Word of Mouth Conquers All - My 2 Weeks Notice Experience
For those of my readers who don’t know, this week I quit my work at dt. I’m moving on to some new adventures and proud of the past two years at dt. What I’m not proud of is the way things turned out and the way I was treated (which didn’t completely surprise me since past employees went through the same experience) the day I put in my notice.
Not only was I not personally congratulated but was called unprofessional. Ohhk since when was putting in 2 weeks notice unprofessional? I was then told to leave that same day with or without a smooth transition to the rest of the team. I know that was done out of spite because I said I’d be in sales (cough cough) and many wise employees are jumping ship… but that’s the point. Don’t take your mismanagement and personal problems out on me or any other employees; past or present. All you’re doing is burning bridges and causing a mighty uproar within the tightly knit community. Remember one of the word of mouth rules we all learned in business school: when you’re happy about an experience you may tell 1 or 2 people, but when you’re pissed you tell 30. In some cases 100. 
Just to clarify I left for three main reasons:
1. I didn’t want to be in sales. If I wanted to be in sales I would go talk to Merck in Sorrento Valley and make 6 figures selling pharmaceuticals, not web design. Btw I was told a few months ago to either do sales or find another job, so that’s how I got into sales in the first place.
2. I need job security. Enough said.
3. We all need to feel appreciated. Feeling appreciated at a job is not a privilege, it’s a requirement. When I was told to leave the same day I put in my 2 weeks I felt crushed. It just really hurt to be treated like a piece of shit after putting almost two years of hard work into a company that can’t show a little bit of gratitude. After all, I don’t care about how I feel but I care about every single person in that company who will take on the brunt of my unclosed deals and additional work because we weren’t allowed an easy transition.
Oh well at least I wasn’t the only one treated that way who has left. Not sure if that’s something to brag about though…
So I will keep you all posted as to the news of my next venture. In the meantime just remember to follow your heart, your gut feeling and NEVER let anybody tell you otherwise. And remember - Word of Mouth is KING.
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Amen and congrats once again my friend. Its experience like this that reinforce my decision to start my own company. Sorry to hear it went down like that. I know you are going to kick ass in your new role.
Cheers,
Morgan
This is quite the story. I first started reading your blog and following you on twitter because you worked @ dt and it sounded like a cool company. So it sucks to hear someone was treated this way. I hope everything works out for you. I know how much it sucks to be underapreciated. Good luck!
Sarah, congrats on your new awesome. Say adios to the old douchers who treat you poorly.
My motto…
Funny thing is - I think you were writing your blog about this crappy situation, about the same time I was writing about mine: http://enrique-gutierrez.com/rambling/got-talent-try-to-keep-it/
Cheers!
Sarah,
I wish you the best of luck with your next venture, I’m sure you’ll do great at whatever you take on. You said one thing that touches very close to home, appreciation. For me, appreciation is the difference between being content in a position or being eager for change. I’d even be willing to tolerate more bs if my efforts were being appreciated. My current situation is very similar; the company I work for made some major changes at the beginning of the year and I was forced into a territory that ranged 61-89 miles from my house. I tolerated this change for three reasons, I need a job, they paid my tuition, and more importantly my supervisor regularly lets me know how much my hard work and drive time is appreciated. I don’t know when supervisors are going to realize attitude reflects leadership; treat your people right.
Sincerely,
Ryan Kazinec
Great post and timely for my approaching situation. I’ve been at a company for 10 years I helped build from a meager start from a living room now in a 11 million dollar carrier grade data center in Downtown Los Angeles. I’m preparing to leave and I feel the same is going to happen to me. I will be dragged through the mud to save face. I know this because my past experiences dealing with this issue when others have left.
There must be something in the air… I think you were writing your post about this sucky job experience when I was writing mine (http://enrique-gutierrez.com/rambling/got-talent-try-to-keep-it/) … you were a lot nicer about it than I was though… perhaps I should consider a revision.
Sarah,
Thanks for posting your true feelings. I understand that it is sometimes hard to voice them in person.
We absolutely enjoyed and appreciated your presence and hard work at dt. You brought a great energy to the office. In fact, we appreciated your work so much that we kept you in the role for 8 months despite not having any clients to support it.
It’s our goal to continue to support our employees even if their position is no longer supported by client services. This is why we offered you the sales position and turned down the rest of our qualified applicants. We believe that you would excel at this position based on your social skills and knowledge of the web. We know that you have a passion for the web community, so it was our goal to help you continue to connect with it.
I believe it is best to judge a 2-year experience by the whole of its parts, not just a less-than-optimal parting experience for both parties involved.
It definitely came as a surprise to us when you quit 5 days after you fully committed to the new role. At the same time, it was fortunate because we were able to transition the few deals that you were working on in one day. We nevertheless wish you the best and understand how your new position at LG could be a very positive opportunity for your career.
Chuck
CEO
digital-telepathy
Hey everybody! Thank you SO much for your undying support! I wasn’t expecting such a turn out and truly appreciate the community I have surrounding me. So THANK YOU! And to clarify I didn’t know about the LG offer until 2 days before putting my notice at dt, not 5…not sure where that came from.
Either way - I just all of my reader to know that amidst it all, you have truly been the most amazing network I could ask for. And THAT my friends is what matters. Through better or worse this is when community and friends show their true colors and to all of you who have stuck by me - I will remember.
I LOVE YOU ALL!!
Sarah,
I hope you find the best in life. I’ve worked at some f#$&ed places before and have dealt with so much drama in the work life. With all the chaos, I have always been comforted by the friends I’ve made through out the years (from work). It seems today everyone if focusing on the faulting economy and not so much on the new great roads that lay ahead.
I strongly agree with point #3, about being appreciated. At one place I worked at (most recently) they had some top talent people who were drastically underpaid and just given grunt work. I gave ample warning to show more appreciation (beyond my control), then after time most of them jumped ship (including me). I’ve known you for only a short time, though I know you are a talented web professional with genuine passion for the web industry.
Today most smart business invest in people, not services!
Your new company is lucky to have you. I wish you the BEST of luck and fortune in your new adventure and hope to see you around!
Regards
Johnny Negretti
CEO, Ideablue Networks
So I just had an interesting “argument” about this post with a good friend of mine, would love to share some thoughts here…needless to say both of us had very different opinions about this which is fine but one question comes to my mind that I would love to hear about “how much true chatter, is too much?”
Today’s Internet has truly blurred the privacy lines of yesterday. We all know it and are part of it, hell most of us here created this beast with our own hands
and for the most part we can’t imagine the Internet being any other way at this point. The ability to speak our mind at any moment, expressing our thoughts and feelings to the whole world is something that past generations could not even imagine….Isn’t that fantastic, fascinating, and perhaps addictive?
At the same time, just like in real life, there are consequences of speaking our minds especially when we look at any argument from OUR side and let’s face it, when emotions run high, it is tough for anyone to stay objective or see anybody else’s reality…in relationships and in business. As much as I am all about honesty and purity of experiences and information, I must admit, I find myself trekking cautiously when my disclosure can hurt someone’s reputation or perhaps even my own long after the situation subsides. None of us can argue that reality is just a perception, and we all can see the same situation from so many different angles, what makes us think our perception is the correct one? and even if it is…is it worth for us to express something to the entire world omitting other details, knowing that this information will live on the web forever and might be misconstrued by many? At what point do we stop and not only think about our responsibility to ourselves and others but become accountable for our chatter? How much of our chatter is useless ranter that with time will only hurt others? Is it worth it? Is this any different than doing it in person? Why do we take the high road many times in our real life without sharing our true feelings because we don’t want to hurt someone but behind the screen we feel so much more ready to dish it out?
Some people say, including my friend ;)…look how many have become famous for honesty and for sharing dirt or their true feelings on the web… To that I say YES…we all have that freedom but how many of us can really afford it?, with that freedom comes responsibility, whatever the consequences…one should ask themselves before hitting the “submit” button: “can I afford to not care about the consequences that might follow when I share a story? can I afford for others to misconstrue the information and never have the chance to explain? Is some info worth spreading?”
There’s a saying: “some things are better left unsaid” - why should that apply in real life but not on the web? whatever the consequences are…maybe one day when we pull up some of our shared stories without any emotions attached to them, we’ll realize that some things were better left unsaid? Will we have regrets? Or perhaps at the end of the day, we’ll go on content with the fact that “well this was my truth”…
Just for the sake of the argument here and for those who might not be aware of this… There has been court cases that have used people’s “chatter” against them, my space had few of those where lawyers presented information and the judges sentenced people to jail because of the comments on their myspace page.
What if one day you apply for a job or approach a client who can truly propel your career to the next level and you find out that they have decided not to hire you because of TMI on the web? Would that change the way you share on the web? or would you still believe that the “innocent” truth should be shared regardless of the consequences?
I’m curious to know what people think.
And Sarah, as with any experiences, I have realized long time ago that endings are only platforms for new beginnings in our lives, and hopefully with each beginning we transition into something much more suitable for our lifestyle and current desires. If we all look at every experience as a lesson, there should be no regrets and no disappointments regardless if what has passed was positive or negative…life is about moments in time that in the end create a lifetime of experiences. Good luck on your new path!
Marzena Kmiecik
Creative Director / Owner
Pixelfanatix.com
Marzena,
First, what a great, well thought out response. I normally wouldn’t spend so much time responding to a post but you have a very interesting point of view. I’m going to share my opinion on a couple of things you mentioned. Feel free to let me know what you think.
“There’s a saying: “some things are better left unsaid” - why should that apply in real life but not on the web?”
– In real life we sometimes face split second decisions on what we should and shouldn’t say and usually take the high road because it avoids confrontation. However, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t things we wish we would have said if we only had the time to gather our thoughts and carefully evaluate what should and shouldn’t be said. Blogging, commenting, venting online gives everyone the power (whether they abuse it or not) to express their thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Just like real life, some people are responsible and some are not. I’d like to the think the responsible individuals use the freedom of unlimited time to scrupulously evaluate what they would have said in person if they only had the time to think things over. Clicking that submit button can very well be permanent and we should all consider the consequences of our actions before we apply any pressure to that mouse button.
Much like the argument between you and your friend, opinions will always differ; there is no set standard for what is acceptable. Some people may very well think documenting an unfortunate ending of employment goes too far while others like myself think it should be published as long as the information is factual. There is a huge difference between documenting an experience and writing pure slander. Much like employers turn to the internet to do background checks and browse social network profiles I exercise my right to run Google searches on potential employers. An article like Sarah’s wouldn’t be my sole determining factor on whether or not to pursue a career with a company but I would certainly use it as reference point to coincide with any other information my search might turn up.
“Can I afford for others to misconstrue the information and never have the chance to explain?”
-Blog platforms such as WordPress give everyone the chance to ask questions and also grants the author the chance to respond to questions or make corrections. Some people could very well misinterpret what an author is trying to get across but if there is any question the reader has every opportunity to ask questions. What did you mean by this? How were you mistreated? How many other employees felt that way? Etc… No one should ever come to a final conclusion about a company, issue, or way of thinking from a single article. I also love the fact that employers have the option to respond much like Sarah’s former employer did. If an employer feels the information is inaccurate they can address it. Without knowing the employer or Sarah very well I can honestly say I see both points of view and that is the beautiful thing about the internet, I wouldn’t have to come to a conclusion immediately after reading the article and follow up posts. I could discuss things further, do further research, and take as much time as needed to carefully evaluate where I stand on the subject. Just my two cents…
Ryan Kazinec
CEO/Owner
JealousBrother.com
Wow thanks for your responses Marzena and Ryan! Here’s my thoughts:
I like to think that the way we portray ourselves online by the things we write, the photos we publish, the people we befriend in FB, is controlled by us. Whether others agree with it or not, we each have our own unique ability to put on the Internet what we want and how we want others to see ourselves.
By me writing a story about my experience I have put myself on a level others can relate to. I have, hopefully, empowered those who thought they were the only ones dealing with an unfortunate break-up from a company. I open feelings up to a world who can cry with me or against me. It’s an amazing time where we can let the community know how we’re feeling at a particular time & event in our lives.
I don’t agree with slander or malicious writing about anybody or any company - I want to keep my integrity at a certain level. Getting revenge or airing out dirty laundry is not what this blog is about - it’s about letting my followers know what I’m feeling at a particular moment in time. Isn’t that what’s beautiful about blogging? And isn’t that every bloggers’ right?
Thanks for such well thought out responses and keep the conversation going - I would love to hear what others have to say about this issue. Cheers! - Sarah
Sarah,
What an interesting social experiment this post turned out to be! You and @nrek have inspired one of my next blog posts. I’d like to write both of your experiences, and see what the community can learn from them.
This could get very interesting…
Oh, and I congratulate you with your new role at Mind Touch. It is great that you are still in the industry at a company that embraces blogging as much, if not more so, than dt. I don’t know if a big bad corporation like LG would be so open and inviting to these kind of dialogues, or if they’d even pay attention.
- Matt
“past employees went through the same experience”
Me included as you know. I just want to wish you the best of luck at Mind Touch. It sounds like you definitely took the right step.
Best,
Ryan
Thank you for sharing your experience. I was faced with a couple awful corporate experience prior to starting gWave.
I feel for ya, but all parties involved can only grow from here.
TechZulu interview here we come:)
-Mel