Redundant: the Find Me a Career Thread!

[Wools]

****ing brilliant, I’m so happy to hear that Neon Ignition congratulations!

[Anpanman]

Great stuff Neon you must be well chuffed, relieved, happy & every other positive word I could think of.

[Neon Ignition]

Definitely, though straight away I've started feeling off colour. Possibly coincidence but wouldn't surprise me if the stress is finally catching me up

[QualityChimp]

Well, as your forum Manager, I hope when you start your new job, your site productivity doesn't dip or you'll be having a disciplinary.

[wakka]

It's his wife's job so we are safe.

Classic that you would get ill now Neon, sorry to hear that. I always find it's just at the moment when I relax after a period of stress I become ill like that.

[QualityChimp]

Phew!

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, every time I take A/L it hits me too. Should make for a fun Xmas

[Wools]

How's everyone getting on work wise, hope it's all going well?

Been at my new place for almost 3 months in 1 week and have heard nothing but positivity, so my probation should be in the bag. The work is solid and not awful, people are generally nice but the commute is not great, they don't allow WFH as a long term option, it's not that creative and my pay and career is a step down, too.

So with all that in mind, I've had an unexpected, indecent proposal from an old opportunity. I got through to a final stage interview late last year at a huge EV company for a QA Manager position and although all signs were good, I got the rejection 1 week later, with feedback along the lines of; You were both great and their was nothing in it, but they went with the other guy. So I've forgot about this place for over 4 months now. I got a phone call out the blue yesterday from the same recruiter asking if I was still interested in that job. Turns out, the guy they picked is parting ways and before looking again, they wanted to reach out to me as they said; They really liked you and their was nothing in it, but they picked the other bloke. Now he's going, they were reminded how good you were and they really want you to consider the role, if you're still up for it.

If I agree to meet with them again, we'll apparently have 1 informal chat, confirm we're all on the same page and they'll make me an offer in the meeting. I'll have a few questions like why did the other guy leave, if they didn't want me on 1st go, do they really want me for sloppy seconds and I have a few concerns I won't mention here. But if my concerns are somewhat allayed, then I think I'll be saying yes. Half the distance for commuting, back to managerial level, 10 more days holiday, £25K more and a brighter outlook. It has been nice stepping down from management after almost 15 years being in that level, but the disconnect I have after being used to it is frustrating, especially when I'm looking at my current manager with suspicious eyes. Not in an Elvis like way, though.

So yes, I've said yes to the recruiter and she's waiting to hear back from them. If they come back with a yes, then I guess I'll be going down this road again. Nervous but very excited.

[Asura]

So yes, I've said yes to the recruiter and she's waiting to hear back from them. If they come back with a yes, then I guess I'll be going down this road again. Nervous but very excited.

I would suggest you don't labour too much on the point of why they chose the other guy. I've recruited a few times where it's come down to ~2-4 people where there's just nothing in it, and the candidates are even quite similar people - and you have to make the choice on something really arbitrary. Even if there is a reason, it's probably nothing and doesn't make a huge difference.

[CMcK]

I’ve got two shifts left at my current job. Starting a new one nearby on Monday. Going to be strange as I’m leaving a site I’ve worked on since 1994. At least I have some prior experience of the new place albeit when I was still an apprentice. And I’m fortunate it’s local so my commute will still be short.

[Mayhem]

So yes, I've said yes to the recruiter and she's waiting to hear back from them. If they come back with a yes, then I guess I'll be going down this road again. Nervous but very excited.

Yeah I'd be asking why the other guy is leaving so quickly too.

Could be worse. When I was let go by Citrix, it turns out both myself and my manager went for the same job at Moonpig to run their app QA dept. I suspect my manager got the position over me because of his greater experience in managing teams. Turns out Moonpig changed its mind six months down the line, made all the devs into dev testers and scraped the entire dedicated QA dept. So he was back to looking for work again.

[endo]

and I have a few concerns I won't mention here.

Tesla?

[Neon Ignition]

The missus is at the same point, halfway through probationary now, and currently things seem to be going well. The boss has stressed they're very happy with her work and things seem to be very busy so no real question that the work isn't there so technically it's going well - she's struggling to settle into that mindset though, she's still primed with mistrust after what happened in the last job that they might turn around on a dime and make her redundant again.

[Wools]

I would suggest you don't labour too much on the point of why they chose the other guy. I've recruited a few times where it's come down to ~2-4 people where there's just nothing in it, and the candidates are even quite similar people - and you have to make the choice on something really arbitrary. Even if there is a reason, it's probably nothing and doesn't make a huge difference.

Thanks for the positive outlook! It was painful at the time as I felt we were a good match and the feedback was very much like; You were both great but he was the Unicorn candidate, so **** you! However, like you say, I've hired before and sometimes you need to throw a dart to make a decision. And to be fair to them, they've come cap in hand to me and seem honest and open. Got a call with them after work this week virtually, we'll see how it goes.

I’ve got two shifts left at my current job. Starting a new one nearby on Monday. Going to be strange as I’m leaving a site I’ve worked on since 1994. At least I have some prior experience of the new place albeit when I was still an apprentice. And I’m fortunate it’s local so my commute will still be short.

You've worked their since 1994... I started my so-called professional career in 2003 and don't want to look at my LinkedIn to see how many jobs I've had in-between then and now. That's an amazing run, mind me asking what profession you're in? Now I'm 40, I would like to settle down a bit.

Yeah I'd be asking why the other guy is leaving so quickly too.

Could be worse. When I was let go by Citrix, it turns out both myself and my manager went for the same job at Moonpig to run their app QA dept. I suspect my manager got the position over me because of his greater experience in managing teams. Turns out Moonpig changed its mind six months down the line, made all the devs into dev testers and scraped the entire dedicated QA dept. So he was back to looking for work again.

I'll be asking, don't worry! To be fair, I'm in that blokes position, having my skirt blown up and realising I can leave with 1 weeks notice now or in 2 weeks time, I have to wait 3 bloody months. I think I've left 3 jobs during my probation period, all due to me and having another job lined up. This could be my 4th!

Ouch, sounds like a **** decision at Moonpig, which is a real shame. Working in QA for most of my adult life, I've frequently seen that paraded around; QA are the lowest of the ladder, Programmers can do their job, a QA member should actually just code to do the job etc. Letting programmers write their own tests is like marking your own homework, and when do they have the time to do that, anyway? And when you can code to the level I do (Just enough to be dangerous) it's not actually that difficult to learn a coding language and associated QA framework to test an App / Website etc.

As time has gone on, I'm confident enough QA will be around for a long time to come as merging QA into Dev has not worked in any project I'm aware of, as there's always a trade off. Ops / Production?! There's a sector I would love to up skill or be merged out of existence!

Tesla?

I can neither confirm nor deny.

The missus is at the same point, halfway through probationary now, and currently things seem to be going well. The boss has stressed they're very happy with her work and things seem to be very busy so no real question that the work isn't there so technically it's going well - she's struggling to settle into that mindset though, she's still primed with mistrust after what happened in the last job that they might turn around on a dime and make her redundant again.

I'm so happy to hear about her progress Neon. Totally understand her mindset though; Work have absolutely ****ed me over the years, all within a veiled smile of "We're doing this for the best interests of the business" but then destroying the employee or company. Since the early 2010's I subscribe to the mindset of work smarter not harder, the only reward for hard work is more work. If there's any issue at a work place, I try and resolve it. I want as much money as possible. I call out **** where I can, but when I know a co-worker / department / workflow won't change and it's effecting me negatively, I either seek to move myself away from them or just leave, a job isn't worth any anguish.

I remember when I worked in games, I was paid **** but so appreciative about working on an artful project. Looking back, me and so many of our kind were abused for our innocence and paid for it. Luckily I was able to get out and I've carried that mindset of I need to be rewarded for my effort. Still seeking that now in my 40's. I feel like I'm nearly there.

[CMcK]

You've worked their since 1994... I started my so-called professional career in 2003 and don't want to look at my LinkedIn to see how many jobs I've had in-between then and now. That's an amazing run, mind me asking what profession you're in? Now I'm 40, I would like to settle down a bit.

I started out doing electrical maintenance on single and three phase stuff then moved into operations which I've done for twenty odd years. I know it's unusual to stay in the one job for so long these days but it's local and the pay is decent. Even with all the erosion to the package over the years it was still the best thing on offer without going offshore or to the middle east. Maybe this job will get me to retirement but I'm not holding out any hope.