UnrealisticExpectations 3.0

Today, I decided to take a new opportunity that is Contract-To-Hire that I am pretty positive will turn out to be a fantastic experience and will provide me with the opportunity to flex my own professional skills.

When I sent out my resignation to the company I contract for, I had a lot on my mind and I was pretty steamed.

I wrote the following (note that the > are lines quoted, right? Right.):

> I can’t say that I am completely surprised by this I know you were not
> overly thrilled by the path that the project may take and did take for a
> short time.

Actually, that is not entirely correct. I told you upfront that I did not think this was a good project and that I did not enjoy it. From there, it simply degraded and I ended up with no support from NYC, nor, I might add, from you at XXX Group.

The project was done accurately and very well. It was very well received, and obviously, XXXXX liked my work as they are interested in keeping me.

> However, with that being said are you sure you don’t want
> to see where the project may go and wait it out until the end of the
> year?

I’m 100% positive. It is why I sent you my resignation today. I have sat at my desk for many, many hours NOT performing work, and the work that I have performed has been work that is NOT what I choose as a career path. I am far more senior than this work requires and I will not continue.

> If no I would like to at least give the client 2 wks notice I
> believe that is reasonable. Let me know your thoughts.

As stated, I will work through next week. That is reasonable, and it is 1 day short of 2 weeks notice, regardless of the holidays. I would not be surprised if they walked me out the door tomorrow as there currently is not work for me to perform.

> Also have you accepted another position already? And I would like any
> feedback about the XXX process and how we can make ourselves better or
> if there is anything you did like about working with the XXX Group I
> would also like to know that.

Since you asked, I will spell it out for you. I have a problem working with you and would choose to not work with XXX Group again as long as you are in their employ. The day that I asked to take 2 hours off so I could take my wife in for tests, your response was:

“Will you be able to make up the hours?”

And nothing at all cordial, caring or human, such as, “I hope all goes well. Please let me know if you think you will be able to make up the hours.”

When I informed you that I was able to make up the hours, you did not so much as acknowledge that email.

Further, when I was dealing with issues with payroll and CC’ing you, you did not enter into the thread, did not contact me and did not assist–to my knowledge. While there may be people capable of this at your office, you told me upfront that you were “technically” my manager, and I would have expected your input.

Finally, today you checked to see if I would stay until the end of the year; I understand your duty to your company and I get that, but it further instilled in me that you are driven by money and not what is best for the person who reports to you. You did not bother to ask me what prompted this decision beyond trying to find out if I have another position. You did not even check-in with me a couple of weeks after I informed you of my displeasure with the contract.

I’m sorry if this comes across as callous and if it hurts your feelings, but you should understand the way that you seem to have presented yourself to me and allowed me to interpret you. I have never had an experience as such with a company / person that has placed me in a role. All of my experiences have been very positive, communication has been very open and the results have been outstanding.

I’m older, wiser than I was 6 or so years ago when this UE thing launched. Instead, I sent this:

As stated, I will work through the end of next week. I think we’re better off just leaving it at that.

Thank you.

Hopefully the latter doesn’t make anyone cry. It does not, however, save the next person from this behavior…

Oh, and I guess I did blog it, after all, but like 8 people read this site, so it’s cool, too.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 14th, 2006 at 6:47 pm and is filed under Rants, Bloggy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.