When to start looking or change your attitude?

[HornTootinEE]

So when do you start looking for other employment or just change your outlook/attitude? Any opinions?

 

[Kephart P.E.]

About the time you ask for advice from strangers online.

Seriously, if you dread going into work most days it is probably time, unless you think there is hope that things will improve.

To be honest with you this is why I became an Engineer and got my PE so I would never be stuck in a job I hated, but couldn't afford to quit.

 

[HornTootinEE]

HAHA Nice... when I start asking strangers online.

No, I was more curious about people's opinions. What do you put up with from a job, what do you not put up with in a job?

 

[rppearso]

That is a super vauge question. I dont put up with unethical people or substandard compensation and ethics spans a great distance (ex if a boss wants me to work long hours and wont compensate me as I see fit then I will just go home and he is in the wrong, its unethical to put someone in a position to sacrafice time with there family with no reward for that family for that sacrafice), if you want me to stamp something and take liability for it when it was not my work, sorry find some other schmuck. when you want me to work on a project and stamp it for inadaquate compensation that I determine based on the largest amount of money the market will bare for my time and skills. Right now I am paying off debt so I am in a bit of a vulnerable position but I am ballooning out all my debts including my mortgage so that I can afford to take staunch stances on such things while at the same time making myself a super star engineer in my market. As another poster pointed out the reason I went through the hell of an engineering degree and the PE exam as well as other misc training was so that I would not be expendable. I am also not going to tolerate micro management, if you want to micro manage someone go get a mcdonalds worker or a high school student.

 

[Dexman PE]

dammit

 

[wilheldp_PE]

Shit...someone reopened rppearso's box.

 

[maryannette]

Hey, djohnson, you can see I really do think it's all about attitude. I've been in some jobs from hell. I've never been in a position that I could just walk away, so I learned to tolerate and adapt. If you think you need to make a change, you probably do. It's a bad time to be looking for a better job. Most are thankful to have a job. Until you can get out, ADAPT! You will survive.

 

[JoeBoone82]

... I dont put up with substandard compensation.....

That's something that I've always wondered about. In the private industry those numbers are SO private that I really do not know how I compare to others. I know that we had a good thread on here about compensation, but it's difficult to find a large pool of your discipline that is in your geographic location to compare with. I always wonder what some around me are making, perhaps based on things like same college as management, kissing tail, etc and not on quality of work. What do you guys usually compare with? I've been at the same place since the summer internship before my last year of school.

 

[MechGuy]

Damn I thought he finally went away.

anyway, Mary is right. It's all about your specific situation and whether you can afford to leave and go looking for another position or not. If you're depending on this job for income and don't have alot in the bank, then you'll just have to find a way to deal with the situation until you can afford to look elsewhere.

If you can afford it now, then what are you waiting for? Find something else!

 

[MechGuy]

... I dont put up with substandard compensation.....

That's something that I've always wondered about. In the private industry those numbers are SO private that I really do not know how I compare to others. I know that we had a good thread on here about compensation, but it's difficult to find a large pool of your discipline that is in your geographic location to compare with. I always wonder what some around me are making, perhaps based on things like same college as management, kissing tail, etc and not on quality of work. What do you guys usually compare with? I've been at the same place since the summer internship before my last year of school.

Salary.com is a good resrouce to find a range of compensation for specific careers in different geographical regions...

 

[Mike in Gastonia]

... I dont put up with substandard compensation.....

That's something that I've always wondered about. In the private industry those numbers are SO private that I really do not know how I compare to others. I know that we had a good thread on here about compensation, but it's difficult to find a large pool of your discipline that is in your geographic location to compare with. I always wonder what some around me are making, perhaps based on things like same college as management, kissing tail, etc and not on quality of work. What do you guys usually compare with? I've been at the same place since the summer internship before my last year of school.

Salary.com is a good resrouce to find a range of compensation for specific careers in different geographical regions...

Or you could just have some totally unrealistic expectations based not on facts, but only what the voices in your head say. Like one person in this thread who shall remain nameless

rppearso

...........

 

[mizzoueng]

+1 with the asking online

I'm looking now, but I am not "changing my attitude", well, not much anyways. My supervisors supervisor (1+1) has a "sacrifice your life for the company" outlook on life. Its what he has always done and he thinks that everyone should do it as well. Now he has gotten some of the managers to go along with it, so that was my cue to start looking. I will still adapt and roll along with whatever comes my way, but it doesn't stop me from looking.

 

[HornTootinEE]

Sorry to open a sour conversation to some, I was just curious what other people think. It was a vague question intentionally. I wanted to see what people's reactions were

 

[EnvEngineer]

I think the most important time to look is when you feel your current postion will not meet your overall goals. I dont just mean $$. I assess all my needs and have always had a 5 year written plan of where I am going. How much time off do I need, what travel do I want, How much $$, what is my career goal and education goals, certification goals, is this a good retirement track. Goals can be a big attitude changer because it fill the blank space of why am I here doing this? Each year you can track how much progress you have made and decide if you want to make changes in your goals.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

When they bring in a business consultant, it is time to update the resume and hit Monster...

 

[Dexman PE]

When they bring in a business consultant, it is time to update the resume and hit Monster...

I wouldn't say I am "missing" work, Bob...

 

[JoeBoone82]

+1 with the asking online
I'm looking now, but I am not "changing my attitude", well, not much anyways. My supervisors supervisor (1+1) has a "sacrifice your life for the company" outlook on life. Its what he has always done and he thinks that everyone should do it as well. Now he has gotten some of the managers to go along with it, so that was my cue to start looking.

I got an "interview" Q/A email a while back that was related to this... here are a couple of the responses:

Q: What is your advice to professionals?

A: Like Narayan Murthy had said “ love your job and not your company because you never know when your company will stop loving you. In the same lines, love yourself and your family needs more than the company's needs. Companies can keep coming and going; family will always remain the same. Make money for yourself first and simultaneously make money for the company, not the other way around.

Q: What is your biggest pain point with companies?

A: When a company does well, its CEO will address the entire company saying, ˜well done guys, it is YOUR company, keep up the hard work, I am with you. But when the slowdown happens and the company does not do so well, the same CEO will say, It is MY company and to save the company, I have to take tough decisions including asking people to go. So think about your financial stability first; when you get laid off, your kids will complain to you and not your boss.

 

[MechGuy]

+1 with the asking online
I'm looking now, but I am not "changing my attitude", well, not much anyways. My supervisors supervisor (1+1) has a "sacrifice your life for the company" outlook on life. Its what he has always done and he thinks that everyone should do it as well. Now he has gotten some of the managers to go along with it, so that was my cue to start looking.

I got an "interview" Q/A email a while back that was related to this... here are a couple of the responses:

Q: What is your advice to professionals?

A: Like Narayan Murthy had said “ love your job and not your company because you never know when your company will stop loving you. In the same lines, love yourself and your family needs more than the company's needs. Companies can keep coming and going; family will always remain the same. Make money for yourself first and simultaneously make money for the company, not the other way around.

Q: What is your biggest pain point with companies?

A: When a company does well, its CEO will address the entire company saying, ˜well done guys, it is YOUR company, keep up the hard work, I am with you. But when the slowdown happens and the company does not do so well, the same CEO will say, It is MY company and to save the company, I have to take tough decisions including asking people to go. So think about your financial stability first; when you get laid off, your kids will complain to you and not your boss.

I don't agree with either of those statements personally. If you don't love both your job AND your company, you'll never be truly happy or successful in my book. If you don't love your company, you should go work for someone else. I do agree that your family always should come first no matter what however.

I don't agree with the statement about making money for yourself. To me that means that the money is more important than the career. I think in the opposite fashion. Money isn't everything, but having a job you love and are passionate about is. You'll never be happy if you're always chasing money.

It's a double bonus if you can find a job that you have a passion that also brings home the bucks.

As far as the second Q/A goes, I have never been in that position with my company. But from a business point, it makes sense. Can't blame the CEO for letting people go in a downturn. It sucks, but that's just business.

 

[rppearso]

... I dont put up with substandard compensation.....

That's something that I've always wondered about. In the private industry those numbers are SO private that I really do not know how I compare to others. I know that we had a good thread on here about compensation, but it's difficult to find a large pool of your discipline that is in your geographic location to compare with. I always wonder what some around me are making, perhaps based on things like same college as management, kissing tail, etc and not on quality of work. What do you guys usually compare with? I've been at the same place since the summer internship before my last year of school.

I tried thoes salery.com things and they show really low figures, im not sure what its based on. The way I find out is by asking around, if you can net work well enough you can figure out what people are making and more importantly what contracting agencies are paying vs a direct hire employee of an E&C or even a client company, you can have 2 exact same position with maybe just a small amount of varience in years of experiecne (like 5 years at the most) and the salery differeance can be 100% different because one is a contractor and one is direct hire. You have to know what the largest amount of money you can make is that the market will bare, not the medium otherwise you will always be broke and forced to work somewhere you dont want to, if they can always get away with paying you a substandard wage you will never be able to stack cash away in the bank and you will always be dependant. Its a tangled web depending on area and disipline and when one of my colueges agrees to work for a reduced rate I get kind of upset becuase it effects the rest of us by setting a negitive precident, they think oh we can use the "bad market" to rip off engineers when the "bad market" really does not affect his specific position otherwise the position would not be open lolj. IF there is no work there is no work but if there is a position we should be getting full blown fatty checks otherwise what is the point of even being an engineer.

 

[jeb6294]

:deadhorse: :deadhorse: :deadhorse:

Ha Ha !!!

I WIN!!!