Time To Leave - Again

For those who don't already know - I am quitting my current job. For those who are wondering why so - I have decided to take up a position with TCS at Kochi. The pay is better, the prospects in terms of career growth is much better, the role being offered is good, and more importantly, my stint at TCS would help improvise on my consulting skills.

I had given my manager at Oracle a slight hint that I would be moving organizations. This was sometime last Friday (20-June-2008). And the immediate effect - he started moving the bugs out of my queue into my colleague Abhiram's queue. Also, he has started asking other people to start "understanding" the intricacies of the products I currently work on. I hate to admit it, but, I would've been a bit more happier if he had informed me that he has relayed such instructions to other people in the account.
And what irritated me more, is the fact that he gave me crappy reasons as to why he has started assigning my bugs to Abhiram. I mean - come on man. How difficult is it to give me the fact? That all you're doing is trying to mitigate risks as much as possible.

Anyways ... After this, I had called up my HR POC (point of contact) and enquired about the resignation formalities. That's when he got alerted of my intentions to leave. As a result, he had come down to Bangalore to meet me today. What resulted was 15 minutes of trying to "maska" my ego and a poorly conceived try at convincing me that moving to TCS would be a suicidal move and Oracle was THE place to be.

But, I think it would be prudent to add a few bits and pieces of my interview with my HR - let me call him AAA for convenience:

AAA: "Why do you want to move to TCS. They won't even pay you as much as Oracle!"
Me: "Actually, they're paying me a lot more than Oracle."
AAA: "What???" (very surprised). "How much are they offering extra?"
Me: "A good 15 %."
AAA: "15% on your current stack of #$#@ laks?" (You must be crazy to think I would reveal my actual pay on a blog!)
Me: "Yeah ... I will be drawing around @!@$ laks there! Plus it's my home town. So, it's a pretty neat pay!"
AAA: "Awwwwwwwwww ... So - you're going to jump for a meagre 15%. Why do you want to do that. Come on ... It's just 15% man!"
Me: (In My Mind) "Atleast it beats the Only-Worload-Hike that you folks are giving me!"




AAA: "Why would you go to a place like Cochin?"
Me: "My parents are getting old ... And unfortunately, they're not keeping well. So, I need to take care of them."
AAA: "Everyone's parents are old and they need being taken care of. But, that doesn't mean you leave your career behind and go!"
Me: (Offended) "What was that again?"
AAA: (Realizing he might have crossed a line) "What I meant is, sentiments are important. But, leaving your career for them - that is not a very smart idea!"
Me: "Well ... I think it is a good career move for me as well. They're giving me a promotion and a hike as well."
AAA: "Oh ... Ummmmmmmmmm .... But, what growth can you possibly have in a place like Cochin. There are hardly any companies there."
Me: "You might want to get your facts right. There are loads of companies there - TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Cognizant - to name a few!"
AAA: "Well ... But, your career growth in Bangalore would be much better."
Me: (In My Mind) "Why don't you let me worry about that?"



AAA: "Atleast you should wait for another 3 - 4 months to see if there are any hikes/corrections/bonuses happening here. If nothing is happening, or if you don't fall into the purview of any of the cycles, then and only then should you start looking outside."
Me: "You're asking me to forgo a good offer that I have for something that may or may not happen. And in case it doesn't happen, I end up loosing a perfectly great career option and end up with nothing here as well."
AAA: "Come on man ... You have to be a lot more optimistic than that. If you look at last year - correction cycles and other focal cycles have happened. This year, we don't have any clarity on when or for that matter whether it will happen. But, historically speaking, it has happened. I don't know why this year should be any different?"
Me: "Okay ... So - can you give me some sort of an assurance that I *will* be covered if at all something happens this year?"
AAA: "No ... I can't give you any such assurances. But, I think you should start being a lot more optimistic man!"
Me:" Optimistic eh ... Sounds like your asking me to forgo the bird in hand for the bird in the bush!"
AAA: "Ummmmmm ... Not really ... But, just think about it - Worst case - If you don't get any hike or bonus even after you wait 3 or 4 months, you can hunt for a job, and I'm pretty sure, like you bagged an offer now, you'll get another offer then."
Me: (In My Mind) "So .... You want me to drop this offer ... So that I can work my arse off for the next 4 months ... And by that time you'll get someone to replace me completely and then when I say I'm leaving - You'll can 'Taa taa Bye Bye!' with ease. Dream on bitch!"



AAA: "I think you should wait for another 3 - 4 months before you decide to quit man. I mean it. It's for your own good."
Me: (In My Mind) "And I think you should go jump off a cliff!"


I don't want to seem insensitive, or worse, disrespectful, to AAA, but, neither am I convinced by the pep talk he gave me, nor am I going to change my decision.

So,the way i see it, the nett outcome of this discussion is that although I was planning on telling my manager of my intentions to quit today, I'm simply going to have to wait till Monday (30-June-2008) to "surprise" him.