Help: Resigning from my job!

howerika

Why do I have this memory of the Monty Python skit with the accountant who wants to be a lion tamer running through my mind?

Seriously, switching jobs is obviously a major decision but it's a decision that most people these days make at least a few times in their lives. My dad worked in the same factory for 38 years and what was his reward for his loyalty? They offered to let him use the last four hours of his last shift to take a tour of the plant. His response: "I've seen this damn place for 38 years, what the hell else am I going to see in four hours?" He finished his shift and left without a tour. What did the company give him? Nothing, not even the ol' gold watch. How's that for rewarding a life of backbreaking work? But, he was born during the depression and his was a generation that emphasized finding a job and sticking with it forever. I'm sure if I ask him the next time that we talk if, looking back on his decades in the factory, he wished he had considered some other jobs, he would probably say yes. My point is that loyalty is great if there's reciprical benefit. At your present job, are you going to get more than an offer to tour the office when you retire? Or, are you going to say, "I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else"? I teach at a university where our football coach has been around for, oh, 41 seasons as a head coach and 15 before that as an assistant. He's had lots of offers to coach elsewhere and even once accepted a pro offer (before reconsidering) but in the end he turned them all down because he loves what he does and loves where he works. When you gaze into the future (you're an actuary, after all), do you see yourself as my dad or as JoePa?

If you're comfortable with your present employer, maybe it's because you really like it there. If I were your career adviser, I'd ask you to list what you like about your present job and what's making you think about leaving. If money is the only thing on the negative side, I'd advise you to really think about whether you should leave. But, since you said that you regularly receive recruiting calls (but apparently haven't seriously considered any previous ones), I'd ask you what attracted you to this particular new job offer. Are you attracted to this new job because it just seems too good to be true? How is it different from past offers that you ignored? There must have been something special that caught your eye. Or, are you just considering this new job because it's new and all your friends are moving on to other jobs so it must be time for you to do the same?

I guess what I'm saying is, don't overlook the intangibles. One of my students is the son of a mega successful attorney (the kid's dad bought him a new Porsche Boxster for a first car in high school). However, the dad has paid the price for his success. He's only in his 50s but he's in terrible health; his son was a successful wrestler but the dad never was able to attend a single match; the dad never took a vacation; etc, etc, etc. Was the money worth it all? Depends on what you want out of life? I have a law degree and could make a whole lot more than I do teaching but I love the intangibles too much. I have to be in my "office" (classroom) 3 days a week for 30 weeks a year; my spring semester ends in April and my fall semester begins in September and I can choose whether I want to work during the summer; I get to teach and research what I want; and, as long as I do my job, I get no pressure from my bosses. Yeah, it'd be nice not to have to shop E-bay to feed my Polk/audio cravings, but I love being at Penn State, love the freedom of my job, and love spending too much time with my wife and kids. I still work hard (and still put in long hours out of the classroom) but it's because I want to, not because I have to. It works for me... it wouldn't work for that son of the mega successful attorney... his goal is to have a million in the bank by age 30... ahh, youth!

Anyway, I've rambled on more than I intended. In my opinion (and this opinion has slowly evolved with age), you've gotta go with what makes you happy. (Remember, I'm the son of a factory worker and I'm not a Dr. Phil-wannabe, so I'm not trying to be touchy-feely.) If you love where you're at now but you're constantly getting offers to go elsewhere, you can afford to be extra picky about when and whether you leave. You're in the driver's seat. Don't be afraid to trade up but only if it's really trading up. There are no certainties, go with your mind first and then your gut. Whether you stay or go right now, it doesn't sound like you're going to be stuck with your decision forever.

So, in typical professor-fashion, I've probably only restated the obvious, muddied what was once clear, and given you nothing practical. At least you didn't have to pay tuition for it and repeat it back to me in essay form!!

I wish I could have offered you more concrete advice but there's no way that I know enough about your present situation to tell you to definitely go or stay. So, I'll just shut up now and wish you good luck!!

cfrizz

Great post Howerika! You explained it very well & this is how the business world works these days, & you have given him a lot to think about.

jdhdiggs

Howerika:

Damn it, now your making me want to go back and teach again! (Actually, that was the plan, but in about 10 years. I liked the profs that had worked in the real world, hence the delay). Say hey to Elena Katok! She was one of my advisors in Grad School.

Oh, and great advice. Being happy doing your job is much more important than the paycheck.

Danny Tse

jdhdiggs wrote:

Being happy doing your job is much more important than the paycheck.

True wisdom.

dragon1952

tryrrthg wrote:

........so I got a new job offer last week, and it's a great opportunity, with better pay. So I verbally accepted the offer last week. I'm supposed to start on the 28th, so I need to resign from my current job ASAP. I'm having a REALLY hard time with this. So what is everyone's opinion on counter-offers to stay at your current job?
Also any tips for resigning (as far as meeting with my boss)?

So you've got some good advice it looks like.

So whaddya gonna do already!? Sheesh! :rolleyes:

tryrrthg

howerika, that was a fantastic post. Thank you!

Well, I decided to stay at my current position. It all boils down to me spending most of last week wondering if I made the right decision by going to the new job. If it was really for me I would have been excited about it. I didn’t think it was fair to myself, or the new company, for me to go into that situation when I wasn’t that excited about it.

It probably was a good opportunity for my career but my time away from work is far more important to me than my career. A few of the deciding factors were flexibility and work atmosphere. My current job is so laid back and easy going. The new job would have been very old school, conservative, and formal. I would have had to spend a lot of my raise and bonus money to have a suit to wear to work everyday. It is a very formal and structured work environment at the new job. It would also have been more work, which means less time with family, and away from doing things I really enjoy.

My current job is also more flexible when it comes to the actuarial exams. They don’t pressure you to take or pass them. The new job was VERY set on the exam process. For those of you not familiar with the exams, they are HARD. We’re talking commitment of 400-600 hours of study time per exam (usually offered twice a year), and there are 7 or 9 exams, depending on what designation you want to work towards (an Associate or Fellow). So it is a HUGE commitment, one that I’m still not set on, especially when having kids come into play.

There were some other things that happened last week that made me realize I work for a pretty nice company. A coworker of mine was just diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). He hasn’t been to work for a few months now, but people at this company are having bakes sales, raffles, the credit union has opened an account you can have direct deposit set up to, all to help him and his family. They’ve probably raised 10,000 dollars for his family in about two weeks, and there are only around 1000 employees in the building! For some reason I just don’t see the conservative company letting their employees take time away from their jobs to run bakes sales.

Thanks again everyone for the help. I’m glad it’s over!

My next dilemma, do I keep my Arcam CD player or the new DAC I just bought?

HBombToo

howerika wrote:

but I love being at Penn State,

I'm a Penn State grad and can't blame you you in the least. State College truly is "Happy Valley".

Great advice by the way and Congrats on your decision tryrrthg!:D

HBomb

kn505

It sounds like it is a good company to work for and a group of good people to work with. I think you made the right decision. There are many actuarial openings all the times in and around Columbus so you can apply for one later.

The actuarial exams are very difficult. But the future and reward are your when the exams are completed. I have 3 young children when I was taking the exams. It was like hell trying to balance works, family and the exams. The thought of quiting taking the exams had crossed my mind so many times. Anyway, it tooks me over ten years to finish them all.

I used to work for a government agency. There is no pressure on taking exams. This is good and bad at the same time. It is good because you have more time with your family. However, it is bad because I got lazy to study for the exams. I passed only several exams in 9 years working with this company. I moved on and worked for a private company (with a large actuarial departments of over 100 actuaries and actuarial students). The exam policy is well defined: you receive about 100 paid study hours for each exam sitting and automatically get 4% raise for passing each exam, but you are fired if you don't pass one exam for 2 years. This policy worked well for me (but very stressful for me and my family). I finished the remaining exams after 3 years.

My advice to you is try to finish the exams as soon as you can with your current situation.