I regret taking new job!?

Question

I just left a company after 2.5 years to take a new position at a new company. I'm regretting the change. I was a manager with a gorgeous office and no supervisor or employees. Problem was the company I was working for was having severe financial difficulties - problems that were present when I first started and just kept getting worse the years I worked there.

They got to where they wouldn't pay their vendors (who then would stop providing their services) and the buildings I managed were in major need of repairs - but no one would come fix anything because they new they'd never get paid for the work. I loved my office and tenants but the company owner was running things in to the ground and I feared I'd be dragged into lawsuits or the doors would shut and I'd be out of a job and paycheck.

So I decided it was time to find something else and took a job I now regret. I'm working in the same field, making the same salary but I'm now an executive assistant (not a manager). I'm in a cubicle environment with no windows (my last office had a gorgeous view). I gave up my paid for Blackberry and a lot of freedom to go back into a corporate/cubicle jungle environment.

What was I thinking? I hate it. I'm constantly being watched, I have no privacy and I hate the area my office is located in. The company is very professional, offices are new and I have brand new computers and equipment so I'm learning new skills and know the corporation I now work for is stable and very professional (unlike my former employer who just let everyone make up their own policies and procedures).

It's my first week and I'm all emotional, grieving my old office with my nice furniture and nice view, my freedom to come and go as I wanted ...in exchange for job security and a totally different environment. Same pay but benefits are slightly better. Boss seems ok - haven't met the other two new people who will start on Monday.

Do I have the new job blues? Did I make the right decision? I miss my comfort zone (my old office), the people I saw everyday, the deli in the building (now I have to bring my lunch or drive back in to town to find someplace decent).

My intution kept telling me to make sure before I accepted this job but something kept pushing me to take a risk, work for a more professional company and protect myself. Staying at my old job I was subject to being dragged into lawsuits or the company just going belly up.

Many other people quit that company and warned me to get out - so I did. I just miss my freedom and nice office. How can I adjust to this new environment and give it a chance without feeling so depressed?

Tomorrow is day 3 of the new job and I'm all emotional and weird - anyone else changed jobs and had second thoughts?

Answer 1

You made the right choice. You just have to get used to being supervised and not being the top of the pack...you may have taken an ego blow. Basically, you're pretty much like the rest of working America now. A majority of workers don't have a lot of freedoms and a nice, private office.



Being the top person in a crumbling empire is nothing to aspire to. The fact that you were unsupervised so often and able to "make up" policies and procedures is a sign that the company's owner was woefully unfit for his job.



Think about it like this: If you do well at this new job at this stable company that has its act together, you could work toward rising in the ranks at *this* company...and it'll be a company worth working for.



Just remind yourself that you were on sinking sand before. You didn't realize it, but you were. Now you have a chance to build a career that will still be around for decades to come, if that's what you want.

Answer 2

We should create a club and be co-presidents cause the same thing happen to me too! I was a Quality Assurance Analyst (software tester) for a small company (30 ppl) and is in the Life Science/Computer Science field which is exactly what I studied in university. I gave that permanent job up for my current position Technical Administrative officer in the Alcohol and Gaming government agency because I wanted a government job. I found out on first day that 90% is administrative so basically is data entry, bring CDs to people every second, had to do heavy lifting which hurts my back. As of today is my 9th month, they are offering me a permanent position but Quality Assurance Officer which is still administrative level. I have computer science degree and I am doing computer programming so I should be Quality Assurance Analyst but they want to save money and I don't have to compete with too much people for the position if the level was lower. The good side was before this job I didn't have experience with Visual Basic Application, Visual Basic.net, SQL server, and Crystal Report (my manager feels with my computer science degree I should do some programming instead of just data entry) so now I can go out and apply for analyst positions with these experiences. Is only your third day, you might ended up like me gaining valuable experiences and knowledge so you can go out and apply for manager position. I am learning a lot about management, office procedures, social interaction at the workplace, you should do like what I am doing, learn from your manager how to become a manager during these few weeks/month before you leave.

Answer 3

So what you are saying you would have rather have stayed in your old job until they collapsed, or stop paying you?



You had no choice but to leave. Sure now things seem a little bad, but it is like nomads. They live in a beautiful place, but if they stay too long then the resources are used up, so they move on, cross the desert to the new oasis.



You are in the desert now. Stick with it, you will have to get used to being supervised. But not being supervised was a symptom of the problem of your old job. That is, that freedom was part of bad management practice.



So learn what you can from this company and stay at least one year and move on to something better later.



Don't worry, after a month or two you will be used to it.

Answer 4

$125 for what? For a day, I'd say take it, quit your other job, and save up money over the summer. Per week, that's ridiculously low (less than $4 an hour!) and not worth your time and energy. I don't think it's feasible to work both jobs, and still have free time to enjoy. That's 65 hours a week. You will need to quit one of them. It sounds like the babysitting job is vastly underpaying you, so you should quit that one. As hard as it is, you really should give them 2 weeks notice so they can come up with other arrangements. Or you can research local childcare rates (for two children, of course) and approach them about giving you a huge raise. Again, if they are giving you $125 a DAY, that is quite generous and you should do whatever you can to keep that going.