Handing my notice in at a bad time - is that okay?

[SarahCrowcombe]

Am I being unreasonable by handing my notice in now?

I have hated my job - I escaped teaching (which I loved, but it destroyed me) and started a job in marketing at an NGO. It was okay at the start, but I then soon found that it didn't interest me in the slightest, and the lack of human contact and constant screen time started to negatively affected me and my mental health.

Fast forward to 7 months in, and my lovely Line Manager left for a better paid role elsewhere. The company didn't replace him, leaving me to do both jobs (with only 7 mths experience in that field and no formal training). The company said that they wouldn't replace him and wanted to hold his job open with the view to giving it to me (in a year when I have more experience), and they got an agency in for a few hours a week. So I have now taken on a massive workload and am basically now doing the manager job anyway (and I am totally lost because there is so much I am being asked to, of which I have no idea how to do, and am being given ZERO help or training from my boss who just says: 'sorry I don't know'). On top of this, I took a £10,000 pay cut when I first took the job and have struggled financially. I also know the manager job that they want to give me in a year, will be a tiny salary increase - hence why my line manager left in the first place.

So, I have just been offered a job in Student Support at a brilliant University. Much more up my street, in Education, a £6,000 pay rise, great career progression, amazing holiday, amazing maternity (for future planning - my current job has almost no maternity pay), options for doing their apprenticeships whilst also being paid (so I can retrain in another career should I want to) and they seem super lovely! So overall, MUCH better for me!

BUT, I feel terrible. Me handing in my notice will come totally out of the blue, and will be leaving everyone in the lurch. The boss will likely be extremely annoyed because they've kept the manager role open for me, and they will have lost the entire team in the space of a few months. It is also a very bad time for the company in many ways, and they are VERYYY stretched for staff (with another manager quitting in another team last month, who they haven't replaced yet either), and I feel like I will be letting my close colleagues down and leaving them all alone.

I think I am looking for a little reassurance if possible.

Thank you so much in advance! 😊

Go for it. It’s not like they have cared about your mental wellbeing chucking everything at your feet, have they?

Their problems are of their own making

Pay staff well
Treat staff well

And they may well stay

Just do it. You don't owe them anything. You've only be there 7 months, they could get rid of you tomorrow if they wanted to.

It's their fault, not yours, for not resourcing properly.

Might be worth thinking about whether there is anything that would make you want to stay for a few years, but ultimately if they haven't supported you or paid you properly so far, are you going to have a different experience in the future?

You are just a number to them, go for it and don't look back.

We're at work for so long that we have to love it.

Just hand in your notice. If they needed to get rid of you they wouldn’t hesitate to do it regardless of whether it was a “good time” for you or not.

I’ll never understand this sort of blind loyalty to employers. You have a notice period which they have deemed suitable to get the work covered. It’s totally on them.

congratulations on the new role

How much notice are you giving? And how long before the university expect you? Pretty much agree with the posters above, but always the better terms you can leave on the better!

None of those things are your problem.

You’ve got to do what’s right for you. An opportunity has come up that you can’t pass up. Don’t doubt yourself, they can fill the hole you leave behind.

Just to be clear, they've dumped an entire teams work on you with no pay rise or support and you're worried about being unreasonable to them?

Please don't make the same mistake as me, staying loyal to a job that I hated and passing up another opportunity.

"It's a bad time" is why there ARE notice periods

They haven’t “kept the manager role open for you”

they have tried to be cheap and gaslit you into doing the manager job and your current job without training or a pay rise.

take the new job.

lol this.
You shouldn't feel bad at all.

Absolutely do what is right for you. And I understand they're saying they've kept the managers job open for you, but really they're getting you to do all that work for the next year with no pay rise. Sorry if I sound cynical but it sounds to me like they're taking the mick but have framed it like they're doing you a favour when it's very much you helping them! The new job sounds great so I'd definitely go for it!

Not your circus not your monkeys. If is suits you then do it. They havent given you any consideration in the pressure they have put you under.

If they needed to get rid of you they’d do it in a heartbeat. It is useful to learn as soon as possible in your career that you owe your employer no loyalty, as they will certainly show none to you if it suited their interests.

Take the new job, life is too short to spend doing something you don’t enjoy & don’t get paid properly for!

I wouldn't even be giving this a second thought.

Good luck in your new role

Not your problem. Congratulations and enjoy your new job x

100% this.

They’re taking the piss.

Go and don’t give it a second thought. Also definitely don’t kill yourself to leave things in good order before you go - do what you can in your working hours and leave it at that.

Definitely take it. It’s better for you.

Dont feel bad, they wouldn’t think twice about getting rid of you or not actually giving you this job they’re promising! Always remember you’re just a number and easily replaced, and do what’s best for you.

Even if they’d treated you really well, it would still not be unreasonable to hand in your notice. You can and should leave a job for any reason at any time. You work, they pay you. That’s the only relationship you have with them. You’re not there as an act of charity and they aren’t your dependents.

If they valued you or cared they would give you the managers job and the pay rise now. Not dangle the carrot for a year. IME the promotion will probably likely never materialise anyway and is just being used to encourage you to stay.

Leave.

Go for it OP and don't give it another moment's thought. Your employer is treating you appallingly, but they can only do that because you're letting them! Hand in your notice and they'll have to employ two people to do those two jobs again, but it won't be your problem. Go for the better job and salary and always, always look out for yourself, because no other bugger will!

You owe them nothing. Everyone is replaceable at work. They are essentially using you as a manager without paying you for it. Go do something you really fancy!! Sounds like a great opportunity.