Considering change of job/career

poseidon · #1 05-17-2002, 01:17 PM

Sigh...

I've been with the same great company for eleven years. In the last two weeks, I've been seriously pondering a change.

I still love the company that I work for. It's a great company. It's a strong company. I have a lot of company loyalty.

My benefits are fantastic. Aside from awesome medical benefits, a great 401k program, stock options, etc., I get a free car every other year. The pay is good (not great, but I live comfortably and can bank $$ every month).

My supervisor is the greatest. In fact, I've asked him to be one of my groomsmen at my wedding.

So, why am I considering leaving?

Well, several years ago I had a different supervisor who made my life a living hell. I was able to convince a prior manager (not the previous one but the one before him) that I couldn't deal with this guy any more and that I needed to be reassigned or they needed to find someone to replace me. Because I'm a valued (I think) employee, they reassigned me.

About two months ago, that supervisor became my new manager.

In the last two months, things have changed...

1. Every time I'm asked to do something, it's in writing. I'm told that it is a #1 priority (everything is a #1 priority). I'm told, in writing, that if I don't do this immediately I will be terminated.

2. About two weeks ago, I volunteered to work on a Saturday because I had a 5-hour round-trip car ride to look at one claim. I thought it would be beneficial to the company for me to use a Saturday rather than a regular work day, and I worked for free that day.

In return, I got chewed out in an e-mail by my manager, who happened to carbon copy two VPs about how the client complained that I missed something. I immediately wrote back and attached photographs showing that I did not miss it and, in fact, my photographs showed the client looking right at me when I photographed what he was concerned about.

Did anything say "Good job" or "Sorry for cutting you a new @$$hole?" Nope. In fact there was no response at all.

3. The next day I was sent out of town to Kansas for Storm Duty. I knew it was coming... I've been "On Call" for about five months. I was told at 2pm to leave down immediately and get there that evening. I responded that I needed to take care of some things (banking, stopping the mail, stopping the newspapers, etc.) and was told that my personal problems are my problems and I have a duty to my company. And, oh, by the way, this time they're not paying to board my dog while I'm gone. While I knew that Michelle would gladly take care of Oscar while I was gone, I asked if I could bring the dog with me, and they said "No."

4. On Wednesday they sent me 4-1/2 hours in another direction to handle a single claim. I have no problem with that. But, 2 hours into the return trip home, I get a call saying that I have to go back and reinspect a loss in the same area because someone disagreed with an estimate written by our staff adjustor in that area three months ago. I responded that I had been on the road for over six hours, that I was exhausted, and that I didn't think I could be on the road another six or seven hours and drive the car safely. The response was, "This is a priority. Do this or you'll be terminated."

5. Yesterday I spent over eleven hours on the road driving home after doing my time. I got out of there a week early because I had previously filed for a vacation day on Monday. We have a maximum time they can send us out of town for three weeks at a time. I served two weeks.

I've already heard through the grapevine that the manager is considering sending me back out there on Tuesday. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with this. I'm figuring that it would be a week only so that I'll have been gone my total of three weeks. I've already been told it will likely be another three-week stint because they can send us out of town for up to three weeks at a time.

This would infuriate me because we're supposed to be in a "rotation" where you do a stint on Storm Duty and then you're placed on the bottom of the list. Generally, you can count on the list rotation taking about 12 months.

I'm thinking that sending me out again and taking advantage of a technicality in the rule is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

I do not work well under threats of termination. If someone wants me to do something, I have demonstrated for eleven years that all that has to happen is say, "Do this, it's important" and I do it right then and there. I don't need the added insult of "Do this or you're terminated" added in for good measure.

It isn't just me that's being picked on. My supervisor has told me that he's told the same thing. I talked to the other adjustors who were on Storm Duty with me, and they've all been given the same sort of memos.

----

So, here's my problem. I want to quit before I get fired. I have enough money saved up to live for about six months without any income (although I'd rather not have it come to that). I do want to get another job lined up before I leave so that there's no income gap.

I'm not sure if I want to stay in the insurance field. There's a lot of stress associated with this job, and adjustor burn-out is more common than not. I handle normal stress levels quite well and have never really complained about my job (except for the two years that this new manager was my supervisor).

The problem is, I have no idea what else I can do. I'd need to be earning roughly the same amount (more would be nice) that I have now. I need good health insurance benefits.

I'd have to go out and purchase a car (new or used, I haven't owned a car in seven years).

What can someone do who has a good legal contract background, decent investigation skills, good people skills, has a four-year degree from a college and can pull in roughly $45k/year?

I'm open to ideas.

Jeff

PS. A transfer to a different office is 100% out of the question. Not only would I not want to live anywhere except Colorado, but Michelle has indicated that she is unwilling to move to the areas where our other offices are located.

**mjfrombuffalo**[$] · #2 05-17-2002, 01:43 PM

You don't want to try to take your complaints to higher-ups first?

poseidon · #3 05-17-2002, 02:01 PM

I can't, basically out of fear for doing it. This person isn't blatant about what he does... the "higher ups" think he's a wonderful guy because he's spent his entire career being gracious to them. I'm concerned that since the "higher ups" are his friends, anything I say would, even if it was off-the-record, get back to him and he would make life even more miserable. I trusted his boss back when he was my supervisor and knew that his boss at the time would keep the conversation confidential. I don't know his current boss well enough to trust him one way or the other.

I did have an opportunity to act before, but again, due to concerns over my job, I couldn't say anything. Shortly after my new "took office" we were asked to fill out a survey on how we trust our managment. We needed to comment on our supervisors, our manager, and the executive team.

It was supposed to be an anonymous survey. However, we weren't given a way to do this in a truly anonymous manner. We were told to mail in the survey (versus doing it on an Internet site or something where it could have been much more anonymous).

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that when you mail it in, they knew exactly who was sending it in and could evaluate the survey right then and there.

Management was dumbfounded as to why so few surveys came back filled out. I opted to simply pitch the survey in the trash rather than having to either lie, abstain from answering questions about the manager, or telling the truth and risking my job.

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #4 05-17-2002, 04:58 PM

Just brainstorming ....

An investigator for a DA's office?

A paralegal in a law office doing insurance claims? Or develop some other paralegal speciality (some of them pay really well)?

A desk job in a (different) insurance company? Claims Examiner or something like that?

If you'd be interested in self-employment ... my father had a business investigating accident sites. He would work for plaintiff personal injury firms -- he would investigate the sites (usually things like cracks in the sidewalk where someone had tripped, balcony railings that had given way, that kind of thing), write reports, and in the rare cases where it went to trial, appear as an expert witness. He was an engineer, and I don't know how important that was in getting the work, but he had a partner who was not.

Private Eye (ok, I read too many murder mysteries ;-)).

Cop????

poseidon · #5 05-17-2002, 05:07 PM

I think you'd need to be an engineer to be an expert witness. We use them all the time for these exact situations. I wouldn't let anyone testify who wasn't a licensed engineer, because the first question out of the defense's mouth would be "So, how exactly are you qualified to make that assertion without an engineering background?"

As far as being a cop -- no way, never in a million years. This job is dangerous enough as it is -- the last thing I'd want is something even more dangerous.

An investigator for a DA doesn't sound bad. I'm also not sure about what formal training is needed to be a paralegal... I do know that there is a specific vo-tech degree for paralegal.

Claims examiner would be a big step down. I know because that's how I started out in the industry.

My salary would be halved.

Private eye would be okay, but I'd be worried that I'd never see Michelle. Plus, I'd be too tempted to do free work on the side investigating my political enemies.

**slick4591**[$] · #6 05-17-2002, 05:08 PM

Quote:

An investigator for a DA's office?

Nope. He is overqualified.

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #7 05-17-2002, 05:24 PM

Quote:

I'm also not sure about what formal training is needed to be a paralegal... I do know that there is a specific vo-tech degree for paralegal.

There are formal training programs, but it's not an absolute requirement -- there's no license required or anything like that.

It's really up to the hiring law firm. Sometimes they ask for a paralegal certificate, sometimes they ask for a paralegal certificate and a BA, but often they ask for a paralegal certificate or a BA.

Also, "paralegal" is used as a big catch-all term for a whole range of jobs, from glorified (or not so glorified) file clerk to highly-specialized jobs paying (at least here) over $60,000/year.

I think your insurance-investigation experience could be very useful to someone, more important than whether or not you have a certificate.

**AuntieEmma**[$] · #8 05-17-2002, 05:41 PM

One more -- Contract Administrator. Seems to be a big thing in high-tech firms. Pays pretty well, I think -- someone I know who's doing that just bought a house, which is a Big Friggin Deal in these parts, where houses cost what entire towns would cost elsewhere.

brian_igo · #9 05-18-2002, 11:25 AM

Jeff, is there anyone further up the chain of command who could help you off the record? I think you are right to avoid a head on fight with Mr. Congeniality. But if you have a relationship with someone above him who will lend a sympathetic ear you might be able to slide into a position in another department, or get an introduction to their network outside the company.

I wish you luck, buddy.

Brian