Sorry for the long post but it’s almost a year of background. Hopefully someone can give me an opinion with a clearer mind.
I’ve been working for an important multinational company for 11 years. I started as a Junior and worked my way to manager in Argentina. About a year ago, my wife and I wanted to move to Spain so while we were waiting for our European citizenship to be approved, I started looking for work opportunities in Spain for the same company. Imagine my surprise when the same day I start looking I find a job posting describing a similar job to what I’ve been doing in Argentine, in Spain. (Data Analytics)
I send an email to the person in charge of the job posting and ask if there is any chance of getting a work visa for me to move and start relocating while the European visa papers finish processing.
I have three different interviews with who would be my future boss. He doesn’t ask me much about my experience after seeing I was a manager and that I’ve been 11 years in the company. I’m really honest about my skills, as I know Data Analytics can get really technical and my current job had me mostly as a People Manager for a big team composed by Business, UX and Data engineers. I even ask him what skills does he think I’m missing so I can catch up before I move to Spain, his response was “whatever you don’t know, you can learn it when you get here”. Thinking back, him not asking me almost anything should have a been a huge red flag but I was so happy about all the situation, I didn’t notice it at the time.
The position was supposedly to help him start a team that would take care of a big opportunity with a big client.
Fast forward 6 months, I already sold all my things in Argentina and moved my wife and pet across to Spain. I’m starting at the new position and the first thing I’m told is that they couldn’t sell the opportunity to this client so this assignment they brought me for, would have to be put on hold but I would still have a position. They will send me to interview with other clients so I can be chargeable in the meantime.
I interview with a possible client who apparently was told I was an expert in a program I haven’t even heard about. I tell them the truth, I don’t know how to use it but I’m a fast learner and would be happy to work with them. I obviously don’t land that opportunity.
It’s my third day in my new position and I hear from my new boss for the first time since I started. He takes me to a meeting room and asks me plainly “The interview went bad because you didn’t have that skill. What do you know?”. I basically repeat everything I told him during my job interview, and I’m surprised at the fact that he seems angry at me. He basically confess that he didn’t pay much attention since he though that if I have been for so long in the company, I can adjust to anything… he then tells me that I’m not good to him and I’m not the right fit for the role (Remember this was my 3rd day after moving to a different continent and being tied at the moment to a work visa). I was devastated
I ask him how do we continue then, and he tells me we will have to pretend for my own good (I imagine he didn’t want to confess he made a mistake to his boss and spend a lot of money in a work visa for someone who doesn’t fit this role)
I didn’t have much of a choice, it was that or moving back to Argentina with nothing there waiting for me and minus all the savings we used to relocate.
By the end of February, I have been sent to several client interviews where I’ve been asked to lie about my skills. Most of them, I didn’t get, others I was able to do the job mostly by winging it but the last one was going really bad, so I told my boss I needed to be replaced as the client was about to realize. He got mad once again and told me he didn’t know what else to do with me, so he offered to make an agreement. They would give me an X amount of money and I would have to quit. I wasn’t happy but said we could discuss it since all of this situation and how badly he has been treating me have taken a toll in my health.
The very next day he gets back to me and tells me that unfortunately, his boss doesn’t approve of this and we won’t be able to reach an agreement. My new options are:
1) Quit now “for my mental health”
2) Wait until April, where they would get an approval to fire me and send me with 11 years worth of severance.
That doesn’t solve my visa problem but at least the severance would give me some leeway so I accept option 2.
Two days ago I speak with him once again to determine what’s my final day and he tells me that they couldn’t get an approval and most likely won’t until September, but “as a favor” they will wait until my citizenship is ready for my resignation or for me to get another job.
Now, to me, it doesn’t sound fair. I worked for over a decade for this company with excellent annual reviews. Now they are expecting me to leave empty handed because “they are doing me the favor of waiting” even though they made the mistake during the hiring process and have mistreated me daily for 6 months.
Should I just quit and end all this or should I hold as much as I can?