Do I quit the best job I ever got?

Matias

Matias

Been here much more than a while
Location
Silicon Valley
So, I didn't want to jinx myself by telling everyone how stoked I was about the job I landed about a month ago, since I have had kind of a shitty couple of years with jobs not working out. They mostly seemed to not workout because I said the wrong thing to the wrong person. I have learned how to bite my tongue and refined the way I talk with clients and coworkers, and this recently culminated in me landing a position as an account manager/sales arborist for a bigger/mid-size company that seems to punch way above their weight class. I have been consulting for Stanford U and Menlo College, and my advice has been very well recieved. The company has had the Stanford account for 27 years, and now also handles the campuses at Apple, Paypal. Levi's Stadium, etc.

The pay is totally fair, and would be adequate if I had already been living in the area and my living expenses didn't include my land in Oroville, with my two dogs and two cats- and the associated vet and feeding costs...If I didn't need to maintain all that plus the fuel and vehicle maintenance costs associated with trying to drive 200 miles each way most weekends in order to manage all the brush for fire season, and check in on my father in law, who is barely capable of taking care of the dogs and cats... He can't even do an oil change on the smallest generator, which runs the well and is the backup charger for cloudy/rainy days when winter vomes back around.

I don't even want to quit but the base pay before comissions is not quite enough, and I am worried that I won't get up to the pace of sales I'd need to be at until I've run out of reserves and can't keep up with my rent. I have had struggles with ginding an apartment- got denied at some more modestly priced places but approved at the more expensive ones, which further strains the budget...

I had started the gig under the impression that they had a bunch of requests for bids that they needed handled, but my supervisor has been handling all of those just fine, while I have been working on generating my own leads. He threw me the jobs at Stanford and Menlo because they involved sickly trees and my supervisor isn't much of a biologist. I know that I will keep building steam- I have only been at it for two weeks, but I am scared of getting locked in to a 12 month lease that I can't afford. If I get sued for almost any amount, I could lose my land. and that's all I have.

I'm just scared of losing everything if I can't turn this around almost instantly, and it's no less scary than quitting, and being once again without any income or work lined up.

Do I quit and go back to building my own one man show, possibly growing from there? Or do I cross my fingers and go become the sales guy that many people seem to think I could be?
 
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My first thought would be to go to your employer, and explain your situation and your feelings. Tell him how much you like what you are doing, and how much you like where you are working now, but explain your concerns about the finances and the travel, and your apartment hunting issues.

Maybe he will be able to assist, he might know a landlord, perhaps can help you with your income, or perhaps not. If you don't ask though, you'll never find out.

Up north where you are spring also hasn't quite arrived yet, so the spring rush probably hasn't hit. I suspect that when it does you will be busier, things really kicked off here the last two weeks or so, so you are probably not far behind.
 
I definitely planned to talk about it with my boss before making any irreversible decisions.
And you're not wrong Levi, I would rather do my own thing, but I have to work for someone else a little longer to be able to get my own contractors license. This is just a neans to an end, and not a long term plan for me. That's why I haven't tried to go work for Sean or Ryan up north; wouldn't wanna rock out right up until we had a good rhythm going together and then bail on them.
 
A) being hungry is supposed to drive you to do better with sales...but as an arborist that's always been a little distasteful to me - I want to help people care for their trees and be motivated by that not by up selling soni can make more. But point being hungry should lead to hustle.
B) perhaps ask if you can temporarily have a higher base pay and lower commission % phasing into your current model as pre amount of time passes.
C) you said current supervisor isn't sharing jobs...are they supposed to be sharing those? Their boss may need to address that, but be careful how you approach that one. Don't want to be accusatory or a tattle...but if the structure says you should have more. Maybe "When I was hired, it was my understanding that I would have XYZ did I misunderstand that or can we work together to transition those to me?"
D) you said you are better with the biology/health stuff? Talk to your supervisor about helping on more of his accounts. He keeps the whole account, but you get commission on new PHC services.
 
ATH said:
A) being hungry is supposed to drive you to do better with sales...but as an arborist that's always been a little distasteful to me - I want to help people care for their trees and be motivated by that not by up selling soni can make more. But point being hungry should lead to hustle.
B) perhaps ask if you can temporarily have a higher base pay and lower commission % phasing into your current model as pre amount of time passes.
C) you said current supervisor isn't sharing jobs...are they supposed to be sharing those? Their boss may need to address that, but be careful how you approach that one. Don't want to be accusatory or a tattle...but if the structure says you should have more. Maybe "When I was hired, it was my understanding that I would have XYZ did I misunderstand that or can we work together to transition those to me?"
D) you said you are better with the biology/health stuff? Talk to your supervisor about helping on more of his accounts. He keeps the whole account, but you get commission on new PHC services.
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A lot of echoes of thoughts that have been racing through my mind. I don't know if he's "supposed to be" sharing those jobs, but I do intend to ask, as I did get the impression during the interview there would be a little more of that. I am also worried it might just be that I am paying a bunch in taxes for use of a company truck.
 
More $$ and less physical toll could mean more energy and funds for your digs vs working extra hard at both while running a business. Different climate from you, but every winter I'm like "what exit strategy should I get going that's less phys demanding". More snow today, fuck March.
 
Part of being in sales is knowing how to sell yourself. To do it in a way that is positive, and not too personal, even though you’re talking about your livelihood. Yes, you are a resource. You are an asset. At the same time, this position can lead to good steady income, and that’s valuable to you. So don’t be too arrogant either. Treat this as a zoomed out version of the work you’re doing on the daily. Words are powerful, and tone is almost as important as the words you choose. It’s why we might find a client goes for our bid even if it’s higher- they have more trust, or a better vibe, from you.

I thought Reach’s advice was superb, as far as bringing your employer into your reality with housing- not making a sob story out of it, but just seeing if there’s some connections they could provide for a potential spot. Really smart, and just, like, human.

You mentioned not wanting to get personally sued. Isn’t that one of the things your company should shield you from?
 
Stumpsprouts said:
Part of being in sales is knowing how to sell yourself. To do it in a way that is positive, and not too personal, even though you’re talking about your livelihood. Yes, you are a resource. You are an asset. At the same time, this position can lead to good steady income, and that’s valuable to you. So don’t be too arrogant either. Treat this as a zoomed out version of the work you’re doing on the daily. Words are powerful, and tone is almost as important as the words you choose. It’s why we might find a client goes for our bid even if it’s higher- they have more trust, or a better vibe, from you.

I thought Reach’s advice was superb, as far as bringing your employer into your reality with housing- not making a sob story out of it, but just seeing if there’s some connections they could provide for a potential spot. Really smart, and just, like, human.

You mentioned not wanting to get personally sued. Isn’t that one of the things your company should shield you from?
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The lawsuit I'd be worried about would only be from the property management at the apartment if I were to need to break the lease. This will only come to pass if things don't work out in a real bad way.

Ultimately, I need to talk with the bookkeeper first, as I may just be worrying about a false assumption. I will have more info only after she gets into the office, which unfortunately may not be til Wednesday. In the meantime, I have a few proposals to work on, and I just got sent a call to go investigate an oak at a private residence.

I'll be sure to update here as soon as there is something to update.
 
For the record, I am working heavy overtime in order to get the ball rolling. and I know that this will turn into something amazing if I can just get over this first big hill. My mom's been in sales as long as I can remember, so I know how the game works.
 
Following on stumpsprouts comment about engaging with the employer on an even keel- if you have an hour, check out this podcast. imo an engaging ramble on a psych theory of how to behave like an adult with employers

shows.acast.com

The Psychology of being an Adult | The Blindboy Podcast

Mental Health podcast. Exploring the condition of adulthood using cognitive psychology and transactional analysis
shows.acast.com shows.acast.com

Fair warning, the blindboy podcast is often very strange and I haven't re listened to this episode, may or may not be useful
 
Is your family living 200 miles away from the job? Could you find a cheaper apartment like 50 miles out of work and commute in?
 
SeanRuel said:
Is your family living 200 miles away from the job? Could you find a cheaper apartment like 50 miles out of work and commute in?
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My family is doing the back and forth with me, and what's making it expensive is getting an apartment for the three of us in the Santa Clara valley. I wouldn't even bother with this if I couldn't be with my wife and daughter. My FIL is house sitting for us during the week while we are away, and when he bevomes confident in the routines there, we may start staying one or two weekends a month down here. I looked around, and the cheaper apartments are so far away. it's not worth the hours of sleep I would sacrifice to make that drive daily.
 
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Matias said:
Do I quit and go back to building my own one man show, possibly growing from there? Or do I cross my fingers and go become the sales guy that many people seem to think I could be?
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These are questions only you can answer, but from what I'm reading you're already trying to talk yourself out of this job. The distance is too much. The pay isn't adequate. The job isn't what I thought. These are the things you're telling yourself. Even in the second question you don't sound positive (that many people seem to think I could be?) Or so it all seems, correct me if I'm wrong.

Obviously, we have to make money to live, so quitting abruptly is probably unwise unless you have a solid plan. Take your concerns to your boss, preferably someone high up not just a supervisor and see if they can address anything.

"Don't quit immediately, but immediately plan to quit."
- some guy, probably
 
Boomslang said:
These are questions only you can answer, but from what I'm reading you're already trying to talk yourself out of this job. The distance is too much. The pay isn't adequate. The job isn't what I thought. These are the things you're telling yourself. Even in the second question you don't sound positive (that many people seem to think I could be?) Or so it all seems, correct me if I'm wrong.

Obviously, we have to make money to live, so quitting abruptly is probably unwise unless you have a solid plan. Take your concerns to your boss, preferably someone high up not just a supervisor and see if they can address anything.

"Don't quit immediately, but immediately plan to quit."
- some guy, probably
Click to expand...
Admittedly, I was feeling really scared looking at my first check, but since the stub's in the mail, I won't be able to get clarification until I get a copy. If the check I just got is reflective of a full pay period, then there isn't really much of a discussion to have, it's just not enough to justify all the effort, but it occurred to me that there are several ways that it might reflect a partial pay period; it's the first check after all.

I am in love with the job, but the juice has to be worth the squeeze. I am praying that it was just a partial pay period, and the rest will be as expected. I have closed a few deals, and feel like I have a few more in the bag as soon as I finish writing the proposals. I know I can really crush it if I put myself into it, but I just wanna know that the base covers my bills, which it juuuuust barely should, and then all the comissions become the money to get my house built finally, and then build my permitted greenhouse so I can have my nursery ready to rovk when I move back in a few years.

I am just so eager to do my own thing, there is no doubt a tone to my words, but this is doubly awesome, because selling tree work is the last skill I need to master, and now I get to really dial in my approach on someone elses dime, just like every other skill I had to learn.
 
If you are making $60K (single - which I know you said you are married with kids...but just an example):
22% federal
7.65% fica
(another 7.65% fica if you own your own business...)
3% California State

31% isn't out of the question for even lower end of middle class income.

Oh...yeah, city? that's another 1% School district? Another 1%.
 
ATH said:
If you are making $60K (single - which I know you said you are married with kids...but just an example):
22% federal
7.65% fica
(another 7.65% fica if you own your own business...)
3% California State

31% isn't out of the question for even lower end of middle class income.

Oh...yeah, city? that's another 1% School district? Another 1%.
Click to expand...
Totally. That's half the reason my wife and I went and did the paperwork.

That would be my tax rate if I was single
 
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