Career Advice - New Job Choice and Exit Strategy (1 Viewer)

[Vegas Trip]

Pre-TLDR: Looking at three job opportunities and trying to make sure I weigh all pros / cons I may not be considering.
Hoping to get some feedback / personal experiences on evaluating and changing jobs to help make the decision.
Also need to decide most professional way to exit current job (mostly timing-wise) without completely screwing them.

Background:
I'm a mid-40's "lapsed" mechanical engineer that's been in sales roles for the last 10-15 years.
Was laid off from the (large) company that I started in out of college in 2019 during a management change / cost-cutting exercise.
Took some time off with my package (that's what she said) and covid hit as I was resuming job search.
Found a pretty good job about 20 mins from home at a (tiny) company but with a good owner and nice people.
About a month or so ago I started looking around again to check career options and my market value...

Company A:
I saw a job that seemed somewhat interesting at my old company and submitted an application to their career site.
There were a couple people I knew in the group that liked it and had good things to say about it.
Heard nothing for about two months. (The company is slow to act to begin with and inside sources tell me HR has been a nightmare lately)
The people I knew there walked my resume over to the manager and said you need to talk to this guy for the open position.
I had an intro zoom interview with the hiring manager, then an onsite panel interview, then a zoom panel interview, all went pretty well.
Last interview was Tuesday 3/28, sent a thank you / next steps email, radio silence from them since then, could be slow HR issue.

Job is sale of large equipment, office-based (company is not fans of working from home), fixed salary and no commission, overall company bonus up to maybe 20% of salary.
Territory in basically North America.
Prospecting, calling, networking with custs, industry groups, EPCs, etc. Long sales cycles, long and difficult contract negotiations.
If we say my current job pays 100 units per year with about 20 units of commission, this would be about 140 units fixed salary and +10-15 units yearend bonus.

Company B:
There are currently no boogie woogie bugle boys employed there and they are not filling that position. (Did I just make a 40's song reference? I'm getting old)
An industry recruiter that I know called me about a job at company B and the hiring manager is a great guy / great boss I knew from company A.
Their process is several 1on1 interviews, tag assessment, then a panel interview.
I let hiring manager know that I may need to make a decision more quickly than that and he went out of his way to coordinate all 5 of the 1on1's for one afternoon last week.
After the 1on1's he said, based on the great initial feedback, there's no need for the panel interview and they'd make me an offer right after the assessment.

Job is sale of large equipment, office-based M-Th, work from home Fridays, fixed salary and no commission, big bonuses...
Territory in basically US / Canada.
This company has a bonus plan up to 33% of salary. Their parent company does profit sharing and pays out to all under the umbrella, it's been around an additional +50% of salary the last few years.
Prospecting, calling, networking with custs, industry groups, EPCs, etc. Long sales cycles, long and difficult contract negotiations.
If we again say my current job pays 100 units per year with about 20 units of commission, this would probably be about 130 units fixed salary and +~70% yearend bonus.
This profit-sharing bonus is heavily based on one industry that's at the top of it's normally cyclical nature right now, so won't always be that high.
The hiring manager plans to retire in about a year, company president in the next few years, good opportunity for advancement.
(Advancement sounds good but I've been more comfortable in the past in more flexible individual contributor roles)

Company C:
A good friend since college (had drifted a bit in last few years due to covid and distance) heard I was looking around and gave me a call to backfill his position as he was promoted to a regional director role. We had also worked together at Company A and he was approached first for the role above at Company B but decided to stay with Company C due to the promotion.
I met with him to discuss the job over lunch, then had a zoom interview with his boss and then the COO last week.
Both guys called my buddy and told him to immediately offer me the position and COO was "mad" at him that he didn't bring me up to interview sooner.
I don't think there would be any friction in reporting to my buddy, I recognize that he's better than me in most all job-related aspects and I'm a big fan of his style.
He's been very open about the role and his expectations and comparisons to Companies A and B.

Job is sale of an in-demand service with little to no competition to high value companies (bio, pharma, foods, etc).
Territory in Northeast US, almost all drivable but can fly depending on scheduling.
Home based, fixed salary plus commission on all sales within the region.
Region is very busy with little need to prospect because of so many incoming calls / requests.
The region is doubling the output of most others with very reliable members of the operations team I'd be working with.
I'd be travelling around 3 days per week, I schedule the trips, mostly car trips, to do site reviews to detail the scope of projects.
Assessment, proposal, payment... no long contract negotiations.
If we again say my current job pays 100 units per year with about 20 units of commission, this would probably be about 130 units fixed salary and +~80 units commission.
(Last couple years have been 75 & 85, even slow regions in the company are only down at about 50 so that may be the base.)
The company currently plans to grow overall revenue by about 40% in next few years, has a more diverse customer portfolio, and several large projects on the horizon.
Upper hierarchy (including my buddy) is pretty set for next 5-10 years so less opportunity for advancement but less chance of major changes.

Based on the above descriptions, what are your initial thoughts and what questions / concerns would you have about each role before accepting?

This move would leave my current small company without anyone really capable of selling and no immediate prospects to fill the role.
They've been passively trying to hire sales assistant for months but no one with the right experience.
I hear two weeks is standard, would like to give them more time but new company will want me there sooner.
At what point should I first communicate my intentions to the owner? After firm offer? After accepting offer? Give a heads up before everything is certain?

TIA!

 

[Hawks64]

IMO, I would never be in a sales role that was fixed salary plus company-based bonuses, which is what A, B sound like to me. Sales = pay me for what I sell, not how the company does. You could absolutely kill it but get nothing for your efforts, no thanks!

For the record, I'm in sales in the tech space, always bet on yourself.

 

[ChiefD]

At first glance Company C looks like the most attractive choice.

To me the x-factor is your buddy being there. Which means you are more than likely getting accurate information on what the job entails, the expectations, growth possibilities, etc.....

 

[moleculo]

Pre-TLDR: Looking at three job opportunities and trying to make sure I weigh all pros / cons I may not be considering.
Hoping to get some feedback / personal experiences on evaluating and changing jobs to help make the decision.
Also need to decide most professional way to exit current job (mostly timing-wise) without completely screwing them.

Background:
I'm a mid-40's "lapsed" mechanical engineer that's been in sales roles for the last 10-15 years.
Was laid off from the (large) company that I started in out of college in 2019 during a management change / cost-cutting exercise.
Took some time off with my package (that's what she said) and covid hit as I was resuming job search.
Found a pretty good job about 20 mins from home at a (tiny) company but with a good owner and nice people.
About a month or so ago I started looking around again to check career options and my market value...

Company A:
I saw a job that seemed somewhat interesting at my old company and submitted an application to their career site.
There were a couple people I knew in the group that liked it and had good things to say about it.
Heard nothing for about two months. (The company is slow to act to begin with and inside sources tell me HR has been a nightmare lately)
The people I knew there walked my resume over to the manager and said you need to talk to this guy for the open position.
I had an intro zoom interview with the hiring manager, then an onsite panel interview, then a zoom panel interview, all went pretty well.
Last interview was Tuesday 3/28, sent a thank you / next steps email, radio silence from them since then, could be slow HR issue.

Job is sale of large equipment, office-based (company is not fans of working from home), fixed salary and no commission, overall company bonus up to maybe 20% of salary.
Territory in basically North America.
Prospecting, calling, networking with custs, industry groups, EPCs, etc. Long sales cycles, long and difficult contract negotiations.
If we say my current job pays 100 units per year with about 20 units of commission, this would be about 140 units fixed salary and +10-15 units yearend bonus.

Company B:
There are currently no boogie woogie bugle boys employed there and they are not filling that position. (Did I just make a 40's song reference? I'm getting old)
An industry recruiter that I know called me about a job at company B and the hiring manager is a great guy / great boss I knew from company A.
Their process is several 1on1 interviews, tag assessment, then a panel interview.
I let hiring manager know that I may need to make a decision more quickly than that and he went out of his way to coordinate all 5 of the 1on1's for one afternoon last week.
After the 1on1's he said, based on the great initial feedback, there's no need for the panel interview and they'd make me an offer right after the assessment.

Job is sale of large equipment, office-based M-Th, work from home Fridays, fixed salary and no commission, big bonuses...
Territory in basically US / Canada.
This company has a bonus plan up to 33% of salary. Their parent company does profit sharing and pays out to all under the umbrella, it's been around an additional +50% of salary the last few years.
Prospecting, calling, networking with custs, industry groups, EPCs, etc. Long sales cycles, long and difficult contract negotiations.
If we again say my current job pays 100 units per year with about 20 units of commission, this would probably be about 130 units fixed salary and +~70% yearend bonus.
This profit-sharing bonus is heavily based on one industry that's at the top of it's normally cyclical nature right now, so won't always be that high.
The hiring manager plans to retire in about a year, company president in the next few years, good opportunity for advancement.
(Advancement sounds good but I've been more comfortable in the past in more flexible individual contributor roles)

Company C:
A good friend since college (had drifted a bit in last few years due to covid and distance) heard I was looking around and gave me a call to backfill his position as he was promoted to a regional director role. We had also worked together at Company A and he was approached first for the role above at Company B but decided to stay with Company C due to the promotion.
I met with him to discuss the job over lunch, then had a zoom interview with his boss and then the COO last week.
Both guys called my buddy and told him to immediately offer me the position and COO was "mad" at him that he didn't bring me up to interview sooner.
I don't think there would be any friction in reporting to my buddy, I recognize that he's better than me in most all job-related aspects and I'm a big fan of his style.
He's been very open about the role and his expectations and comparisons to Companies A and B.

Job is sale of an in-demand service with little to no competition to high value companies (bio, pharma, foods, etc).
Territory in Northeast US, almost all drivable but can fly depending on scheduling.
Home based, fixed salary plus commission on all sales within the region.
Region is very busy with little need to prospect because of so many incoming calls / requests.
The region is doubling the output of most others with very reliable members of the operations team I'd be working with.
I'd be travelling around 3 days per week, I schedule the trips, mostly car trips, to do site reviews to detail the scope of projects.
Assessment, proposal, payment... no long contract negotiations.
If we again say my current job pays 100 units per year with about 20 units of commission, this would probably be about 130 units fixed salary and +~80 units commission.
(Last couple years have been 75 & 85, even slow regions in the company are only down at about 50 so that may be the base.)
The company currently plans to grow overall revenue by about 40% in next few years, has a more diverse customer portfolio, and several large projects on the horizon.
Upper hierarchy (including my buddy) is pretty set for next 5-10 years so less opportunity for advancement but less chance of major changes.

Based on the above descriptions, what are your initial thoughts and what questions / concerns would you have about each role before accepting?

This move would leave my current small company without anyone really capable of selling and no immediate prospects to fill the role.
They've been passively trying to hire sales assistant for months but no one with the right experience.
I hear two weeks is standard, would like to give them more time but new company will want me there sooner.
At what point should I first communicate my intentions to the owner? After firm offer? After accepting offer? Give a heads up before everything is certain?

TIA!

don't communicate until after you accept an offer, and don't consider any counteroffer.

two weeks is standard. Yeah - it may put your current company in a bind. If you are that important, they should have been compensating you to the point where you wouldn't think of leaving.

 

[NutterButter]

Maybe offer up some consulting work at a fair rate if that's possible in your line of work. Lots of people in the software development profession do that.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Pre-TLDR: Looking at three job opportunities and trying to make sure I weigh all pros / cons I may not be considering.
Hoping to get some feedback / personal experiences on evaluating and changing jobs to help make the decision.
Also need to decide most professional way to exit current job (mostly timing-wise) without completely screwing them.

Background:
I'm a mid-40's "lapsed" mechanical engineer that's been in sales roles for the last 10-15 years.
Was laid off from the (large) company that I started in out of college in 2019 during a management change / cost-cutting exercise.
Took some time off with my package (that's what she said) and covid hit as I was resuming job search.
Found a pretty good job about 20 mins from home at a (tiny) company but with a good owner and nice people.
About a month or so ago I started looking around again to check career options and my market value...

Company A:
I saw a job that seemed somewhat interesting at my old company and submitted an application to their career site.
There were a couple people I knew in the group that liked it and had good things to say about it.
Heard nothing for about two months. (The company is slow to act to begin with and inside sources tell me HR has been a nightmare lately)
The people I knew there walked my resume over to the manager and said you need to talk to this guy for the open position.
I had an intro zoom interview with the hiring manager, then an onsite panel interview, then a zoom panel interview, all went pretty well.
Last interview was Tuesday 3/28, sent a thank you / next steps email, radio silence from them since then, could be slow HR issue.

Job is sale of large equipment, office-based (company is not fans of working from home), fixed salary and no commission, overall company bonus up to maybe 20% of salary.
Territory in basically North America.
Prospecting, calling, networking with custs, industry groups, EPCs, etc. Long sales cycles, long and difficult contract negotiations.
If we say my current job pays 100 units per year with about 20 units of commission, this would be about 140 units fixed salary and +10-15 units yearend bonus.

Company B:
There are currently no boogie woogie bugle boys employed there and they are not filling that position. (Did I just make a 40's song reference? I'm getting old)
An industry recruiter that I know called me about a job at company B and the hiring manager is a great guy / great boss I knew from company A.
Their process is several 1on1 interviews, tag assessment, then a panel interview.
I let hiring manager know that I may need to make a decision more quickly than that and he went out of his way to coordinate all 5 of the 1on1's for one afternoon last week.
After the 1on1's he said, based on the great initial feedback, there's no need for the panel interview and they'd make me an offer right after the assessment.

Job is sale of large equipment, office-based M-Th, work from home Fridays, fixed salary and no commission, big bonuses...
Territory in basically US / Canada.
This company has a bonus plan up to 33% of salary. Their parent company does profit sharing and pays out to all under the umbrella, it's been around an additional +50% of salary the last few years.
Prospecting, calling, networking with custs, industry groups, EPCs, etc. Long sales cycles, long and difficult contract negotiations.
If we again say my current job pays 100 units per year with about 20 units of commission, this would probably be about 130 units fixed salary and +~70% yearend bonus.
This profit-sharing bonus is heavily based on one industry that's at the top of it's normally cyclical nature right now, so won't always be that high.
The hiring manager plans to retire in about a year, company president in the next few years, good opportunity for advancement.
(Advancement sounds good but I've been more comfortable in the past in more flexible individual contributor roles)

Company C:
A good friend since college (had drifted a bit in last few years due to covid and distance) heard I was looking around and gave me a call to backfill his position as he was promoted to a regional director role. We had also worked together at Company A and he was approached first for the role above at Company B but decided to stay with Company C due to the promotion.
I met with him to discuss the job over lunch, then had a zoom interview with his boss and then the COO last week.
Both guys called my buddy and told him to immediately offer me the position and COO was "mad" at him that he didn't bring me up to interview sooner.
I don't think there would be any friction in reporting to my buddy, I recognize that he's better than me in most all job-related aspects and I'm a big fan of his style.
He's been very open about the role and his expectations and comparisons to Companies A and B.

Job is sale of an in-demand service with little to no competition to high value companies (bio, pharma, foods, etc).
Territory in Northeast US, almost all drivable but can fly depending on scheduling.
Home based, fixed salary plus commission on all sales within the region.
Region is very busy with little need to prospect because of so many incoming calls / requests.
The region is doubling the output of most others with very reliable members of the operations team I'd be working with.
I'd be travelling around 3 days per week, I schedule the trips, mostly car trips, to do site reviews to detail the scope of projects.
Assessment, proposal, payment... no long contract negotiations.
If we again say my current job pays 100 units per year with about 20 units of commission, this would probably be about 130 units fixed salary and +~80 units commission.
(Last couple years have been 75 & 85, even slow regions in the company are only down at about 50 so that may be the base.)
The company currently plans to grow overall revenue by about 40% in next few years, has a more diverse customer portfolio, and several large projects on the horizon.
Upper hierarchy (including my buddy) is pretty set for next 5-10 years so less opportunity for advancement but less chance of major changes.

Based on the above descriptions, what are your initial thoughts and what questions / concerns would you have about each role before accepting?

This move would leave my current small company without anyone really capable of selling and no immediate prospects to fill the role.
They've been passively trying to hire sales assistant for months but no one with the right experience.
I hear two weeks is standard, would like to give them more time but new company will want me there sooner.
At what point should I first communicate my intentions to the owner? After firm offer? After accepting offer? Give a heads up before everything is certain?

TIA!

Maybe I missed it, but why are you leaving the current company?

 

[Sullie]

1.) I've been with the company I'm at for over 25 years. If they let me go, for whatever reason, I mean - I would be done with them. So, I would never go back to company A. The other thing that smells is why so many interviews? When we hire re-hires, it's one and done, you have a work history, I don't get it and maybe I'm missing something. Maybe, literally, no-one remembers you, your time you worked there and HR burned your hiring file.

2.) You don't sound enthusiastic about this one to me.

3.) You wrote the most about this one so, to me, probably reading way too much into it, this one seems like the one you're leaning towards?

As far as loyalty goes, I mean, you're paid to do a job. All this crap all these companies say about "we're a family, we're this and that, blah, blah. You're an employee and you're paid to do a job, you are paid for your time, effort and what you bring to the table. If you don't perform, you're gone. If the company thinks someone can your job better for less money then you're gone. Companies don't hire people to be friends or family, they hire people to fulfill a need. When there is no longer a need for your position there is no longer a need for you to be there. I'm saying you owe your current company two weeks notice. They survived without you before, they'll survive without you. And you need to keep your mouth shut until you've passed your drug test and you get either an offer of employment or a signed contract because right now, you don't have $hit, you have some nice, flowery words. Kind words don't pay the bills, please, keep your pie hole closed until you have an offer in hand. Let me put this another way that's going to sting a little, sorry, but did your previous company say to you "hey Vegas Trip, we're thinking about laying you off in a few weeks so you should probably start putting your resume out there and looking for another job. . . don't worry about making your sales quota this week or filling out that expense report right now, you should focus on hunting for a new job." Did they say that? No, they didn't. We are ALL paid for services we provide, period, no company owes you anything more than what you agreed upon for salary and benefits and you don't owe any company more than holding up your end of that employment offer.

 

[Vegas Trip]

Pre-TLDR: Looking at three job opportunities and trying to make sure I weigh all pros / cons I may not be considering.
Hoping to get some feedback / personal experiences on evaluating and changing jobs to help make the decision.
Also need to decide most professional way to exit current job (mostly timing-wise) without completely screwing them.

Maybe I missed it, but why are you leaving the current company?

Internal issues lead to not being able to supply equipment, which leads to not being able to sell, which leads to not being able to bank commissions.
Theoretically, we should have been able to get more out the door by now. Practically, with the staff/resources we have, we haven't been able to do it.
I've stayed for three years hoping it would improve but I think I need to move on at this point.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Pre-TLDR: Looking at three job opportunities and trying to make sure I weigh all pros / cons I may not be considering.
Hoping to get some feedback / personal experiences on evaluating and changing jobs to help make the decision.
Also need to decide most professional way to exit current job (mostly timing-wise) without completely screwing them.

Maybe I missed it, but why are you leaving the current company?

Internal issues lead to not being able to supply equipment, which leads to not being able to sell, which leads to not being able to bank commissions.
Theoretically, we should have been able to get more out the door by now. Practically, with the staff/resources we have, we haven't been able to do it.
I've stayed for three years hoping it would improve but I think I need to move on at this point.

Got it, thx for the explanation, that helps. Agree with the poster who broke down options 1-3. As well as the advice not to quit or signal until you have a signed offer. Protect yourself from the potential for emotion-driven retribution.

 

[Vegas Trip]

Pre-TLDR: Looking at three job opportunities and trying to make sure I weigh all pros / cons I may not be considering.
Hoping to get some feedback / personal experiences on evaluating and changing jobs to help make the decision.
Also need to decide most professional way to exit current job (mostly timing-wise) without completely screwing them.

don't communicate until after you accept an offer, and don't consider any counteroffer.

two weeks is standard. Yeah - it may put your current company in a bind. If you are that important, they should have been compensating you to the point where you wouldn't think of leaving.

I hear you. I will be accepting one of the other offers. I have informal offers but should get the formal ones in the next week or so. So, I know I'll be looking to leave around 5/1. If I wait until accepting one of the offers, they'll only have about 2 weeks until I leave. If I give them a heads up now that it will happen, they'll have about 4 weeks. I just feel bad about leaving them without help and was hoping to give as much notice as possible.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Pre-TLDR: Looking at three job opportunities and trying to make sure I weigh all pros / cons I may not be considering.
Hoping to get some feedback / personal experiences on evaluating and changing jobs to help make the decision.
Also need to decide most professional way to exit current job (mostly timing-wise) without completely screwing them.

don't communicate until after you accept an offer, and don't consider any counteroffer.

two weeks is standard. Yeah - it may put your current company in a bind. If you are that important, they should have been compensating you to the point where you wouldn't think of leaving.

I hear you. I will be accepting one of the other offers. I have informal offers but should get the formal ones in the next week or so. So, I know I'll be looking to leave around 5/1. If I wait until accepting one of the offers, they'll only have about 2 weeks until I leave. If I give them a heads up now that it will happen, they'll have about 4 weeks. I just feel bad about leaving them without help and was hoping to give as much notice as possible.

Avoid the instinct to feel bad. You need to protect yourself first and foremost. Trust me — I’ve seen the situation you are describing go south and end horribly. Candidate has verbal offer. Accepts. Tells old company. Old company kicks him out the door that day. New company withdraws verbal offer due to unexpected budget issues. Candidate is unemployed. That’s just one scenario. I’ve seen 3-4 others, all ending in similar ways.

 

[Vegas Trip]

1.) I've been with the company I'm at for over 25 years. If they let me go, for whatever reason, I mean - I would be done with them. So, I would never go back to company A. The other thing that smells is why so many interviews? When we hire re-hires, it's one and done, you have a work history, I don't get it and maybe I'm missing something. Maybe, literally, no-one remembers you, your time you worked there and HR burned your hiring file.

2.) You don't sound enthusiastic about this one to me.

3.) You wrote the most about this one so, to me, probably reading way too much into it, this one seems like the one you're leaning towards?

1) Agree on most counts for #1. It is a giant company and this group within it is one that I haven't worked with before. I'm an unknown commodity to the hiring manager. HR is also huge and has had alot of turnover and they don't know me either. Seems like they don't even have access to old appraisals, etc.

2) It's a great job and great opportunity with best chance for advancement. I haven't had the opportunity to discuss in detail after I knew they were going to give me an offer like I did with #3.

3) Spoke to my buddy about it for 2 hours last night when he called to give me the informal offer, freshest in my mind right now so that's probably why I wrote the most about it.

I think it comes down to:

2) Do I want to gain experience and go out of my comfort zone by selling much larger equipment and negotiating much more complex contracts and have a better chance of moving up and taking on more management responsibilities in a standard corporate environment?

3) Do I want to stay in an individual contributor role where I only have to manage myself (from home) and can focus on crushing targets and collecting commission checks?

Bonus) How do company bonuses, commissions, raises, etc project over next several years between the two options?

 

[Alex P Keaton]

1.) I've been with the company I'm at for over 25 years. If they let me go, for whatever reason, I mean - I would be done with them. So, I would never go back to company A. The other thing that smells is why so many interviews? When we hire re-hires, it's one and done, you have a work history, I don't get it and maybe I'm missing something. Maybe, literally, no-one remembers you, your time you worked there and HR burned your hiring file.

2.) You don't sound enthusiastic about this one to me.

3.) You wrote the most about this one so, to me, probably reading way too much into it, this one seems like the one you're leaning towards?

1) Agree on most counts for #1. It is a giant company and this group within it is one that I haven't worked with before. I'm an unknown commodity to the hiring manager. HR is also huge and has had alot of turnover and they don't know me either. Seems like they don't even have access to old appraisals, etc.

2) It's a great job and great opportunity with best chance for advancement. I haven't had the opportunity to discuss in detail after I knew they were going to give me an offer like I did with #3.

3) Spoke to my buddy about it for 2 hours last night when he called to give me the informal offer, freshest in my mind right now so that's probably why I wrote the most about it.

I think it comes down to:

2) Do I want to gain experience and go out of my comfort zone by selling much larger equipment and negotiating much more complex contracts and have a better chance of moving up and taking on more management responsibilities in a standard corporate environment?

3) Do I want to stay in an individual contributor role where I only have to manage myself (from home) and can focus on crushing targets and collecting commission checks?

Bonus) How do company bonuses, commissions, raises, etc project over next several years between the two options?

As noted earlier by another poster, the way you write about each one it sounds like you have a clear, logical answer already.

 

[Gally]

Don't make your decision based primarily on the money. Figure out which job appeals to your likes/dislikes the most. Being happy in what you are doing is more important than the money. None of these seem to be way out of skew money wise to take a crap job because the money is just too much.

For me, I would really want to make sure I got along with my manager and co-workers and it was in an environment that I would enjoy. For example, If I had to wear a suit and tie every day I would cross it off my list. That type of office environment is not for me. Just too stuffy.

Overall it seems like Company C has the most info regarding the work enviroment so if it fits yoru likes/dislikes I would lean that way....But I am not you. hahaha.

 

[nightmare]

I'm not an office worker but I believe it's now a lot of company's policy is to show you the door(as quickly as possible) once you've given notice.

 

[FairWarning]

I'm not an office worker but I believe it's now a lot of company's policy is to show you the door(as quickly as possible) once you've given notice.

Good point. Once you give notice, be prepared to be shown the door at any time.

 

[Dez89]

I recently switched jobs but due to circumstances I was able to give my old employer about 5 weeks notice. It was important to me because I was the only person with deep knowledge of what I was doing and needed time to give a replacement a crash course. So even though they will want you immediately, like everything else, it's negotiable.

 

[Vegas Trip]

Update: I was fortunate to receive offers from all three companies. I somehow worked out the timing so I had all the info for all three before having to make a decision on any of them which was also very fortunate. All three also came in slightly higher than expected, it sounds like it's tough to hire experienced technical salespeople right now.

As a few people guessed, I was leaning towards Company C and ended up taking the job there after some final negotiations on some details. My buddy over there put on the full court press and had the President, CEO, COO, etc calling me to convince me to join them so it felt pretty good to be wanted straight up to the top of the org. I feel really good about the decision and I'm really looking forward to getting started.

I formally accepted the job offer on Thursday and I let the owner of my current company know on Friday and he was a little surprised but took it pretty well. Based on my explanation of the reasons for the change, he didn't try to offer me more money to stay and wished me well. I'm starting to let the other people in the office know today and I feel bad that they're all pretty bummed out about it but they're also happy for me and the new opportunity. I gave two weeks notice so I'm here through the end of April and will be setting up my home office to start in the new job on 5/1.

Thanks everyone for your input and it definitely help make me more comfortable with my decision!

 

[Vegas Trip]

Maybe offer up some consulting work at a fair rate if that's possible in your line of work. Lots of people in the software development profession do that.

It's funny that I didn't consider this since I'm moving from one full time job to another but one of the first things our Engineering Manager asked when I told them in a small group meeting this morning was if I'd be available to do some consulting work if needed after I left.

 

[NajehHejan]

Bumping this thread instead of starting a new one.

I quit my job and am starting a new one. I offered to consult for my old company and they said yes. I’m the only one that knows a lot of stuff and two weeks notice isn’t enough time. They’ll pay me 1099. Can’t decide if I should set up an LLC or not. My accountant said a one man LLC is taxed as sole proprietor schedule C so only real benefit to LLC is if you want to protect yourself from being sued. I don’t think they’d sue me but they’re a multi billion dollar company nervous of the impact of me leaving so I’m wondering if I should protect myself legally in case the **** hits the fan and they try to somehow blame me. I’d be staying on to help with their biggest customer by far, a $20 million account (roughly 1/3 of sales). TIA.

 

[Gally]

Bumping this thread instead of starting a new one.

I quit my job and am starting a new one. I offered to consult for my old company and they said yes. I’m the only one that knows a lot of stuff and two weeks notice isn’t enough time. They’ll pay me 1099. Can’t decide if I should set up an LLC or not. My accountant said a one man LLC is taxed as sole proprietor schedule C so only real benefit to LLC is if you want to protect yourself from being sued. I don’t think they’d sue me but they’re a multi billion dollar company nervous of the impact of me leaving so I’m wondering if I should protect myself legally in case the **** hits the fan and they try to somehow blame me. I’d be staying on to help with their biggest customer by far, a $20 million account (roughly 1/3 of sales). TIA.

I know nothing about this type of thing but if there is a way to protect yourself from being sued by doing the LLC then I think that is the easy answer. Especially when you are dealing with a multi-billion dollar company that has shareholders to report to.

 

[Hawks64]

Bumping this thread instead of starting a new one.

I quit my job and am starting a new one. I offered to consult for my old company and they said yes. I’m the only one that knows a lot of stuff and two weeks notice isn’t enough time. They’ll pay me 1099. Can’t decide if I should set up an LLC or not. My accountant said a one man LLC is taxed as sole proprietor schedule C so only real benefit to LLC is if you want to protect yourself from being sued. I don’t think they’d sue me but they’re a multi billion dollar company nervous of the impact of me leaving so I’m wondering if I should protect myself legally in case the **** hits the fan and they try to somehow blame me. I’d be staying on to help with their biggest customer by far, a $20 million account (roughly 1/3 of sales). TIA.

I wouldn't burn bridges but I also wouldn't 1099 on top of the new job, unless it's clearly documented that you aren't working for the old company during the hours they expect you to be working for them.