Ask HN: I am simply in need of advice from those who've been there. | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: I am simply in need of advice from those who've been there.

4 pointsthrowaway_ray6 comments

I have been with my current employer for over a decade.

Well that isn't entirely true. A few years ago my employer was acquired by a much larger company; so I've been with my current employer only a few years, but was part of the previous company for nearly a decade.

Back when we were small and independent, I took on many roles which I felt were valuable to the company's success. Think of the technical responsibilities a small software development company with a successful OEM and online service would have, I have been responsible for them all at some point.

The trouble is under the new corporate umbrella, there isn't really a job position to describe my former role, and so I've been pigeonholed as a System Administrator, yet all my old roles still exist and are being fulfilled by me.

If I quit today I would be missed, as there are too many things that have been left undocumented and are known only to me. I, sadly, have only succeeded in taking one vacation without fielding at least a single phone call from the office (and I think this was due to me being out of the country more than anything).

I find myself in a position where the work is still interesting, and yet every so often (more and more frequently now) I find myself wanting to storm into my bosses office and just outright quit. Yet, I must admit that if I were to have my salary doubled today, I would stick around -- like I said before, I still find the work interesting.

So here I am caught in a trap I designed myself. Looking for advice on a way out. Hoping the bright minds of the hackers and entrepreneurs here might be able to give me that advice.

What do you want? Less work? More pay? Different work? Minions to delegate to?

There are two aspects: things you want to get, and things you want to get rid of. Think of both of these carefully. Why do you want to storm into your bosses office and quit? What's made you feel like that? Can you get rid of it?

Also decide on whether you want to work collaboratively to develop what you want, or if you want to make demands, and quit if they're not met.

That's enough to get started.

>Yet, I must admit that if I were to have my salary doubled today, I would stick around

Only if it were doubled - I haven't worked at a large company that would do that. But, you should still be able to profit from what you know and do for the company. Why not take all the things only you know and batch them into several groups. For the next few years, at your annual review (or if they don't do those, schedule a meeting with your manager once a year) go to your boss and tell them about this other stuff that is not sys admin work and only you can do. Ask for a raise, or training or more of the work you still find interesting. [edit] and less of the work you do not find interesting.

At the large companies I have worked at (not tech) they do annual reviews and bonuses based on performance. My raises were between 1%-4%. I think this was more dependent on who my manager was than my actual performance but I am biased when it comes to self-assesment :) However, I have never worked myself into a position where what I knew and did was as valuable as what your situation sounds like. If you are the only one who can (and does) do some of these things you have great power with which to negotiate with and even if they give you annual raises you should try to leverage your power to get a few more percentage points added. While they likely won't double it. If the average raise at your company is ~2.5% and you are able to get 5% because of what you know and do, after 10 years you will have ~25% more than if you didn't say anything.

Can you get another acceptable offer to use as leverage? If you can, go get one and hang onto it. Have a conversation with your manager, sans letter, and mention that you aren't happy with how things have been going, how you are wearing many different hats but don't feel fairly compensated given how heavily the company seems to rely on you. See what he/she says. If things go well, great. If not, wait about a week and then bring the new offer to your manager. Mention that you're not thrilled with how the company doesn't seem to share your concerns, which is a shame given your history with them and how interesting you find the work. Tell them that you don't want to have to leave, but you need to know that management takes your concerns seriously.

If you can't get actual change that would make you happy pushed through in about a week, take the other offer and don't look back - they're just stalling and politely ignoring you. Otherwise, you have to decide whether what current company does is good enough to pass on your new opportunity. If you play your cards right, I think you can get by without seeming like a 'traitor.'

You seem like a smart enough guy to sort this out yourself, so I doubt I'm saying anything new. Regardless, I hope it helps give you a little bit of clarity.

I worked for the same company for 7 years - similar situation, did way too much and was WAY (my opinion) too valuable. There was much that I did that no one else could ever do. It reached the point where I couldn't take it anymore so I gave up the golden handcuffs and quit to start my own company.

You know what - they didn't miss me at all. There were a couple of "how do we do this" type calls but that was it. However, six months later I was hiring people from the old company. The best decision I ever made was to leave.

Why don't you just ask for a raise? The worst that would happen is that you keep your current salary.

Go to your boss and demonstrate to him how important you are since you have knowledge of a number of things that no one else can do. Tell him the truth--that you're considering leaving the company but would stay if you got a raise.

You'd be surprised by what you can get if you simply just ask for it.

>>I find myself wanting to storm into my bosses office and just outright quit.

Why? Life's too short to be in a miserable situation when you don't HAVE to. You like the work, is it the new management that's the problem? You feel like you can't progress? You feel under-appreciated?

What's the real issue here?

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