Switching jobs

For any one who does not know, I am about to switch job.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

I have been at the current place for two years. Trying to do my work as best I could. Made progress both at work and personal.

The big question I have been asked is “Why?”

And the truth is, I have yet to give a full answer to that, even to myself.

I am leaving a job where:

• I am told by everyone that I am appreciated - Flattering for sure.
• I enjoy the people I work with - No soul mates, but I can talk to and enjoy it.
• The office environment is great - with toys directed to my taste.
• The commute distance is fairly small - 30min in each direction usually, and it can get up to 90min on rare occasions.
• The company product makes business sense to me, and I think the company will succeed even more than it does now. It does have sides I do not like, and they grow over time.
• The development process in the company and the team is in a constant improvement process.

And I switch to a new job where:

• I will have to prove myself all over again.
• I will work with new people, those I met makes great first impression, but I bet there will be people I will like less then others.
• The office environment looks comparable, and there is the prospect of doing the work from home over time (this also has downside since history show me I perform better at the office rather than at home)
• The commute time is about to be tripped, and I just heard over the radio it will get harder due to construction work in the railway.
• The product has its issues, but is more to my liking, but I do not know first hand how it is being developed, yet.
• The development process I have been presented with looks great, and more structured, but I will have to learn it.

So why do it?

The HR person I talked to points the finger at how HR companies behave.

As soon as they get a negative answer that is less strong than “get lost!” they start to smell the blood in the water and circle the candidate with offers until one of them sticks.

The description fits the behavior I saw, but does not fit my situation. I did started this cycle of offers, but I terminated it before I got the offer I eventually went for, and that one did not came through an HR company.

When I talked to my current boss (and to others) I talked about the things I did not like at work: management decisions I did not like, development decisions I disagree with, product directions not to my taste. All those are excuses and not reasons. They are all true, but none of them was enough to cause me to leave my work earlier and they were true a month ago just the same.

So why? Was there a good reason?

I am not sure. I know it was boiling in me for a while, and took time to happen. All those small things did nag me at the back of my head, but recently it got to the point that the decision to leave was already done, the question was when and where to. When the proper offer came along, it only took one more incident of discomfort to push make it the answer to both questions.

Timing is everything 😉