Jack of All Trades, Master of None (Journal)

[Rawtid]

Your resignation letter looks nice and I agree it’s best to leave with minimal notice. You don’t feel respected and valued, so it’s nothing let to give them but the peace sign. It’s not going to get better.

If you can trade full time to keep you afloat while exploring higher paying tech roles or other money making opportunities, do it!!

 

[Macallik86]

Calling an audible. Realized in my morning stand up meeting that my boss' boss is OOO for the rest of the week so I'll postpone things to Monday instead. No offense to my current boss, but she really doesn't have the clout/experience to deal with me going nuclear, so she won't know what avenues are available for a resolution.

On the down side, I will have to knock out 1-2 deliverables this week that would've been leverage. OTOH, I wanna loop in my boss' boss anyway and let her know that it's nothing personal since she basically trained me up, offered me a managerial role that I turned down, etc.

 

[Rawtid]

Calling an audible. Realized in my morning stand up meeting that my boss' boss is OOO for the rest of the week so I'll postpone things to Monday instead. No offense to my current boss, but she really doesn't have the clout/experience to deal with me going nuclear, so she won't know what avenues are available for a resolution.

On the down side, I will have to knock out 1-2 deliverables this week that would've been leverage. OTOH, I wanna loop in my boss' boss anyway and let her know that it's nothing personal since she basically trained me up, offered me a managerial role that I turned down, etc.

Either leave or don’t. Lol you’re still plotting revenge. Wanting them to feel the sting when you leave and attempting to use deliverables as leverage.

When you quit and whose in the office isn’t going to matter to a company that doesn’t give a fukk. It’s like a woman withholding sex from a dude who isn’t pressed for it.

If you’re nervous about leaving, say that, but trying to bully these people into a raise with threats of leaving, is silly.

 

[Macallik86]

Either leave or don’t. Lol you’re still plotting revenge. Wanting them to feel the sting when you leave and attempting to use deliverables as leverage.

When you quit and whose in the office isn’t going to matter to a company that doesn’t give a fukk. It’s like a woman withholding sex from a dude who isn’t pressed for it.

If you’re nervous about leaving, say that, but trying to bully these people into a raise with threats of leaving, is silly.

I can fully admit that I was initially emotional about the situation, and your initial post called me out on it so I took a step back and approached the situation more logically. With your follow-up post, I think you are letting your initial interpretation cloud your ability to see a clear shift to a more logical and unemotional playing of my hand.

For starters, you talk about revenge when my entire last post is the complete opposite of vengeful which makes your comments all the more perplexing. I'm showing empathy towards my current boss who is ill-equipped to negotiate my departure, and I'm showing compassion towards my current boss who will definitely be dragged into navigating my departure WHILE ON VACATION. If you remove the desire to screw over a company, then it's pretty clear that forcing someone to negotiate your employment while they are on vacation is not an ideal scenario.

OTOH, if there is no negotiation, then it makes sense to still talk to my boss' boss so that she understands that it was nothing personal, and attempt to do damage control on burning a potential bridge/future reference.

I'm also knocking out deliverables this week that I could completely ignore if I were plotting revenge or acting emotional like you suggest I'm currently doing. I do appreciate your initial post, but this false bravado "oh you scared or else do it right now!" sophomoric approach to negotiating is terrible professional advice that belongs in TLR.

Also, you don't seem to understand the difference between a negotiating threat ("I'm going to start looking for a job if you don't give me a raise") and a complete rejection of negotiations ("I have returned the company equipment and terminated my employment. Here are my terms if you'd like to rehire me"). Threats are hollow because they require further action to be taken. When you've already taken the necessary action, there's nothing else to say/do. That is the obvious reason why it makes sense to convey my terms and my reasoning as soundly as possible beforehand on Monday. I'm not leaving it to a first-year manager to translate for a VP in the midst of a vacation.

To quote your original post:

Take screwing over your job out of the equation and make your decision from there.

☝Reread my post. That is what I'm doing.

 

[Rawtid]

My bad, I read

“but she really doesn't have the clout/experience to deal with me going nuclear, so she won't know what avenues are available for a resolution.”

meaning she wouldn’t have a resolution to stopping your resignation with perhaps countering or talking to someone higher. Now that you’ve explained, I understand the tone better.

 

[Macallik86]

Had an unrelated meeting w/ my boss yesterday to assist with a technical task that got dumped onto me last minute and asked her if she'd received any update. She let me know she had talked to HR and they were unable to account for my actual job title in the system but they were able to take into account my seniority if they reclassified my job title as a 'Business Analyst II" in the salary software that HR uses.

From the looks of things, it would result in a raise of about 10-12%. Not quite what I had in mind but better than nothing...

..Or at least that's what I would've said in the past. I slept on it and decided to reframe the entire convo:

Spoiler

(The response is to my boss, who is basically a middle-man between me and HR)

Thanks for sharing and thanks for your help so far with this! I appreciate you nudging HR to increase the compensation amount.

I think the final disconnect with HR is that my goal isn’t to reclassify my job title to whatever gets me a larger raise, I’m looking to be compensated based on the tenure and title that was earned/given to me by <company name>. Using that as my reference point, although I can appreciate the salary increase between an IT Report Writer and a Business Analyst II, the overlapping job descriptions still don’t take into account the actual title <company name> offered to me on my acceptance letter, and how my current salary compares to the market rate.

If the <HR software> doesn’t have the functionality to account for both my tenure and title, then from my perspective it is HR’s responsibility to find alternative sources that do, not to willfully reinterpret my job title and shoehorn me into a different, lower-salaried role. I provided objective, public-facing salary data to start the negotiation, and in lieu of <HR Software's> inability to take into account my actual tenure and title, I will defer to that in my expectations of external equity.

At this point it’s probably best to give a concrete number. My base salary expectation is <Number equaling 23% raise> which is basically in line with the median base salary for my role as shown on LinkedIn. This is decidedly less than the median base salary I was quoted on Comparably <number which would result in a 56% raise> and Indeed <Number which would result in a 47% raise> and is also less than the average across the four objective, public-facing sources I shared to start the convo <number which would equal a 31% raise>.

Please let me know if you believe this will be an issue.
Regards,

macallik

The ironic thing is that I would've likely settled for a much lower raise if they handled my initial request with better tact.

Because they did offer me a raise, I am taking the "I'm quitting today" approach off the table and will give two weeks notice if they can't offer a raise of at least 19%.

 

[Rawtid]

What’s your current job title?

 

[Macallik86]

What’s your current job title?

Spoiler

Senior Reporting Analyst

 

[Yapdatfool]

Still biding my time to find the right offer before leaving my current employer. I'm even contemplating quitting at the end of the year to focus on my side hustle and find a part time IT gig to supplement my income/skill set if necessary.

Got another 2nd interview lined up this week (was interesting the 1st interview started to tell me about their benefit package... odd), hope it goes well (yet i'm still black SO who knows).
There's even a possibility of a managerial/directorial position within 6 years (not that I even care but its there).

My boss didn't/doesn't train, guide, document or manage shyt when I was there and won't when I leave so all he'll have is a new hire (potentially) and all my documentation/work. Should be enough to maintain but if it isn't oh fukking well. Not my issue,
Potential new hire barely knows IT but is bilingual (and?) so if he arrives I'll do my best to bring him up to speed but what I won't be doing is being held responsible for him. The minute I hear 'he's your project' I may walk.

 

[Macallik86]

Oohweee. This website is a shytshow right now. Never know what the webpage formatting will bring with every page load lol.

I have a first round phone-interview with a company that is in the exact same niche industry as my current job. They recruiters actually led with the company's benefits package in an email like you touched on @Yapdatfool, which was ironic because it was kinda meh (50% match on first 6% of 401K is not a selling point). For this company, the top of their estimated salary range is my asking price for my current job and I'm not overly excited to do the exact same thing with a new company that I may/may not fit in with, so I don't plan on accepting any offer they give me, but it'll be good practice. If they extend an offer, I could use their # as a counter-offer.

Another reason I'm not too pressed is that one of their skillset requirements is SSRS Reporting, which I've dabbled in but haven't dug deeper into. I did buy a course last week but I'm not too far into it yet outside of installing Visual Studio. It will be interesting hearing from the horse's mouth what they are looking for so that I can curate my personal learning better if/when I leave my current role.

The idea of juggling both jobs did strike me as an option, but being that they are unconsciously competitors, if either company found out, they'd probably have grounds to accuse me of something that would turn into a legal headache, so I'll just pass.

 

[Macallik86]

No new news with regards to my salary negotiations. I expect to hear the exact number within the next week or two. My understanding is that they are timing the raise to go into effect at the same time as my bi-annual bonus, which typically happens in May/June IIRC. On a somewhat related note, I forgot to factor in that summer hours start after Memorial Day, and the shortened workweek equates to a temporary raise of 12.5% over three months.

I still have an interest in quitting, especially if the salary raise is substantially less than my asking price. However, if they do lowball me with a raise less than 15%, I will let summer hours make up the difference and reevaluate/resign once Labor Day hits and halfday Fridays end.

 

[Macallik86]

Had an unsuccessful, expensive weekend shooting my shot at the local clubs/bars. One positive that came from it was that one of the pregame spots was a friend's newly-purchased condo. He writes code for a living and was able to drop beacoup bucks on his place. It really inspired me to double down on my education regardless of when I quit my job. TBH, I think I'm more stoked about the educational journey than the money at the end of the rainbow. Either way, my plan so far is to dedicate a third of every workday on an educational pursuit. Here is my current prioritization list:

1. Complete Data Analysis & Reporting Course - [7.5% completed] Strengthen my foundational Excel skillset before I start building outward.
2. Complete SQL Server Essentials Course - [40% completed] Strengthen my foundational SQL skillset before I build outward. I'm specifically interested in understanding of SQL Server beyond complex query-writing.
3. Complete Git Course - [3% completed] This course is so that I know WTF I'm doing when I start publicly documenting my code for prospective employers.
4. Complete Mind Mapping Course - [25% Complete] Create structure to learn more efficiently. A more recreational slant to this course but it could improve my learning across the board
5. Complete Python Course #1 - It would allows me to automate recurring tasks which will free up more time for studying/becoming overemployed
6. Complete Python Course #2 - A more fundamental understanding of Python from an instructor I enjoy. Could be redundant though.
7. Improve my data visualization skills - I have a book lying around that I can revisit
8. Improve my data analysis skills - Will cross this bridge when I get there

 

[Macallik86]

My boss let me know that I should hear my salary adjustment sometime this week. Summer hours start Friday too so if the # is disappointing I get a half-day Friday + a three day weekend to lick my wounds.

On another professional development note, I listed courses in my last post, but this week I have a bit more clarity with my end goal and have made some adjustments. My overarching goal is to spend less time on work tasks which will free up time for me to either pivot towards more time trading the markets or chase down an easy second job. The easiest way to free up my time for either is to work on automating more tasks in my day-to-day and so that will be my focus:

1. Complete Data Analysis & Reporting Course - [7.5% completed] Strengthen my foundational Excel skillset before I start building outward.
   1. Completed
2. Complete SQL Server Essentials Course - [40% completed] Strengthen my foundational SQL skillset before I build outward. I'm specifically interested in understanding of SQL Server beyond complex query-writing.
3. [New] Complete VBA Course - Gain a more in-depth ability to automate within Excel/Microsoft Office in general. Got this course for free years ago and finally have a reason to take it.
4. [New] Complete Advanced SQL Server Course - Work on automating queries and scheduling recurring jobs within SQL Server Management Studio. There will likely be overlap between this course and course #3, but my guess is that this course is more in-depth potentially.
5. Complete Git Course - [3% completed] This course is so that I know WTF I'm doing when I start publicly documenting my code for prospective employers.
   1. 27% Completed
6. Complete Mind Mapping Course - [25% Complete] Create structure to learn more efficiently. A more recreational slant to this course but it could improve my learning across the board
   1. 35% Completed
7. Complete Python Course #1 - It would allows me to automate recurring tasks which will free up more time for studying/becoming overemployed
8. Complete Python Course #2 - A more fundamental understanding of Python from an instructor I enjoy. Could be redundant though.
9. Improve my data visualization skills - I have a book lying around that I can revisit.
10. Improve my data analysis skills - Will cross this bridge when I get there.

 

[Macallik86]

Completed Course​

Microsoft Excel Data Analysis and Dashboard Reporting Course

Build Dynamic, Interactive Microsoft Excel Dashboards (Excel 2010, 2013, 2016) with a Best Selling Excel Instructor

www.udemy.com

Learned some new Excel keyboard shortcuts and dipped my toes into VBA a bit more than the past. I learned the CHOOSE( ) formula and immediately used it in some work tasks which felt good. Also got a refresher on Index/Match instead of VLOOKUP( ) but my datasets typically aren't large enough to need to use the alternative

The overall course focused on creating an interactive dashboard within Excel. My company doesn't do that regularly so I won't be using that but it was good practice and I enjoyed the lecturer as a presenter. I recommend the course overall to someone who is relatively new to Excel. Being that a lot of the course was things I already knew, I found myself pausing the video and doing the exercise before he even explained it. I watched most of the course on 3.0x speed so I made light work of it.

Ongoing Courses​

Git​

This course reaffirmed something I was starting to forget: I vastly prefer writing code over creating/conveying a message via data visualizations. Power BI never struck a chord for me like SQL Queries for this reason. I enjoy interacting with the command line interface in general and the Git course is basically all that.

I need to create some flashcards for what I've learned so far. I've been dragging my feet because I fell behind on my daily flashcards and had +3.5 hours of flashcards due at one point. I've been chipping away daily and so it's more manageable for now fwiw.

Another decision I need to make is how to structure the courses I take on Git.... whether they should be separate projects or all within an individual repo

SQL Server Essentials Course​

I've been dragging my feet with this course this week for some reason. The lecturer is less focused on lessons and usually pulls out a whiteboard and talks theory which is something I haven't experienced often since high school/college. I find it easier to zone out I feel like but I will double down and jump back into it today & tomorrow.

Mind Mapping Course​

I haven't actually created a Mind Map yet. The course is 70% watching the teacher and 30% creating your own mind maps. It does allow me to retain lots of information more easily than if I were reading it from a book. I have a few ideas of mind maps that I want to create too but I'm in no rush with the course or mind mapping tbh.

 

[Booker Carver]

This is my very first post, and I’m gonna use it to you. I’ve been on this personal development kick lately and this post inspires me. I like the structure you’ve laid out. My background was very structured like you have it but that was a lifetime ago. Rudderless is how I’ve felt. I met with a couple top producing sales people last week and they’ve both invested in business/sales coaches. Thinking about doing the same thing. I like to see things written out as well. I use excel for my budget and net worth tracking and will plan it out a decade from now. Might have to copy your daily routine.