I'd left it quite close to the wire too. I want my last working day to be on the 8th of November 2012 and my contract states I must give one months notice. Today is the 5th and I am not back in on shift until the 10th so today was my last chance. My boss had agreed to meet with me in Costa coffee.
I sat down to a large mocha and got off to a good start by asking he excuse me should my phone ring. I was expecting a call from the Police of all people, with regard to a complaint made by a neighbour about the Smurf van. Great! Luckily they rang later.
My boss seemed quite surprised. I haven't discussed my plans with this particular manager who is effectively my acting line manager. In the letter I stressed that my decision was not through wanting to resign but with the lack of a suitable sabbatical programme was a necessity. I explained I'd had lengthy talks with the Head of Engineering and we could not come to any sort of agreement.
I revealed our plans about working in the Alps for a ski season and then using the van to tour Europe. He was very supportive, echoing everything my parents and other 40-something adults say when I mention travelling. "Your at the right age... got any kids?" Which is usually followed up by "Then there you go" when I admit I haven't (atleast that I know of)
I believe he has children of a similar age so may have breached the subject of traveling within his family. He definitely seemed very comfortable and supportive of the idea. I urged that I really would like to work at the company again and he thought I'd have no problem if I was to re-apply for engineering jobs, even going so far as to imply that, having gained the personal skills associated with travel, may be suitable for a managerial job. Which was unexpected yet very welcomed.
He assured me that he would help in any way he could in my future career, giving a good reference whether I chose to re-apply within the company or for an outside company.
I thanked him, and the company, for the opportunities for personal and professional development. Afterall they had paid over £70,000 on my education!
I offered my assistance within this transitional process. I'm not quite sure what is involved in leaving a job after 6 years. So I've set the ball rolling. I've now got one month left at work (15 working days to be exact!) and I have a feeling I'm going to. strangely, enjoy them.
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