An offer I can't refuse? (Job Thread)

Susan Delgado

I'll try to keep this short, hoping to get some perspective on how to approach this situation, particularly with my boss.

I have a job doing what I love. I went to school and got my BS and am in the field I wanted to end up in. (Yay!)

I can't stand 2/3 of my division. The collective sloppiness and laziness has actually affected my own standards and performance. (Boo!)

My boss is probably the best boss I have ever had. He actually cares about us and will bend over backwards to help us out. (Yay!)

There is ZERO opportunity to advance in this division. There was a supervisory position over us at one time, but the bigwigs and HR have decided that it is wasteful and obsolete for such a small division and have permanently removed it. (Boo!)

I have bigger ambitions that to live out my career in an entry level position even though I *do* love what I do. (Yay!)


Here's the offer I recv'd.

One of my best friends is the Manager of another division. He has recently been given the OK to develop an Asst. Manager position for his division.

He wants me to apply for it. He has already guaranteed me that he will fight as hard as he can to get me into the position if I want it. He wants to teach me all he can about management and being "in charge" and help me be able to progress into management.

Potentially a hefty raise from what I make now. The salary rate hasn't been decided yet. I would be considered Management. I would have a crew under my supervision.


Here's what's keeping me from applying.

My immediate co-workers are jackholes. They make our division look bad. Their record keeping (or lack thereof) could potentially put us in a lot of hot water one day. I feel like I would be abandoning my boss in a sinking ship if I hopped divisions. I am fiercely loyal to this man and I feel a personal obligation to stick with him.

I also fear the animosity that it could create between me and my current co-workers.

Most of all, I LOVE what I do. I would not have access to the duties and projects that I currently have under my direction. I don't hate coming to work (just the people that show up through out the day ).


At the same time, I see how this position could potentially position me to move up into my current boss' job when he retires or into a management position at another company.

I want to talk to my boss about this, but I don't want to put him off or alienate him or cause any kind of bad feelings... I think he would be understanding and give me good advice, but I don't think he'd WANT to give me up to another division.



So H/A, how would you handle this? If you're a manager, how would you want your employee to approach you?

Thanks guys.

Kyougu

Cliche, but business is business. It's admirable that you want to look out for your manager and current division, but at the end of the day you have to do what's best for you. And the best thing right now is to take that offer.

What you should do is approach your current manager and lay things out like you have laid things out here. Explain that you're looking out for the future, and you need to move into a position where they will be advancement.

Endomatic

You have to remember that your boss is just that, a boss. If there is a legitimate problem with the rest of your workmates, it is literally his job to figure out what it is and what the solution is.

That said, keep the lines of communication open and what not. The guy seems to be a friend as well as a boss, and you don't want to lose that relationship (friends in high places etc). It's not like you won't see him again right? Is it the same office?

ceres

What's more important to you, your job duties and a great boss or your coworkers and salary?

It sounds like that's the choice you're really making. Let me tell you that for starters, when that record-keeping ship goes down, you don't want to be on it either. You best make sure the quality of YOUR work doesn't slip, and that you're careful to dot your i's and cross your t's. And I wouldn't worry about alienating people you don't like because you're leaving. If your boss is as awesome as you say, he'll understand when you explain it to him. I kept in touch with a boss like this for many years after I left the job. And it's important to make enough to make ends meet.

All that said, there's a lot to be said for job satisfaction, and going in to do something you love and feel good about at the end of the day can make okay some pretty crappy situations. And being a manager is really hard; you have two sets of people you're working with, and you can't keep them both happy. Sometime you have to decide which group you want to go to bat for at the expense of the opinion of the others. Over the long term you can lose your job if one group is unhappy for too long. It's a balancing act.

In the end, you have to do what you think is best for YOU. If you stay, that ship might go down hard and take you with it. If you make the leap of faith and take the other job, there exists the possibility that you'll end up hating not only the people you work with, but also the position you're put in every day and the paperwork you need to do. Which position would you rather be in if everything turned out fine. or if everything went to shit?

Sir Carcass

Endomatic wrote: »

You have to remember that your boss is just that, a boss. If there is a legitimate problem with the rest of your workmates, it is literally his job to figure out what it is and what the solution is.

This.

If you feel you owe your boss loyalty for taking a chance on you or going out of his way to help you or something, then that's one thing, but you don't owe him staying because the rest of his employees suck. I've been in management, and especially at the lower end, the good employees are constantly leaving, finding better jobs either in your organization or elsewhere. You're stuck with the crap, unfortunately. There may be a few that are good but unambitious, but they are rare.

Raynaga

If he's as good a boss as you say, then while he won't want to lose you he'll be happy for you having an increased opportunity. That's the true dividing line between a good boss and a bad one: the good ones genuinely want their employees to be successful, be it with them or elsewhere.

The bad ones want them to be successful until that success makes their life inconvenient.

Zeon

That sounds exactly like the problems i used to have. Eventually, i realised that its more important for me to be successful than my division, and that no matter how hard i try or how much i love what i do, if i didnt do my best to get out of there, eventually i wouldnt have my job anymore, so its better to do everything i can to move up and secure a future for myself.

Bottom line is, you need to do whats best for you. If you think that staying in your current dead end job is going to be best, go for it. If you think taking on the management roll is going to be best, go for it. Personally id go for the management position since it opens up a lot more doors for you than whatever youre currently doing now.

As for approaching your boss, this probably isnt even a question. Most companies have a mandatory policy that anytime you apply for an internal position, you have to notify your direct supervisor first, otherwise you will not be considered for the position. Word is going to get back to them anyway, so its way better to just go into their office and be like "Hey, so theyve got a posting up for *job position*, and i really think its a great opportunity for me. Im going to put in my resume today, is that cool?". They will 99.9% of the time say yes. If they have real, bigger plans for you, they may say no, but make sure to get those plans in writing, and it would also definately be a great time to ask for a raise. Sometimes you'll just have a boss who doesnt want to lose you for any other reason than "Oh fuck my department is going to fucking collapse because everyone else is useless". If youre a superstar, you need to be compensated for that, especially if being so great is standing in the way of even better opportunities. Again however, most companies also have policies against developing and encouraging "superstars" these days in any position where multiple people are doing the same job, and for exactly this reason. No one wants their company to crash and burn when one guy out of 20 decides to leave. So its fairly rare that you'll actually end up in a position that youre not allowed to leave because youre just too damn valuable, especially if we're talking applying for intercompany positions.

All of the above advice assumes youre working at a fairly generically run corporation, and not some little independent boutique shop or a grocery store or something.

Thanatos

You're nuts if you don't take it.

You're in a division full of fuckups who are eventually going to fuck up big, and you're going to take the fall for them. If he's smart, your boss is already looking for a way to jump ship.

John Matrix

You sound like a motivated, intelligent, and genuine guy. I would advise going for the job.

I see it this way: if your are unhappy with the division, chances are that your boss is unhappy as well.
If you don't go for it, what happens if your boss puts in his two-weeks notice in a few months?
Your great boss will be gone, you'll be stuck with people you generally dislike and the opportunity for advancement will have passed on.

Take it, run with the opportunity.

Figgy

Even rats know when to leave a sinking ship.

Consider what will happen if you stay in your current position:

Best case scenario: You stick it out with your boss and your current co-workers, continue to do what you enjoy, continue to go absolutely nowhere in terms of career advancement, and live several more years exactly the way you are now.

Worst case scenario: You stick it out with your boss and your current co-workers, things begin to degrade even further, and you are eventually out of a job. Your boss could possibly be out of a job too, depending on how bad things get. You won't escape responsibility for the failure of your department. No one is going to say, 'They all fucked up huge, but Susan.. she is a real go-getter."

In either case, your loyalty has gotten you nowhere. There is nothing your current boss can offer you other than mediocrity, and you might even end up losing your job down the line.. loyalty be damned.

Deebaser

Susan Delgado wrote: »

I can't stand 2/3 of my division. The collective sloppiness and laziness has actually affected my own standards and performance. (Boo!)

My boss is probably the best boss I have ever had. He actually cares about us and will bend over backwards to help us out. (Yay!)


My immediate co-workers are jackholes. They make our division look bad. Their record keeping (or lack thereof) could potentially put us in a lot of hot water one day. I feel like I would be abandoning my boss in a sinking ship if I hopped divisions.

For one thing, your current boss sounds like a nice guy, but a bad manager. If the division looks like shit, you can look like shit by association.

JohnnyCache

Your boss needs to do his job. If you stay to help him, is he going to give you part of his salary for doing part of his job? If your crew is a trouble crew, is he doing any service to them and their futures by letting them slack?

GothicLargo

Take the new position but don't slam the door on your old boss in the process. You've already said your current position has no substantial chance for advancement, so... this is your chance. Take it. You can even be honest about taking it for that reason; that you want to move up, and this is the opportunity to do so.

kedinik

Do not sacrifice your own career advancement for the sake of your boss, no matter how nice he is. You are absolutely not betraying him by seizing a chance at promotion.