I've had my share of crappy work environments, but this story is about my recent decision to quit and get a job somewhere else. It's a bit long, sorry, but I think worth sharing.
So I worked my previous job for over 7 years. It was a good job and I enjoyed working for the company. Good coworkers and a nice boss. It was definitely a stressful job and we had a lot of turnover. The 7 years that I worked there is more than twice as long as any of my coworkers ever lasted. This is important to the story. So anyway, the stress of the job was really getting to me and I was doing a lot of burning out. I still loved the job, but it was getting hard to keep it up. My boss had been encouraging me for a while to go for a management position and I eventually took her advice and got the trainings I would need for the position.
Not long after I got the certificate I needed, my boss decided to accept an offer at another company, freeing up her spot. She recommended me and I applied for the job. I had a couple interviews and didn't end up getting the job. Sucks, but it happens. Well, after that, another management position opened up and two managers recommended me for the position. I applied and was turned down again.
I was starting to feel frustrated and, while I don't have proof, I suspect that I was being turned down because of my reliability and value in the job that I held. An opinion that was backed up by what happened next. So I was getting frustrated and was thinking about floating my resume out to see if I could go somewhere else when I got a call from my old boss. The company that she left to was hiring and it was exactly the position that I was trying to get into. We talked and I decided that it would be a good move. But I still liked the people I worked with including my current boss.
Now the industry that I work in, notice is expected to be longer than 2 weeks because an abrupt departure (even two weeks) can create a lot of problems. The position that I was considering wasn't quite ready for me to come into, so I was able to give even more notice than expected. Two months before I planned to quit, I reached out to tell my boss. She was upset to lose me, but acknowledged that if I wanted growth, moving on would be the best option. She did ask me to hold off while she tried to get me a better offer and I agreed. And the company did make an offer immediately (hence why I was suspicious that they just didn't want to lose me at my current position). It was for a department doing something completely different, but it was the only position they had available. It would be a mild pay increase and would allow me to work most days from home.
After weighing my options, I turned it down. The other offer is further away, but I got a substantial pay increase, can still work from home 2 days per week, and it's in the field that I feel passionate about.
This is, in my opinion, what quitting for a better opportunity should look like. I don't have sore feelings for them trying to keep me in the job I had. It was what was best for the company. They gracefully acknowledged that I had a better offer and tried to keep a good worker with what they could give and when it wasn't enough, allowed me to work out my last bit of time, wrap up my projects, and leave with no hard feelings. All you people who are told that you need to stay because you won't be treated any better elsewhere are lying and desperate. If they can't keep you, that is their problem and if they decide to act like children when you leave, they won't survive much longer as workers insist on being treated like valued assets, not replaceable commodities. There are good companies out there. Leave and find them. When only the good companies can get employees, the bad ones will change or die. As it should be.