

Ask HN: How do you tell your boss you're ready to move on? - unmotivated

Some would say never do this, but I think it deserves some context.<p>I have an incredible boss.  He's the reason I haven't left this place yet, although he sees, understands and shares my frustrations that corporate is hamstringing a lot of progress.<p>I work in the IT department of a recognizable company, a global company that produces a wide array of products as a senior engineer.  You probably have one of our phones in your pocket, you may even have leftovers from last night in one of our refrigerators.  I'll be the first to say this company makes some great products, but working on the inside has been a chore.<p>Now, I'm feeling unmotivated, unchallenged and just worn out.  Granted, I've wanted to get out of IT so badly I actually almost signed up for a Real Estate Brokerage course at the community college.<p>Two weeks ago the manager of another department came to me and said he's interested in bringing me onboard his team.  While I'm already in a great position with a lot of the senior staff for producing good results and in general going above and beyond with building the best help-desk team I possibly could, I can't stand to continue working IT anymore.<p>How can I relate this to my boss and explain that this new position is something I'm genuinely interested in, and that my decision to pursue it is not because of the team, but because it's just time for a change?  I know his chief concern will be to promote someone to my position, and find a replacement, I'm prepared to spend the time sourcing and interviewing my replacement if it makes things go over more smoothly.<p>Thanks HN
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swombat
Your boss has heard it all before. Don't worry about it. He probably already
knows you're leaving.

Ask your boss for a private meeting. Sit down. Chances are he'll glance at you
and say "So where are you leaving to, then?"

Above all, don't stress about it. It's not as important as you seem to think.

~~~
steveklabnik
This. I've only had to do this a few times in my life, but it always seemed
worse than it was. Just be straightforward and honest, it'll all turn out just
fine.

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cmeiklejohn
Totally agree. Worrying about it ahead of time always ends up being worse than
actually doing it.

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jfb
I did this when I left Apple; it seemed a lot harder until the moment I walked
into his office and had the conversation. It helped that I wasn't leaving
because of problems with him or the culture, but rather to strike out on my
own. He and my grandboss were very understanding. Be prepared to as you say
spend the energy bringing someone new up to speed, but don't knock yourself
out over it, because a) that's your boss' responsibility and b) you'll never
get it 100% right in any reasonable amount of time.

Too, cut the cord. Don't offer to contract or help out on an informal or even
formal basis. You are going to need to concentrate 100% on your new gig; they
are going to need to get someone up to speed; delaying this process is in
nobody's best interest.

Good luck! It sounds like you have the right attitude already, which will go a
long way towards smoothing the process.

 _EDIT_ : Oh, and be sure to set a definitive end date. That will focus
attention on the problem of replacement. Be reasonable (e.g., not so much the
"I've already packed and there's a helicopter outside"), but firm.

~~~
gte910h
> grandboss

Oh god what a great term. Never heard it but will use it.

~~~
monological
I always use bigboss. MGS anyone?

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JimmyL
If a manager of another department came to talk to you about moving (and
you're at that large a company), there's a very good chance that the
prospective manager has already given your current manager a heads-up that you
had that conversation, and may have even cleared it with him beforehand.

Most companies of your size have a large HR department that has some serious
procedures for all aspects of hiring, including interdepartmental hires. Plus,
it's doubtful that your prospective manager would want to piss off your
current one by going around him, seeing as it's in the prospective one's
interest that he feels happy with the process (so that he doesn't block it in
the future). If your current manager is a really good boss, he may have set
this up to begin with because he sees you're the kind of guy the company want
to employ, and that moving you somewhere else is preferable to losing you.

Bottom line is don't worry about it - your boss is almost certainly waiting
for you to have this conversation with him.

Ask your prospective manager when you should talk to the current one about it
(the answer is probably after the new one has filed the HR forms), and don't
worry about finding a replacement - that's what you have an HR department for.
You may be asked to set a reasonable transfer date to deal with knowledge
transfer, but that's an issue for discussion between HR, your new manager, and
your old manager.

Given the size of your company, you're not the first person who has ever
wanted to do an interdepartmental transfer; there's a procedure for it, so
it's just a matter of kicking that into motion and following along. Your
situation is unlike most of those discussed here (a multinational vs. a small
business/start-up); don't get romantic notions about doing your personal bit
to help out your manager or current team. There is a (likely large) HR
department that exists to manage these things and set procedures, and it's
unlikely your current manager even has much choice in terms of when and how
you move departments.

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darklajid
Be honest. Be polite. That's it.

I quit quite some jobs so far and know the "But the guy's nice" attitude far
too good. That doesn't matter here. You're ready to move on and romanticising
(is that even a word?) your connection to the boss and trying to spin
analogies to splitting up a romantic relationship are not useful. You're a
professional. Your boss is. He's seen other people leave - and it's again just
a matter of business, nothing personal.

Just remember that you follow the rules in the first sentence. If you explain
yourself honestly and do it in a polite way, you've probably a spot to return
to, if you should want to in the future..

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Eliezer
Okay... I'm probably _not_ the person to take advice from on this issue... but
I have to say, if it was me, and if your boss is a nice person, I'd just take
what you wrote up there, and copy and paste it into an email. Or just send him
the URL to HN.

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brudgers
> _"Two weeks ago the manager of another department came to me and said he's
> interested in bringing me onboard his team."_

People move around in big companies all the time. It's a great way of building
inter-department relationships, giving people a sense of the bigger picture,
and providing opportunities for growth.

Everyone affected is probably aware of what is going on. It may even be that
the offer is to keep you from doing something desperate...like real-estate. If
your old boss is going to hold moving on against you, it was time to go
anyway.

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gte910h
For internal company moves, you just apply for the position, and respect the
corporate structure to handle the swapover from departments to departments.

Your current boss will say something like "I'm hurt you didn't come to me" etc
possibly, but you can't risk talking with him about it, as he may feel you're
going to leave the company if you don't get the internal position.

Sucks that things have to be this way, but it works out fine and if you're
boss is older than 24, he's done it before.

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Andaith
Perfect timing for you to post this thread, I need this advice too.

If you don't mind, can I ask if there's any specific advice anyone has
regarding moving on from a startup?

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danilocampos
Any good boss wants his people to be successful. Assuming he has even a bit of
maturity and genuinely likes you, he's going to encourage your growth, even if
it means you move on to another group.

The alternative is that you stagnate and become miserable, and that's no good
for either of you. He gets that, I guarantee, if he's even a tenth as great as
you say he is.

So in short, you have nothing to worry about. It sounds like you're both
menschy guys. He'll help you out, you'll help him out, and you can be friends
after all of this.

Ask him to grab coffee, lunch, or something else private. Be direct, be
honest, tell him what's up. He probably already expects it, if your
frustrations are such a common topic of conversation.

edit: Yeah, listen to swombat, he said it even more efficiently than I did.

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shareme
Offer to pick and train your replacement so that your boss has the best of
both worlds

and do not tell him an email, this needs to be face-to-face

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phamilton
So I just did this last week. I told my boss I would like to transfer, but I
told him that I have really appreciated my time there, and I want to work with
him to make the transition as smooth as possible. He really appreciated it,
and there were no hard feelings. We are going to have a little chat with the
rest of our team during our next staff meeting and decide how long they want
me to hang around to keep the transition smooth.

