The ship is going down! UPDATE!!

[DRiP Guy]

The nice thing about going before I fully burned out was that I actually believe my staff and peers wished that I would stay. My staff saw me as a good buffer from BS and my peers saw me as a good mediator to limit theirs. Those were among my best skills and they are in top demand. It is a shame when your greatest skills are not your passions.

Could have came from my mouth. The military has a term "ROAD" = Retired On Active Duty : , and I saw quite a few of those types and vowed I never would become one. So far, I haven't, and I'll pull the plug myself in my current position before that happens.

 

[Nords]

The military has a term "ROAD" = Retired On Active Duty : , and I saw quite a few of those types and vowed I never would become one.

Ah, yes, the ROAD Scholars...

... at many of my commands they usually ended up becoming the XO's "Special Assistant". That was a pretty powerful motivator to return to being a contributor.

 

[lil_p]

I've been in similar situations. By the age of 23 I had been laid off twice. One airline went bankrupt, and another one outsourced myself and my department, I however ended up flying out to train my replacements and then eventually left, it was very strange.

I think it was the best thing that ever happened to me, as it made me realize I had to go back to school so I wouldn't end up like my co-workers which were freaking out. I think that if I had taken some of the worry out of the situation, I would have dealt with things a little better as far as utilizing my time off better and sneaking some travel in

I hope it all works out for you!

 

[HobbyDave]

Just thought I'd add in another ship going down story.

I was a technical cog in the wheel, one member of a team under two management people. Things went along ok for a number of years, though morale was fairly low. Then the atmosphere started declining (projects being announced late, deadlines which were far too aggressive, etc). At one point in time, I found out that every single member of the team I was on was looking for new jobs (including myself)

Then one member found a new job, and his position was not replaced. One of the managers was let go, and soon afterwards the other manager was transferred away. It seemed like only a matter of time before my small team would be gone. I thought about jumping ships, and came very close. Then the sale went through, and they suddenly needed my team back in action. Since I was still around and performing, I was moved up into management. I've been able to hire replacements in my team, and have been expanding the team.

So I suppose I'm repeating what others have said. When companies are having a bad time, sometimes it's a good thing to jump ship, and sometimes it becomes an opportunity.

 

[mjarzoms]

Thanks for the update slepyhed. Glad things worked out well for you and you made a great exit.

My 2 cents. When you can see the signs and know things are not going to last long is a depressing period. Hanging around can work out for you or not, your fate may not really be up to you. In the past I stuck around until being let go but I don't think I would do this again. Your financial position at the time has a lot to do with the decision. Living paycheck to paycheck will leave you little options but hopefully we all know this looking towards E/R.

-Mark