What to Do (Look for new job?)

[Your Old Dog]

You should always be looking to better yourself. However, when you're in the stream of life just don't jump till you have another stone to head for! I find it keeps the employer a little humble. Find a new job, turn in your notice and then you'll get to kick it around with the boss and sometimes promotions come of that ! You could actually end up with the job you want if it actually exist at your plant. But you had better mean what you say once you tip your hand. Not a good idea to bluff as you might find yourself swimming like hell just to keep your head above water.

Advice given to me by a Supervisor over 30 years ago. "Don't chase the buck while looking for a career. If you got the passion the money will come." Theres a lot of dirt poor Phd's out there and a lot of wealthy high school grads with passion. Hope that makes sense to you.

Good luck, nice to see a young man with ambition. My guess is you ain't got your face pierced with a lot of nails and such. (PC: not that there's anything wrong with boring holes thru your body. We do it in steel, why not ourselves right?)



[This message has been edited by Your Old Dog (edited 03-18-2005).]

[wierdscience]

"As long as you are willing to learn there will be someone willing to teach" told to me by an 85 year old machinist.

I would stick it out until your finished and making $$$$,then put together a full blown shop at home.Reason I say this is you sound a lot like me,a person who really wants his own business.

[rockrat]

You have a lot of good advice here in this thread Derek. These gents have been in the same situation as you. I might be able to give you some thoughts from a different angle.

I will give away a little of what I do and pass a thought along. I am a Manufacturing Engineer that also manages a tool room. I don’t know everything, but the group that works for me comprises a huge quantity of experience and information. (Very similar to this BBS) Working as a team is how we get the job done. This is what makes our shop work well.

I don’t know your superior or how the company operates, but I will say this; I appreciate it when one of the associates working in our group approaches me and lets me in on some information that they have been bored or things are a little too plain. It gives me a chance to move things around and mix it up a little bit. I get in a rhythm as well and many times I will give similar jobs to the same guy without thinking.

When the associates that I supervise approach me with this type of information it helps me do my job better and I feel comfortable about decisions that I make or things that I need to say in big meetings with the top management. When these lines of communication don’t exist, things start falling apart and I get uncomfortable. I feel like I have to pull double duty, hawk over all of the work being done and I know that the fellows that I work with dont appreciate it when I pace the floor waiting on the work to finish.

Now remember, there are boring jobs that need done in every shop. That’s just how it is. Also, you are in training. You are bound to get a lot of the basics, but this is a good thing. The basics create the foundation to build the other information and experience on. (bla bla bla, all of the same stuff you have heard before )

In the end, think about this a bit. Your supervisor is there to remove obstacles for you. That is to say, he/she should have your next job ready or be watching ahead to make sure there is the correct material available for your job, etc. Next, have a good talking relationship with your boss; this will make him feel comfortable with you at work. And I can’t begin to tell you how this effects how I manage. When I’m comfortable with an associate, I know that I can assign them the work at hand, and it will get done.

Don’t bring complaints to your boss without solutions. When someone approaches me with a complaint and a solution, I know that they are thinking and not just complaining. Much easier to work together and solve the problem quickly. Again, this will make your boss feel comfortable with you. In turn, this can help you in your quest for more of a challenge.

On leaving a current job, something I have noticed in talking with other supervisors in different companies, don’t quit your job until you have a job lined up. For multiple reasons, some mentioned in this thread previously. Mainly, I find that other employers look harder at people without jobs than at those whom are currently employed and looking for better employment. Seeing as though I have to interview, I was curious about this and asked about the reasoning. I was told that if a fellow is not working, it could imply that he is unemployable due to attitude, working ability or some other thing that an employer can’t control or fix. More than just one person has relayed this to me. Three different friends in similar situations have noted this to me.

Lastly, if an employee approaches me with the information that he or she is leaving, it gives me a chance to make their current job work better for them. Giving me a chance to make a change is better than dropping the bomb on me and just leaving. Remember that bit above about your manager removing obstacles for you? There have been a few times that I could not make the situation better due to pay freezes or the employee really getting a good deal somewhere different; and at that point, good for them. They have tried to make their life better and I can’t complain about a fellow that does this.

Hope this helps you a bit. Big decisions take time to make. Keep thinking about it and don’t burn bridges, you might get a good opportunity to return. And it does sound like a good place to work.

[debequem]

Why not just ask your present employer for more work/opportunities?

Ken put it well about people asking to do more. Your company is investing in you. Asking for more opportunities is showing you respect that investment.

Have a heart-to-heart with your supervisor. Make it clear to him that you are interested in learning new things and increasing your value to the company. The word value should be in italics.

Remember, everyone hires for the same job, no matter what it is; from surgeon to ditch digger. You are a problem solver. People are paid for the "programming between their ears." You sound like you want to increase your tool chest of knowledge and experience and that is very important to becoming a competent problem solver.

Showing a genuine interest toward self-improvement and your worth to your company goes a long way. If you present a convincing argument to your supervisor that you are ready to take on new challenges, chances are you will get what you ask for.

If you don’t get what you ask for, politely ask why and what you must first do to get to that point. Listen to his feedback and consider things that you may be weak at and corrective actions. Work with your supervisor to map out a clear set of steps and goals to get where you want to be. Make each step small enough to realize, but not so easy as to not challenge you. Once both you and your supervisor have a road map for your development it will be much easier to see and realize progress, step by step.

Here are a few points (in order of importance) to consider as attributes that an employer considers golden:

1) Willingness: A will to do the job and grow toward new challenges. Ask for new responsibilities when you have fulfilled your present ones.

2) Manageability: A supervisor’s worst nightmare is an employee that can’t be managed or burns up excessive amounts of their time to stay on task.

3) Teamwork: You must be able to work well with others and generate a positive work environment.

4) Dependability: The ability to align to the companies goals and share the company’s values, then execute those goals and values in a consistent way. Integrity.

5) Skill: Skill is the last thing on the list! Surprised? I would rather have someone that scores very high on items 1 through 4 with no or little skill than some cantankerous soul with all the knowledge in the world but is unwilling, unmanageable, undependable, and unpleasant to work with.

Hope this helps give you some perspective. I would start by working with the company you have as much as you can. If you find that they can not fulfill your needs, and then start looking around for someplace that can, but don’t jump ship until you are absolutely sure that you have a better environment to go to. I doubt that you have to do that!

Let us know how it goes and good luck!

Marv

[Sprague M]

What everyone has said. Plus, as an employer, before I look deep into qualifications. I look at work history, some guys bounce from shop to shop because nobody likes them. Some because they get bored. Anything less than three years and I am thinking the previous, especially since I know the conditions of most other shops.
Look for a better position inside where you are, whether it's for better work or better people to work with.

Matt

[Wirecutter]

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[This message has been edited by Wirecutter (edited 01-28-2006).]

[Derek13]

Thank you all very much for your helpful advice!