The more things change... (1 Viewer)

[Vassago]

I can't believe even Pat left. What is happening around here these days?

I'm still not working in Access, but I have finally left a company that completely killed my motivation after 20 years. I now have a new job that I absolutely love. I'm also getting to experience and learn so much new tech, every day I'm thankful that I finally had the courage to change jobs.

Sometimes the grass really is greener. If you are in a job with terrible management where you are not appreciated or treated fairly, don't let them take advantage of you. You deserve better. At the very least, just do the bare minimum until you cash find something better. Don't break your back for them. I think I'm older and wiser now than when I started, so I can say so.

How is everyone? It's nice to see some familiar faces still around. I don't think I've been here since Covid started.

 

[moke123]

I don't think I've been here since Covid started.

Yea, January of 2021. Welcome back. Congrats on the new job.

 

[Isaac]

Congrats on the new job. ~3 years ago I found a job that emphasized sql server and snowflake development and was lucky to get it (lucky meaning I wasn't totally qualified but they took a chance on me anyway). 3 years in and I now want to retire from this company some day - meaning for the first time in many years, I'm not 'keeping my eyes open' for a new job, I actually want to just stay here permanently. The company has been known to do small layoffs around once a year to reshuffle things, so I may or may not get that chance, but if I am lucky enough to I believe I will stick around indefinitely. It's a great feeling to be stable, glad you found something that is worth YOU

 

[Vassago]

Yea, January of 2021. Welcome back. Congrats on the new job.

Thanks!

Congrats on the new job. ~3 years ago I found a job that emphasized sql server and snowflake development and was lucky to get it (lucky meaning I wasn't totally qualified but they took a chance on me anyway). 3 years in and I now want to retire from this company some day - meaning for the first time in many years, I'm not 'keeping my eyes open' for a new job, I actually want to just stay here permanently. The company has been known to do small layoffs around once a year to reshuffle things, so I may or may not get that chance, but if I am lucky enough to I believe I will stick around indefinitely. It's a great feeling to be stable, glad you found something that is worth YOU

Yeah, just be mindful of changes. I felt that way at my previous company as well. Then, a lot happened and ownership and management changes occurred that made the place just... a shell of what it was. I hope it doesn't happen to you. It took about 13 years and a move on my part across the country before things really started going downhill, naturally AFTER I moved. Oh well, I'm happy now.

 

[Cotswold]

Changing management predicts so much but often gives so little.
I have lost count of the number of companies that took 50 years to get to where they were and were then destroyed in less than five with a takeover.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Working as an employee of a military contractor was interesting because you learn patience. In 28 1/2 years as that kind of contractor, I changed jobs 8 or 9 times (depending on how you count a corporate buyout). With a different manager for each change! And yet my business phone number and street address changed only 3 times. My job title changed 9 times but my job duties never changed even once - until I learned Access well enough to be productive with it about 25-30 years ago and added (not replaced) an extra couple of tasks. I outlasted all but one of the contractor companies, and even for that one I was enjoying it enough that I stayed 2 1/2 years past my nominal retirement age. But the Navy finally did something that told me it was time to go - and I did. They escalated the requirements and I wasn't willing to go back to school for another round of certificates.

Having said that, I can also admit to having run into a management team that lost me because they were a bunch of conniving sharks and showed me their true colors. The first real-world company I worked for got bought out after 12 years and after a lot of gyrations, they dissolved the branch where I worked. I had talked with them at length about them taking over our product line, but they basically screwed over a customer because they had a bug that would be expensive to fix and they said "He didn't have enough retainage on his contract, so we cut him loose." I had valid reasons to not take the required transfer/relocation, so I parted company with them. But they were definitely the type to take the fun out of business.

 

[Vassago]

My company was getting cheap even though we were making record profits. As an analyst, I had access to enough info to know they had the money. They stopped being willing to pay people what they were worth. When people left, they refused to hire anyone and just expected everyone else to pick up the tasks without the pay to go with it. The new CEO micromanaged the entire department, not letting the business leaders make any decisions regarding pay or hiring. Eventually, all of the leaders in my department left and the guy who took over was like a come of the CEO. When my boss eventually left, he recommended me for a promotion, but the new CEO clone refused because he wanted someone he could micromanage the team over and control, so I suddenly had a less qualified boss with no leadership skills over me in a VP position. They also didn't give raises to the entire team, claiming we were capped, for years. My pay was basically decreasing as costs of living were skyrocketing over the last 7 years.

I couldn't do it anymore. It especially hurt to see my team suffering over their decisions. I reached out to some old coworkers and jumped ship to work with them. I'm not in "management" anymore, but honestly haven't been happier. I feel like I'm part of a good team again with a company that has a vision.

 

[Isaac]

sounds like you landed in a great place!

honestly, I don't pay much attention, if I'm being honest (don't tell my bosses this) to the communications from the higher ups. It's all written in corporate-ease lingo and just so, so far removed from the everyday-lingo honesty that would appeal to me to listen to. I do keep my connections fresh though, any time there is a layoff I'm the first to reach out via linked in and make sure people feel remembered - including managers - so they remember me in turn in case they end up recruiting and I'm out the door.

I asked for and received an 8% raise this year, so they are indeed the type who will listen to reason, a good omen I think.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I'm not in "management" anymore, but honestly haven't been happier.

Working for my first real company, I worked my way through the corporate ladder until I was about to become the VP of the Project Programming team. But I had to turn it down because it was at the time that my mother was in a nursing home with (then) 2nd-stage Alzheimer's Disease, and it was progressing. (Eventually made it to 4th stage... truly ugly. 'nuff said.) Anyway, shortly after that, the company got bought out, and the new buyers would have dumped me (as a VP) in a heartbeat. But I avoided getting dumped and lasted another several months before the big relocation occurred. Missed the people who took the relocation. Didn't miss the avaricious new managers.

When I switched to the Navy job, I settled in as a high-level sys admin with a specialty in DEC hardware. For the 28 1/2 years I held that job, I enjoyed most of it. Just a couple of government types rubbed me the wrong way - but I had the last laugh because they got "sideways" transfers and their replacements left me alone to do my job. Anyone who understands the government knows that a "sideways" transfer means your career advancement potential just fell to SQRT(-1) - the imaginary number.