Quitting work on the spot

Thaksins Love Child said:
I work a 9 - 5 office job in senior management. I will sometimes work outside of those hours either in the office or from home. That's my choice but there is an expectation that I will work if needed. I quite regularly come in to emails from the night before or early that day from customers/suppliers so it is a very normal thing to do a bit extra.
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Night before/early morning I can just about understand, but if you're in a 9-5 (or for arguments sake, you work largely Monday to Friday), then receiving an email at 11pm on a Saturday night is simply not acceptable, and a sign of really poor culture.

That email can be sent at 11pm on a Saturday, but not land in your inbox until the Monday morning, had the sender taken a bit of care about your welfare, by scheduling it to send at 9am on the Monday.

Clearly they don't give a shit about when you're sat thinking about work. Some people can ignore it until the Monday, however, a lot will see the email on a Saturday night as an emergency, and either reply to it straight away, or sit worrying about it until the Monday morning.
 
Lovebitesandeveryfing said:
I understand you (and by the way, three cheers to you for not replying), but you see what that implies: in certain companies, for certain jobs, you are assumed to be available 24/7. Well, unless I was a futures trader, or something like that, pulling down a five figure bonus at the end of the year (or six?), and obviously in a job where markets are worldwide and shifting all the time, there is no way I would accept that. No way.
Certain doctors are, I believe, on call like that. That also, you can understand.
Otherwise, I think it's downright rude. Your ex-boss is clearly someone who doesn't have a life. Sad, in a way.
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I totally agree with that sentiment. When I was young I felt it was a worthwhile sacrifice but these days I’m much more protective of my hours. It’s easier though now because I’m more senior and not so bothered about trying to impress.

The people we are talking about in my industry fit broadly in two camps:
1) people who earn six figure bonuses
2) people who desperately want to be promoted to be a person earning a six figure bonus

As always, it’s the money that makes people crazy. I would be surprised to see it happening in companies with no monetary incentive.
 
SkyBlueFlux said:
I totally agree with that sentiment. When I was young I felt it was a worthwhile sacrifice but these days I’m much more protective of my hours. It’s easier though now because I’m more senior and not so bothered about trying to impress.

The people we are talking about in my industry fit broadly in two camps:
1) people who earn six figure bonuses
2) people who desperately want to be promoted to be a person earning a six figure bonus

As always, it’s the money that makes people crazy. I would be surprised to see it happening in companies with no monetary incentive.
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Little story, which I think you'll like.
Good friends of mine have daughters (four of them!) The eldest married a guy who's a legal eagle, top, top lawyer involved in company law. Earning pretty good money, but doing all the hours God sends. When their baby was born, he just wasn't seeing anything of her.
He went to the company and told them he was handing in his notice. He told them why. They immediately offered a huge salary hike (or bonus, can't remember which). They simply didn't believe that he could genuinely want to see something of his child growing up. They thought it was a negotiating ploy!
He stood by his word, and left them utterly baffled…
 
Lovebitesandeveryfing said:
Little story, which I think you'll like.
Good friends of mine have daughters (four of them!) The eldest married a guy who's a legal eagle, top, top lawyer involved in company law. Earning pretty good money, but doing all the hours God sends. When their baby was born, he just wasn't seeing anything of her.
He went to the company and told them he was handing in his notice. He told them why. They immediately offered a huge salary hike (or bonus, can't remember which). They simply didn't believe that he could genuinely want to see something of his child growing up. They thought it was a negotiating ploy!
He stood by his word, and left them utterly baffled…
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Good for him! People who care about nothing but money are often shocked when they find that some people care about things other than money.

For me, money has one purpose - It buys you time. Time to live your life and do what you truly want to do. Money for the sake of money never made much sense to me.
 
Lovebitesandeveryfing said:
Little story, which I think you'll like.
Good friends of mine have daughters (four of them!) The eldest married a guy who's a legal eagle, top, top lawyer involved in company law. Earning pretty good money, but doing all the hours God sends. When their baby was born, he just wasn't seeing anything of her.
He went to the company and told them he was handing in his notice. He told them why. They immediately offered a huge salary hike (or bonus, can't remember which). They simply didn't believe that he could genuinely want to see something of his child growing up. They thought it was a negotiating ploy!
He stood by his word, and left them utterly baffled…
Click to expand...
Working all hours god sends , and I mean all hours, 70/80 a week ( it was my own business ) cost me my first marriage. I had to fight myself just to get a weeks family holiday and even then I was thinking of work. I look at my daughter and her partner and the time they spend and the activities they are involved in with my grand daughter and I wish I could have wound the clock back.....
 
chris85mcfc said:
Night before/early morning I can just about understand, but if you're in a 9-5 (or for arguments sake, you work largely Monday to Friday), then receiving an email at 11pm on a Saturday night is simply not acceptable, and a sign of really poor culture.

That email can be sent at 11pm on a Saturday, but not land in your inbox until the Monday morning, had the sender taken a bit of care about your welfare, by scheduling it to send at 9am on the Monday.

Clearly they don't give a shit about when you're sat thinking about work. Some people can ignore it until the Monday, however, a lot will see the email on a Saturday night as an emergency, and either reply to it straight away, or sit worrying about it until the Monday morning.
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There's a Gifford at my place who sends emails on Sunday afternoon. It's completely futile given I wont read it until Monday morning. I often think people do this to try and appear hard working, in my view it's poor time and work load management.
 
Thought I'd offer a final resolution to this story to put a bow on it.

I served my three months in the purgatory known as my notice period. During that time, I entered into three interview processes with different companies. This was all happening throughout January, February and March. I did the bare minimum when it came to my day job, only going in the office about once a month. Didn't speak to the CEO once, because he's an unprofessional git.

Today, I received a job offer from one of the companies I've interviewed with that I can't turn down. The other option still in the running will not be able to match them.

I am going to be working for a company in a similar but slightly different segment of the industry, doing a role that is as close as I'm going to get to my perfect fit. I've been negotiating what this role looks like with four of the senior staff members there - it wasn't a posted role, I went to the company (I have a contact there) and pitched that I think they needed somebody with my skills. Not something I've ever done before and completely out of my comfort zone.

I'll be leading on a 3-5 year project, I get to choose who I'd prefer to report into while I do that (one of the people I've been speaking to seems like a great guy to work with and a natural fit - polar opposite of my old nob head of a boss). The role is already one rank higher than I was, but I'll also be on an accelerated 18-24 month path to promotion if I can deliver successfully. The real kicker, my comp package will be about 60% more.

And the cherry on the top. I have now finished my notice period and I have a full month to relax until I start fresh.

The lesson here is - don't feel you have to put up with shit bosses who act like psychopaths. Know your market value and what you bring to the table. Back yourself.
 
That sounds great. Congrats! Quitting my previous job was my best decision ever. After that i started my own digital marketing business and manage all the communication through enterprise SMS. The most important here - i am my own boss now and can have as much vacation as i want.
 
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SkyBlueFlux said:
Thought I'd offer a final resolution to this story to put a bow on it.

I served my three months in the purgatory known as my notice period. During that time, I entered into three interview processes with different companies. This was all happening throughout January, February and March. I did the bare minimum when it came to my day job, only going in the office about once a month. Didn't speak to the CEO once, because he's an unprofessional git.

Today, I received a job offer from one of the companies I've interviewed with that I can't turn down. The other option still in the running will not be able to match them.

I am going to be working for a company in a similar but slightly different segment of the industry, doing a role that is as close as I'm going to get to my perfect fit. I've been negotiating what this role looks like with four of the senior staff members there - it wasn't a posted role, I went to the company (I have a contact there) and pitched that I think they needed somebody with my skills. Not something I've ever done before and completely out of my comfort zone.

I'll be leading on a 3-5 year project, I get to choose who I'd prefer to report into while I do that (one of the people I've been speaking to seems like a great guy to work with and a natural fit - polar opposite of my old nob head of a boss). The role is already one rank higher than I was, but I'll also be on an accelerated 18-24 month path to promotion if I can deliver successfully. The real kicker, my comp package will be about 60% more.

And the cherry on the top. I have now finished my notice period and I have a full month to relax until I start fresh.

The lesson here is - don't feel you have to put up with shit bosses who act like psychopaths. Know your market value and what you bring to the table. Back yourself.
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Well done and congratulations mate!
 
Never quit on the spot, but I’ve been sacked on the spot for no apparent reason! ( other than my boss being a cu*t he was a Chelsea supporter & his partner in the business was a Utd fan, this was back in 2003, & they enjoyed taking the piss, I hope they remember me fondly)! Just got back from holiday & he told me to clear my desk “you’ve got 5 mins” wouldn’t tell me why. I later found out he’d replaced me while I was away on holiday.
I got paid to the end of the month, so I just thought fu*k it, not worth kicking up a fuss, I’ll just get another job, which I did, closer to home & with a 30% payrise.
Fast forward to present day & I’m about to go part time in my current job, & relocate to Mauritius. Life is indeed too short, it’s about time I learned to surf
 
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