Life Lesson # 3,456:
If you ever want to really know how much (or how little) you are valued as an employee … just quit your job. I put this to the test Tuesday when I followed-up my resignation e mail from last week with a formal exit interview of sorts with my boss, and I indeed learned just how valuable I am (think bellybutton lint). I guess the signs were there, like when the publisher of the company actually got annoyed by the fact that I asked for a raise right before my former boss left or when he ever so nonchalantly followed up praise for my ex-boss with “everyone’s replaceable though” when we were talking about his resignation a few months back. Yep, ever the idealist, I chose to ignore the truth.
Now don’t get me wrong, when I made the decision to quit, I was not doing so with any intention of playing games or staying if a better offer was put on the table (it would have to have been A LOT for that to happen). I mean, I’d love to say I was doing all this to fuck over my boss, but I was doing it for myself and my happiness (and, of course, eventually more money), fucking over my boss would have been waiting to quit until the Associate Editor (who quit a few days prior), or leaving without notice. After all, I had my references, why not burn my bridges? Well, maybe because I am not an asshole (although I wish I could be sometimes). Anyway, I have been planning my exit strategy since January, and, really, my “D-” boss was just the call to action I needed.
So, when I went in to talk to Mc Jerk Pants my boss about my resignation, one of the first things out of his smug little mustache-topped mouth was “so, what are you gonna do about your weekly allergy shots?” I mean really … what the hell is that supposed to mean??? I was caught so off-guard that I didn’t know what to say. He then followed up this awfully inappropriate question with a succession of rapid-fire questions meant to, I imagine, just like the first, demean my decision. I mean, what else was that initial ice-breaker question supposed to accomplish???
He also made sure to lecture me (under the guise he was passing down his sagely wisdom to little ol’ me) on how it “looks bad” to your soon to be ex-employers when you quit without having a job already lined up (guess freelancing isn’t a job?!?), and “nobody” does that … you are supposed to “look for jobs while you have a job.” Guess I never read his version of Miss Manners the Office Edition; last time I checked, it was OK to quit your job without having another job lined up. He also went on about how me quitting right after the Associate Editor did just didn’t “look good” and it’s a good way to “burn my bridges.” (Hmmm, sounds to me like someone was letting their personal feelings blur the lines of professionalism) … And he made sure to add that most other (99%, I believe he said) offices wouldn’t have let me stay after that, that they would have told me to leave right then, and that’s just how it is in the “real world.” (Like he was doing me a favor by letting me stay???) All the while, trying to tell me that he was imparting his unsolicited opinion on me for my own good.
Not to mention, he made sure to subtly belittle my decision to leave my current job to freelance full time with candy-coated jibes here and there throughout our 90-minute conversation, as well as making sure to let me know (as a seasoned job-hopping veteran) that it also doesn’t look good when you apply for a job when you don’t have a job (again, guess freelancing isn’t a job?!?). He made sure to also comment on how freelancing may hurt me if I decide to go back to being a managing editor down the road. (Whatever that meant?!?! Still not sure. Just another attempt to belittle my decision, I guess.)
See, now I understand why he had like 15 jobs over 20 years, not because he maybe wasn’t a great employee/manager, but because he was doing field work for the National Job-Quitting Etiquette Association …. DUH!
Now … the last time I checked, giving a months notice to your employer is damn considerate, considering if the tables were turned that most employers will fire you on the spot if it is in their best interest, and not give two shits if you end up homeless or in a bad way as a result. I mean, really, think about it … Somehow I have a feeling that no one will be ending up homeless because of my actions, just a bit inconvenienced. I mean after all “everyone’s replaceable,” right?
The other thing that bothered me was the fact that he kept implying that I gave him “no choice” to change the situation or my mind by how I executed my resignation. I mean, I wrote him a polite e mail and asked to speak with him about this at his convenience, but somehow that made it more final than just going in and springing it on him? Really, I thought I was doing him a favor by letting him prepare for our resignation talk. I would imagine that as a manager if one of my employees put in their resignation and I valued them that I would talk to them and try to get them to change their mind, or at the very least let them know how valued they are. The thing is, he did have choices; he could have talked to me sooner about my decision; he could have let me know I was valued, but he didn’t, and I made damn sure to let him know that he had choices, and they could have involved me.
I do have to admit, as I am only human, that I was slightly wounded for a bit over the fact that he chose to negotiate with the Associate Editor regarding his resignation and not me … but those temporal feelings aside, our talk just made me realize even more how happy I am to be leaving. Good riddance, I say.
Like many people, I have my price tag for putting up with bullshit and bullshit bosses … it’s just not $36,000 a year.
