It took me leaving my last job of 13 years to realize how good I had it there. Left due to a lack of growth opportunities and having peaked in my department.

Job I went to was exceptional in a lot of ways except for my boss who is basically #2 in the company. There are just too many fundamental disagreements between us so it didn't work out. The guy openly admits to avoiding confrontation and I can't succeed without getting feedback on my work. He apparently has a laundry list of nitpicky stuff he dislikes about my work (even though the result of my work is objectively successful), yet he's never mentioned a single thing to me about any of it. Not sure how he ever expected me to succeed in that environment. Most of it revolved around the fact that I came from construction and this job is manufacturing and there are just many differences in how things are done. Either way, can't fix a problem I don't know about.

I had to call a meeting with him to ask about changes that were being made to our department structure and that's how all this came to the surface. I have no idea how long he would have gone without informing me about his opinion of my work which is so strange to me.

Same day of that meeting which was this past Thursday I called my old boss and he said the exact right two words that I wanted to hear: "Come home".

Since leaving my old job in July of 2023 my old boss has been promoted to a VP position and there are now much better opportunities for me there plus a new bonus structure. I'll probably end up making about 20-30% more per year when it's all said and done. Can't complain about that.

I'm not happy about how all this went down but I know I'll be stronger on the other side of it. Life is a ROLLER COASTER! Luckily, I like a thrill sometimes!!!

Sometimes..... You don`t appreciate the good times until the bad times hit you in the azz.

Sounds like things worked out best for you.

Glad it worked out for you. "Never burn any bridges when you leave a company" is a good rule to live by. I left a company once and later went back with a better position and a huge pay increase as you have done.

So how is OF's going?

That is great news, a win for all parties.

Congratulations

Wisdom...In my case the fiber optic field engineering is a small world in DFW. I had worked around and with some of the same people at 3 different companies for the last 9 years. Those days are behind me now. One opportunity led to another because of the bridge I left standing. Never burn that bridge...

What is OF?

A way to make extra money to pay for all my NRX rods

I think I’m gonna go fishing

I think I get it now.

... Dan

good luck

My first job away from working in my Uncles machine shop lasted 4 years. Then my next job working for the same auto manufacturer lasted 9 years. Then my last job before retirement was 38 years with the same company but many different jobs in power plants. After I went to work for Texas Electric Sevice Company I never found any greener grass.