How to leave a job?

TallGlass

I started my job about 5 months ago its in IT, it's a Geo split helpdesk role. We have guys in the US and 4 of us in Dublin. I am basically not happy with this job and want out, the people are nice but the workload is mental, just asked to do 101 things a day(monitoring, user tickets, phone calls, ringing, taking notes of meetings, VIP requests, projects, shift changes at a moments notice, then been available for training). I find the helpdesk in this company is basically the goons of the company, we do everything the other teams don't want to do, no questions asked (so its an ever increasing workload). Inside of the IT department, I feel like an outsider to other teams, which I think is wrong as we all come under the IT umbrella company wise. Example, if I was to ask someone for advise or help, it seems like an awfully big deal and well I won't mention what happens when you ask the wrong person to do something. I feel its like a giant game of pass the parcel and the amount of finger pointing between teams. When I joined this job there was talk of promotions if you say on this job for a year or two, you'll get moved to another team, software/networking etc.. But I just can't wait that long, I am loosing my time.

I want to leave at the end of the month after I get paid, I am thinking of just saying this Friday to my manager that I will be finishing up next Friday.

How should I approach this? I would like to leave on good terms, the other thing is one of the guys is due to go on holidays next week, so if I leave then the team will be down to 2 people. I did feel bad about this but I don't think its my problem? As my manager said to me, 'sure it was mental before you joined at the start of the year and we got thru that', in a kinda of sure everything is alright. This was after me complaining, jokingly that the US team look under pressure with 3 people and I got routed 16 tickets in my queue.

Please any help would be great, basically I would like advise on the above, how to say I am leaving, a reason for my leaving so I can do it on good terms. I would also imagine that I have no minimum notice as I am on probation.

Cheers and thanks for all your replies.

Mrs OBumble

What does your contract say?

What will do you for money after you leave? (You won't be eligible for welfare for 9 weeks.)

thomas anderson.

Welcome to the world of IT buddy. I have worked in 4 IT companies and they have all been the same

timetogo

You can't leave on good terms if you just go. You have no minimum notice but while you can walk out with shag all notice there's no way to make that look good.

Give them 2 or 4 weeks notice. Your job will look a lot better when you have an end date for it. Maybe they can address your issues and get you to stay. Maybe not. You might need them for a reference for your next job.

Don't worry about letting them down. It's business. Tell them you've been offered another position somewhere else. They won't care too much.

If it was me though I'd get a job lined up elsewhere and then quit.

TallGlass

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

What does your contract say?

What will do you for money after you leave? (You won't be eligible for welfare for 9 weeks.)

I have another job to fall back on in June (this offer expires next months). So will be out of work for around 4 weeks, I don't mind as will just use it as time off to relax.

thomas anderson. wrote: »

Welcome to the world of IT buddy. I have worked in 4 IT companies and they have all been the same

Are you on the helpdesk? I knew it wasn't going to be plain sailing in IT, its made out to be better than it is, maybe in the likes of Google, Facebook etc.. It might be good in there but any where else it kind of sucks.

In fact it sucks so much, I am thinking of just going into something entirely different away from IT.

Graham

TallGlass wrote: »

how to say I am leaving, a reason for my leaving so I can do it on good terms. I would also imagine that I have no minimum notice as I am on probation.

That sounds like most helpdesk roles to be honest.

For a lot of people, the helpdesk is the first rung of the ladder for a career in IT, an unfortunate side of this is you get the crap jobs. That tends to ease off as you move to 2nd/3rd line or into other IT related disciplines.

First line helpdesk can be high pressure (as you're discovering) but generally the stress stops at knocking off time and you can forget about work until the next day. Juggling a dozen different things is a skill which like most other skills takes practice. In other IT roles you'll be taking work home, trying to hit project deadlines, in other words different types of stress.

I would imagine you have a 1 month notice period but until you check your contract you won't know for sure. If you want to part on good terms and be able to go back for a reference give whatever notice your contract states.

elfy4eva

Print out a nice simple but formal resignation letter and give whatever notice you are required to. Just ask your HR manager for a 1-1 meeting and tell them you'd like to hand in your notice. To be honest if you're unhappy and going to leave there's not much more to it than that, if you don't want to tell them the true reasoning, you can say it's personal/family/partner issues.

Although personally I don't really see any problem with being honest with them about it so long as you are professional and tactful about it.

EDIT: You'd also be surprised the last moment efforts some places will go to keep a good member of staff from being snatched up elsewhere.

All the best either way.

TallGlass

timetogo wrote: »

You can't leave on good terms if you just go. You have no minimum notice but while you can walk out with shag all notice there's no way to make that look good.

Give them 2 or 4 weeks notice. Maybe they can address your issues and get you to stay. Maybe not. You might need them for a reference for your next job.

Don't worry about letting them down. It's business. Tell them you've been offered another position somewhere else. They won't care too much.

If it was me though I'd get a job lined up elsewhere and then quit.

Youve pretty much summed up my thoughts on it entirely, I feel what ever way I do this, its never going to be on good terms, but I could do with the reference been honest. I could just give my manager two weeks notice tomorrow, but in saying that I have heard of friends doing this and it entirely back firing on them. In which they are out of there arse at the end of the week.

About letting them down, again I felt bad about this up until Friday when it just came across to me as I am just another number.

The thing is I have another job to fall back on, different field but not a career type field basic work but I would be happier doing that then this.

I don't know if I should tell my manager Friday that I will be finishing up Friday week or just tell my manager Friday weekend that I won't be back.

Also Friday week as I don't want to stay another pay month and leave half way in as there is holidays off I have booked and make a mess of my work pay and have to go back to 'talk' it out etc..

TallGlass

Talking to my girlfriend about this and she said to ask to speak with my manager and just tell them I am not happy and would like to leave and is there any notice you'd like me to serve if not then I will be finishing up the end of the month.

I understand its level 1 and breaking into IT and all that but this is just mental, it would literally give you a nervous breakdown. One guy started before me and lasted one day, another 5 days. What makes it harder is the lack of support from the other teams. One morning I rang a guy in this US was 3/4am there about an alert, he took my head off because it was a backup line.

All in all for me the negatives are piling up and then only positive is some experience and the promise I could move to another team.

Graham

TallGlass wrote: »

All in all for me the negatives are piling up and then only positive is some experience and the promise I could move to another team.

Don't be too quick to write off the value of the experience. If you're keen, you're able to learn quickly and you're prepared to job-hop every 18 months or so, you should see a couple of very significant jumps in salary for the next few years.

If you think it's the company you're not suited to (rather than the career choice), find yourself a similar role somewhere else before you hand in your notice.

thomas anderson.

TallGlass wrote: »

I have another job to fall back on in June (this offer expires next months). So will be out of work for around 4 weeks, I don't mind as will just use it as time off to relax.



Are you on the helpdesk? I knew it wasn't going to be plain sailing in IT, its made out to be better than it is, maybe in the likes of Google, Facebook etc.. It might be good in there but any where else it kind of sucks.

In fact it sucks so much, I am thinking of just going into something entirely different away from IT.

I've been on the help desk in 2 roles and a deployment role in the others. This is how IT works. Even if you move up the ladder say on to level 2 or 3 support its going to be the same kinda thing.

Best thing to do; prioritize your workload and leave the rest at the door when you leave in the evening. Don't let it get to you and remember there are plenty of other companies you can go work for

skallywag

You may still have a notice period within your probation, but it's normally very short in my own experience, a week or so perhaps. Your employment contract will call this out in detail though, have you taken a look?

chrisvectra25

Usually under 1 year you would only have to give 1 week notice. If you give 2 weeks and they ask you to leave straight away they would normally pay out your notice.

This only usually happens when you are going to a competitor.

My experience is in the retail sector but I would be confident principles are the same.

The longer notice you give the better terms you will leave on. Worth bearing in mind for getting a reference

Graham

The only people who can state definitively what the notice period is are the people that have seen the OPs contract of employment.

Mrs OBumble

chrisvectra25 wrote: »

My experience is in the retail sector but I would be confident principles are the same.

I wouldn't.

Even if you are still on probation, I would be surprised if an IT role has a notice period of less than one month. But as the last poster said - what matters is what's said in the contract.

thomas anderson.

Graham wrote: »

Don't be too quick to write off the value of the experience. If you're keen, you're able to learn quickly and you're prepared to job-hop every 18 months or so, you should see a couple of very significant jumps in salary for the next few years.

If you think it's the company you're not suited to (rather than the career choice), find yourself a similar role somewhere else before you hand in your notice.

This

Ive doubled my salary in less than 3 years with some pretty high profile companies on my CV

TallGlass

thomas anderson. wrote: »

This

Ive doubled my salary in less than 3 years with some pretty high profile companies on my CV

That is interesting, did you have many changes? What was your average time spent at a company?

I will have to check my contract, but can't seem to find it! I'm nearly sure it mentioned 1 week when outside of probation, nothing inside of probation. Whats the burn out time on a person on this type of role? I'm only at this 5 months but it feels like I have been doing it around 3 years.

Could you land a System Engineer role, Network Engineer role fresh out of college or is it a case of you must start in this type of role. If I went back to college would it help me get a better type of role?

thomas anderson.

TallGlass wrote: »

That is interesting, did you have many changes? What was your average time spent at a company?

I will have to check my contract, but can't seem to find it! I'm nearly sure it mentioned 1 week when outside of probation, nothing inside of probation. Whats the burn out time on a person on this type of role? I'm only at this 5 months but it feels like I have been doing it around 3 years.

Could you land a System Engineer role, Network Engineer role fresh out of college or is it a case of you must start in this type of role. If I went back to college would it help me get a better type of role?

Average time was probably 10 months. The hours were awful in 2 of them so left after a few months . In one of them I gave them a weeks notice, I was still on my probation. They offered more money to stay but I said no, my quality of life was terrible.

Currently just over the 6 months in my new role but it is exhausting. Have to do a lot of donkey work and not really progressing into higher level work. Thinking about switching again

If you're not happy, get out, life is too short. Just make sure you have something to fall back on.

TallGlass

thomas anderson. wrote: »

Average time was probably 10 months. The hours were awful in 2 of them so left after a few months . In one of them I gave them a weeks notice, I was still on my probation. They offered more money to stay but I said no, my quality of life was terrible.

Currently just over the 6 months in my new role but it is exhausting. Have to do a lot of donkey work and not really progressing into higher level work. Thinking about switching again

If you're not happy, get out, life is too short. Just make sure you have something to fall back on.

What type of hours? Did you have any certs going into this role. Im wondering if I should switch careers altogether.

thomas anderson.

TallGlass wrote: »

What type of hours? Did you have any certs going into this role. Im wondering if I should switch careers altogether.

It was shift work, all random hours to coincide with the States and other timezones . They included weekends and nights. Had some comptia and Windows exams.

This is my second career. getting too old to start another one so gonna stick this one out

TallGlass

Ok, so just an update on this. Still in the same place, and still feeling pretty miserable in the place.

The office atmosphere is non exisitant apart from a few guys I would talk to, then there's one absolute idiot.

Is it like this in all offices?

Then there is my manager, who is as snappy as fook then as nice as pie and generally has no idea how to respect people. If something is one step out, there is nothing but drama, e-mails flying into you inbox asking why was this done/wasn't done, has this or that been done.

The amount of finger pointing that goes on is unreal, its like working with children, then the manger passes off every single bit of work to us and even told me we should be doing more !

Anyway, going to stuck it up till December and hand in my notice, its 4 weeks. At leased that way I will have 1 years experience.

Is it normal in IT to hate a job this much? I started a college course of my own back with no help from the company. My contract states I should work 37.5 hours per week, but I work 40 hours and not just because I leave late, I am rostered for that amount! There's no union, IMO this job has turned me off IT and even looking at other jobs, I am thinking is there a point are they all like this and to have started the college degree in IT.

I have my CCNA exam booked, I pray to god I pass it and get a networking job. If I was offered another job I wouldn't even wait the 4 weeks I would be gone tomorrow.

Surely this isn't normal. Please someone say all IT jobs are not like this!

The retail job is still there to fall back on, but only for a few weeks and I think if I don't stick this for the year, its like throwing away a few months of your no claims bonus at the start down the drain and having to go again at it again.

Stheno

TallGlass wrote: »

Ok, so just an update on this. Still in the same place, and still feeling pretty miserable in the place.

The office atmosphere is non exisitant apart from a few guys I would talk to, then there's one absolute idiot.

Is it like this in all offices?

Then there is my manager, who is as snappy as fook then as nice as pie and generally has no idea how to respect people. If something is one step out, there is nothing but drama, e-mails flying into you inbox asking why was this done/wasn't done, has this or that been done.

The amount of finger pointing that goes on is unreal, its like working with children, then the manger passes off every single bit of work to us and even told me we should be doing more !

Anyway, going to stuck it up till December and hand in my notice, its 4 weeks. At leased that way I will have 1 years experience.

Is it normal in IT to hate a job this much? I started a college course of my own back with no help from the company. My contract states I should work 37.5 hours per week, but I work 40 hours and not just because I leave late, I am rostered for that amount! There's no union, IMO this job has turned me off IT and even looking at other jobs, I am thinking is there a point are they all like this and to have started the college degree in IT.

I have my CCNA exam booked, I pray to god I pass it and get a networking job. If I was offered another job I wouldn't even wait the 4 weeks I would be gone tomorrow.

Surely this isn't normal. Please someone say all IT jobs are not like this!

.

I work in IT but have nearly 20 years experience now, and work as a consultant. At a helpdesk level, yes it can be miserable, and lonely and high pressured. Average attrition rates for people on help desks ranges from 9 months to two years across the industry.

That aside, IT is a fairly pressurised area to work in regardless of whether you are on a helpdesk, managing a project, doing infrastructure support or dev.

A lot of people find they simply cannot hack it.

Those that stay tend to have a genuine love of the area. It wouldn't be unusual for me to be onsite with a customer and on breaks for all of the discussion to be about new trends in the industry etc. Recently I was critical of a tool onsite and there were four people around me and it turned into a discussion of the best tools in the market e.g.

Btw, I started on a support desk doing tech support on a night shift for two years for American pc users back in the dark ages! I once spent three and a half HOURS on the phone with one customer stripping their machine back to the motherboard, and having discovered the problem, making throat slitting gestures across the desk, at the tech who'd previously dealt with the customer.

NotInventedHere

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