I’ve been away for too long, so I decided to return to this blog. I still find it tough to make blogging a habit, so I think I can be considered a yo-yo blogger. Months of activity then nothing, then another burst of posts, then nothing. Hopefully I can stick with it this time around.
As we get closer to the job discussions with our current engineering class at The Iron Yard, I was thinking about one thing I personally like to encourage to everyone: Don’t burn bridges.
I know there are certain situations in which a clean separation is extremely difficult, but I’m referring more to the elective job change. There really is no reason to go out with a bang just for entertainment’s sake. It’s much better to be honest and allow for a proper transition as much as possible. Creating bad blood can come back and haunt you or potentially create a whisper campaign against you that unfairly shuts the door to future opportunities. Why give anyone any doubts about your future potential?
In my case, I think I have a somewhat unusual career history. I have the experience of leaving a company and then returning to it later three separate times in my career. Each time there were different circumstances, but by leaving in a professional manner, the door was open to my return because my relationships were still valued and nobody doubted my word. I always followed through on what I communicated regarding the transition, documenting everything I knew would be needed for the next person in my role.
So that leads me to my latest moment of honesty. Recently my wife resigned from her position at Furman University. After starting her third year here, she has a much better idea of what type of academic environment suits her best and she is applying to a few openings for fall 2015. Since the university hiring process is essentially a yearly cycle, she will fulfill her third year here but by announcing her decision early Furman can move ahead in finding a new professor for next year while she does her own search.
What does this mean for me? Well, number one is that we will be leaving Greenville next summer no matter what. I could hold this close until next year, but that’s not fair – I have already told the owners of The Iron Yard and they are supportive of our move, and hopefully as the company continues to grow I will find a way to contribute in a different role. It also means there is plenty of time to figure out a transition plan, rather than put them in the stressful position of needing to find someone quickly. Because we have 4-month cycles of incoming and graduating students, a sudden personnel change can really throw things off.
So for now, really nothing is changing for me and there is a lot of time before I have any idea what will happen. But like I said above, doing what you can to make sure nobody feels burned is a good strategy both in life and in your career.