In reply to Datsun310Guy :
You're much more polite than I am. I'm an shiny happy person, because a lot of times that is the only way to get your point across.
I walked out for the Nth time that year, and I was told "You're done." and my only thought was "FINALLY!".
Mind, I didn't have any prospects when it happened. It took a while. I only just (as in, last week) paid off the suckage of living on credit while looking for a better place to work, as opposed to "A" place to work. Sometimes you gotta rip the bandage off before you know what you'll see underneath.
Suprf1y
UltimaDork
12/28/19 9:08 a.m.
You think you're an shiny happy person? I just left a job of 20 years. For 10 years I loved the job, but accepted a transfer when the plant was closing. The manager that courted me turned out to be an absolute piece of garbage that would never stand up for his people and, among many other things, routinely throw us under the bus for his own political gain.
When I accepted the new job my plan was to wait until the last day, then get the manager out in front of the whole department and call him out on the poor treatment and weaselly things he'd done to us over the years, but the berkeleyer took vacation that week. It would have been great because he was such an elitist he would have been really embarrassed and really furious. I would have been a hero 
I know they would not have given me any more, so I left it til the end and gave one day's notice.
pointofdeparture said:
Glad to hear that I am not the only one that thinks this is a giant PITA.
The full(ish) story: in my current role I feel that my talents are underutilized and I am constantly doing grunt work well outside of my job description. In 2018 I was promoted and told my responsibilities would change and a raise was coming at review time. Well, guess what didn't change and what didn't come at review time due to every excuse in the world?
Shortly after that, about 7 months ago I had a heart to heart with my boss & his boss about how I am feeling and very honestly brought up that I feel there are better opportunities for me elsewhere and that if they want me to stay they need to demonstrate to me that I am worth it. I was told they understand my concerns and would be working on it but they see me as a major asset to the company and can not afford to lose me.
Well here we are at the start of the new year, nothing has changed, once every couple months they sit me down to tell me they are still working on it and can't afford to lose me but the timeline is constantly changing and they sure haven't demonstrated it. Last week they called a company meeting and promoted a bunch of sales guys right in front of me. My boss was tripping over himself after that meeting to tell me that they haven't forgotten about me and something will come "in a few months" but at this point I am done being strung along. If they really can't afford to lose me someone would have thrown me a bone by now. I was very open and candid about my unhappiness and basically received lip service in return, so I'm done.
Other factors pushing me away: I spend 2 hours commuting back and forth to this job (45min-1hr each way), the benefits are awful, and there is really no further growth potential due to the size of the organization and heavy emphasis on sales growth over other areas of the business anyway.
Prospective company is closer to home, much bigger organization with better growth potential, I would be learning new career skills right off the bat, better benefits package, etc. And they agreed to schedule the phone screen outside of my current work hours so that's a plus!
The interesting question is why were others promoted over you? Related, why are you getting grunt work beneath your skills?
There are a couple of possibilities. First the guy you are having these conversations with, let's call him your Manager/mentor. May not be a very good advocate on your behalf. He might not have the power or respect needed to advance you.
On the other hand ( and this is the really hard part to accept) maybe it's you? Maybe those Grunt jobs are a test to see how well you do. Maybe your work habits are less than stellar? I'm not saying that's the case, just considering the possibility. Not everybody is above average.
If you are off to new job, this is the time to think back. Was there ever anything you did less than your very best at? If so learn from that that and don't repeat the mistake.
If not, if you always have given the very best you could be great full you're away and now have a new opportunity to shine.
In reply to frenchyd :
Sometimes you get passed over because they don't think they have anybody else in the company they could trust to DO the grunt work competently.
The idea that incompetence gets you promoted to a level where you can't hurt the company is real. I've had a friend told to his face that he didn't get promoted because he was too valuable where he was. (Not valuable enough to be compensated highly enough to be retained, of course)
He left that company too, but it took a few years before his lack of tolerating bullE36 M3 could reach a high enough level.
I think a big part of it for me is that there is a lack of understanding/respect for my position, as I am the first person in my position they have ever had, after realizing they were in a very dangerous place without anyone filling the role. It has given me a great deal of experience wrangling projects solo but there are also probably three people in the organization that really respect and understand my function (and I don't report to them). So it's awkward that way and because my function is not well understood by the people I actually report to, I am constantly caught up in menial tasks that are a distraction from my actual duties. That's the long and short of it at least.
I'm going to cut myself out of the conversation at this point as I've said all I need to say and appreciate all of the responses. I've been in employment pickles in the past where I was definitely part of the problem, but in this one I've truly given all I could give and I'm just done, so it's time to blow the popsicle stand. Crossing my fingers that the new opportunity works out!
In reply to Knurled. :
That's the well known Peter principle. People are promoted to their level of incompetence. Clearly that is what is in place here.
His manager/Mentor doesn't enjoy enough respect to get him promoted and put into a position where his full talents and skills can come out.
