Yes, I did. I resigned from SDM/DWS, my employer for the past 4 years, earlier this week. There have been many guesses as to why I quit from various folks and without recapping the entire past 4 years, it's hard to explain to anyone succinctly as to why I've decided to leave. Sometimes these things are easy to explain; they wouldn't pay me enough, or I hated my boss, or they made me do things I didn't want to do. None of those applied to me. In the end it came down to a philosophical difference between where SDM/DWS were heading and where I wanted to go. Do I think that SDM (or DWS) is a bad place to work? - definitely not. A lot of people have tried to pin it on the fact that DWS acquired SDM - and that's part of my decision, but certainly not the sole reason. Some people have assumed I'm taking a "step up the ladder" - I don't think so at all. My new role is probably on par with what I do now. The simple fact is that SDM and I have grown apart in the past few months, and if my philosophy aligned with SDM's (or DWS's), I'd think it was a great place to work. Both organisations have a great history and a lot of potential for the future. DWS's business model is incredibly strong and very clever. And there are some great people at SDM/DWS to work with as well. So, yes, I think it is a good place to work, unfortunately I just want something different (note, I am not using the word "better") in my life right now.

At this point I'd like to say I get really annoyed at people who take swipes and stabs on the way out of a company. It's usually a very short term view and pretty ugly behaviour in my opinion. And I've had a few comments from people who have left SDM who have heard my news, saying things along the lines of "good on you for getting out" and "the place was going down the toilet". In this case, I don't share your views (I think the opposite in fact), and I think it's disrespectful to assume that I would. I have my own reasons for leaving, and it is certainly not constructive for those who are staying at DWS to start openly and publicly bagging their current and your ex employer. It essentially says to them "I'm better than you for leaving" - it's ugly and is a sure fire way to lose friends and piss off future referees, employers and business partners quickly. Enough on that rant...

I'm excited about the next step in my career, but I need to remain focussed over the coming weeks until I finish up with SDM. I've still got some big jobs to complete and a few things to handover. I'm not sure when my last day will be... that will become clearer in the coming days.

So, where am I off to? That's for another post I think.

And a reflection on my time at SDM? That's another post as well. Guess you'll just have to keep checking back for updates if you're interested :)

Labels: Work