Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was recently presented with a very surprising fork in the road and I'm not sure how to decide. It has really been stressing me out, even though either option is an advancement of my career.
I've worked in commercial banking for two years now, all of it spent with my current employer, where I've enjoyed the work. Our Company is slated to be acquired sometime soon by another bank, and the higher-ups have bungled the transition every step of the way. Some people were laid off and recently a number of the top brass quit for another bank due to a general sense that the new bank (post acquisition) will be poorly managed and led and the sales goals (which I do not have myself) will be strictly enforced. The worst case scenario is that the bank post-acquisition will under-perform and they'll start laying people off and shrinking. Regardless of what does happen, the atmosphere right now is that we're on shaky ground and leaderless. I've been looking forward to this new bank, however, since I'll be getting a promotion (although no pay raise) and more responsibility, which has been my main goal since I began working there. So bank-wide, there's a sense of weariness, although my role is probably more initially resistant if things start to go sour.
Then, out of the blue, my boss asked me if I would join him at a different bank. This other company is much larger and offers more growth opportunities for me, my boss says, is far more stable, and we would be less limited in the kind of deals we can do, so I'd learn more. I need to decide soon and I can't say a word of it to anyone else working there. My main hesitation are as follows:
My current company is extremely reliant on me and will be even moreso after the acquisition, since I'm the best and most experienced at what I do. I do not want to burn bridges and I fear that they would be screwed if I left, considering the workload they have arranged for me after the acquisition. I have two bosses, and I get along great with the one that I would have to leave behind to deal with the wreck of my departure. I am not a confrontational person and it is not like me to abandon a company that has treated me well.
I have generally not gotten along great with my boss (the one who asked me to leave with him). He doesn't micromanage or anything, but our personalities clash, he intimidates me, and I'd prefer to not work with him if I had the choice. If I leave with him to this other company, I would be working even more closely with him than I do now. This isn't a dealbreaker, since I have a large degree of autonomy. He's not terrible, just brash, competition, and a bit humorless. He's very knowledgeable and respected in the area we live.
I like the idea of working a long time for one employer because my resume (pre-banking) had a lot of moving around, which doesn't look good if I have to relocate in the future and get a new job. I'm two years in at my current employer, which is a record for me, and it would be cool to add more time to that.
I will have a promotion regardless of whether I stay or leave, and I think the salary will be the same (no pay raise). Both are in the same town. I'm in my early 30's btw.
How would you go about evaluating this?
Thanks everyone
If the top managers are leaving that is a red flag that something isn't going well. A rudderless ship is not a pleasant place to be.
Your boss obviously thought enough of you that he asked you to move with him. It is nice to move when you know your boss already thinks highly of you.
All you owe your current employer is an honest day's work while you are employed. That is it.
My current company is extremely reliant on me and will be even moreso after the acquisition, since I'm the best and most experienced at what I do. I do not want to burn bridges and I fear that they would be screwed if I left, considering the workload they have arranged for me after the acquisition. I have two bosses, and I get along great with the one that I would have to leave behind to deal with the wreck of my departure. I am not a confrontational person and it is not like me to abandon a company that has treated me well.
An odd concern to have, given your well-spelled-out fears that the new company isn't going to work out very well at all.
Quote:
I have generally not gotten along great with my boss (the one who asked me to leave with him). He doesn't micromanage or anything, but our personalities clash, he intimidates me, and I'd prefer to not work with him if I had the choice. If I leave with him to this other company, I would be working even more closely with him than I do now. This isn't a dealbreaker, since I have a large degree of autonomy. He's not terrible, just brash, competition, and a bit humorless. He's very knowledgeable and respected in the area we live.
The fact that you don't get along personally but he still wants to bring you along is, to me, a big green flag! Why not probe a little and find out where you'd be in the org chart, how much interaction you'd have, maybe bring up the personality issue and ask how you two would work around those issues in the future?
Quote:
I like the idea of working a long time for one employer because my resume (pre-banking) had a lot of moving around, which doesn't look good if I have to relocate in the future and get a new job. I'm two years in at my current employer, which is a record for me, and it would be cool to add more time to that.
I wouldn't worry too much about that. Especially when the current employer looks like it's heading for the rocks anyway.
Just from what you've said, I'd be strongly leaning towards coming with the current boss right now.
Managers often have to sign papers when they leave a company saying they won't steal employees away from the company. Their separation package is contingent on it (for obvious reasons). I've had to sign agreements like this in the past. For that reason alone, I would be hesitant to follow your previous manager.
If it were me, I wouldn't follow your previous manager - especially given your past interactions. However, I'd be actively looking elsewhere -- I agree with others, downsizing in the coming months is a definite possibility.
Poaching is different than having a position that you can apply for. Besides, if they both leave at the same time is it poaching?
Poaching is different than having a position that you can apply for. Besides, if they both leave at the same time is it poaching?
It's more than both of them just happening to leave at the same time:
Quote:
Then, out of the blue, my boss asked me if I would join him at a different bank. ... I need to decide soon and I can't say a word of it to anyone else working there.
Sure sounds like poaching to me. Can the former manager get away with it? Maybe. But if not, it's the OP who will likely be thrown under the bus as former boss saves his own *****.
I jumped ship twice with my boss and I didn't regret it.
I would not have done it if I hadn't received the guarantee that I would go in with the same amount of vacation and sick leave that I had worked up to in the old place. I wasn't about to start all over again with having to wait a full year for two weeks of vacation. As the old boss was the new President in the new places, that could be arranged. ANYTHING can be arranged if the big boss says so. Pay had to be better, too.
We worked well together as a team and I'm not sure I would have ever had that type of working relationship with anyone else.
No they aren't. The Apple:google:adobe issue was based on anti-trust issues. The three companies colluded, reducing the competitiveness of the marketplace. This robbed people of bargaining power and the ability to gain employment.
Any individual company can still have managers sign, and subsequently enforce, a no-poaching clause. They cannot collude with competitors on it though
This is all a diversion though. We don't know that OP's manager has signed any type of agreement or if manager is in violation. Even if manager did, it would have zero impact on OP. If manager does have a no-poach, then the original company can sue the manager in civil court. Doesn't effect OP, as OP cannot violate a contract he isn't a party to.
This is all a diversion though. We don't know that OP's manager has signed any type of agreement or if manager is in violation. Even if manager did, it would have zero impact on OP. If manager does have a no-poach, then the original company can sue the manager in civil court. Doesn't effect OP, as OP cannot violate a contract he isn't a party to.
It potentially does affect the OP if the manager gets caught in violation of whatever contract he's signed and decides to back out of keeping the OP on to make the problem go away. All of the companies I've worked with for over the past few decades have had no poaching requirements as a condition of leaving the company.
If the OP decides to take a chance, fine -- he asked for opinions on jumping ship, and I gave my opinion. If a manager I didn't like tried to hire me away, I didn't know the circumstances of his leaving or whatever agreements he'd signed with my company, and the company was in obvious distress, I would as I said not go where the manager is, and start hunting for positions elsewhere. Based on 40+ years in various industries, it's what I would call a no brainer.
The real problem here is the OP's statement "... fear that they would be screwed if I left". If they are, it's their problem, not his. They'll can him in a second if it's to their advantage.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
