Career Decisions

[Scuba Steve]

Where does your other half want to live? If nothing else experience has taught me how good things can be when she's happy / bad when she's somewhere she doesn't want to be.

[LWJ]

Question: There are only two positions on the Planet Earth that are open to you? If you are going to make a change (you are!) why not look a little broader?

Second: I have very strong feelings about actively creating your own career vs passively accepting what is handed out. I have re-careered myself a few times so far because I refused to move from Oregon. Each time I was able to make an increase in income. I advise meeting with a someone who works with placements to realistically assess your marketable skills. The job market is hot on the West Coast. Not certain about other parts of the US.

I know you need to leave. You have a ton of options in front of you. Look at them. Evaluate them. Actively pursue what you want.

Good luck,
Larry

[fintstone]

Wife and I always said that if we ever moved back to the ATL Metro area and I had to work in close, we would buy a house in the Amberfield Subdivision in Norcross. It is minutes from Dunwoody. While I don't know your budget, IMHO, you get a lot of house for your money and there are always quite a few for sale there.

Real Estate - 26 Homes For Sale | Zillow

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I can't fathom why on earth you'd ever consider going back to Illinois. You hated the place. You were miserable there and looked forward to getting out for many months. I really think you ought to think this one through and not sell out your long term happiness to solve a short term problem with one stupid manager.

There are lots of jobs out there. Why not look for a different one with a new company in the Atlanta area?

Always look forward, not back. As a good friend recently told me, "God put your eyes on the front of your head for a reason!"

Best of luck.

[legion]

I did hate Illinois, but Bloomington was about the most perfect community I've ever lived in, it just had the misfortune of being in the wrong state.

I don't particularly like winter, but I hate traffic, year-round weeds and no hard freeze to kill the bugs even more.

I don't particularly have any desire to strike out on my own. I watched my father leave a great job with IBM in 1980 (just before PCs took off) and slowly work his way down the food chain for the next 25 years until he died penniless. I'm also way more productive when I'm not worrying about my next job. I have a good employment situation overall, I just hit upon a bad manager.

I've lived in Los Angeles, Chicago, and now Atlanta. I've come to realize that I don't particularly enjoy living in populated areas. I'm an introvert and I draw my energy from solitude. I've found myself on the verge of panic attacks when I've realized that I can't get away from people when I want to to recharge. Being stuck in traffic is something I'm not equipped to deal with and some days I arrive at work a combination of furious and depressed. I can see 285 from my desk and my anxiety begins to build as the afternoon progresses, knowing that I can't leave and get ahead of it. It's worse on days when it is raining or predicted to rain, as my drive will be double.

[intakexhaust]

^Chris, you nailed it on describing Bloomington. In a weird sort of way, a nice sparkling professional orientated town in the middle of corn fields. Most stable and definitely family / large but small feeling community. And if the higher taxes bother you, consider them not badly wasted. At least you can see taxpayers money at work. Unlike the rest of the towns in IL. BN is a clean town, low crime, lots of parks, free events, community care and facilities, great schools, things like disposal services to free dump / recycling, lawn pickup.

The rest of Illinois is looking bleak and afraid its going to get much worse. Stay away.

Then again, you already know folks in Atlanta so what's their forecast in where the earnings go and quality of family life?

Aahhh and regarding traffic...... LA, Chicago, Atlanta.... all suck. Among the three LA is golden compared to Atlanta and Chicago being the worst in the country.

[jyl]

The thing that seemed interesting about the position you are going back to take, is that it will make you an expert in corporate IT systems vulnerability and practiced at presenting to muckety-mucks. I could see that leading to bigger and broader opportunities, with the same company or elsewhere.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by legion

Property taxes are more than double in Illinois.

In about 50 years you will be dead.

In the meantime, you should seek out the surroundings where you can flourish.

[legion]

Had a talk with the new manager today. Learned a lot. She seems pretty flexible with my return, and much of my anxiety was because my current manager editorialized her comments and made it seem like I had to move ASAP.

She also told me that they tried to get me relocation benefits, but HR said no. I am also apparently coming in as the new team lead, as the current team lead is taking a position in Dallas.

[legion]

Originally Posted by jyl

The thing that seemed interesting about the position you are going back to take, is that it will make you an expert in corporate IT systems vulnerability and practiced at presenting to muckety-mucks. I could see that leading to bigger and broader opportunities, with the same company or elsewhere.

My old boss said much the same thing. He recommended that I apply for that position.

intakexhaust, you seem pretty familiar with Bloomington. Do you live there now?

[legion]

Three days into my new gig. My stress levels are way down as I don't have my manager breathing down my neck every 10 minutes for unimportant things.

My most recent old manager couldn't resist pinging me first thing Monday morning to make sure "everything was going okay". I still never figured out if he was clueless or just didn't care what people thought about him.

My new boss contacted me on Monday (she's in Illinois) asking if my old boss needed anything. Apparently he kept pinging her and walking away from his computer--she was getting pretty annoyed with him.

[MBAtarga]

So are you still moving back?

[legion]

That's the plan. I really like Georgia, but I don't think I'm cut out for big metropolitan areas.

[jyl]

Sounds like in IL you can live in a semi rural area with a reasonable commute to work, which is what you want. Good decision in my opinion.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by legion

Three days into my new gig. My stress levels are way down.....

Haven't been on PPOT in a while and just dropped by and saw this thread. Kudos for you Chris and best of luck!

And congrats on the bambino

[legion]

So, out of the blue, two years after leaving the job, and two years after last speaking to him, my old manager reached out to me to tell me that he has voluntarily decided to leave management and return to an analyst role.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by legion

I'd like to look for a house out in the country--you know--like a house with a 15 minute commute.

I hate you right now ....

[legion]

Don't. My wife still insisted on living in town. My drive is 10 minutes. At least my kids go to a good grade school.

[Bill Douglas]

I think this is a sign, from above, that you can spend money on the car.

[jcommin]

So where are you at - did you stay in Atlanta or move back to IL.
My first time reading this - I'm wondering why you didn't pursue a plan B - work for someone else?

I realize your wife was pregnant at the time and maybe you couldn't. someone calls me out of the blue after 2 years, I would be very skeptical.

Just my observation

Your kids go to a good school, you have a short commute, wife appears to be happy (lives in town)- so what's wrong?