the self-confidence to think I could do it or the slackitude to not give a fuck and run his business into the ground, so I didn't take the job. Looking back, I wonder if it was some kind of set up to let his business go under for some reason.

You could have made out like a bandit.

My incompetence is not just confined to licit activities.