Stay or leave?

Until you are an independent consultant and signing project contracts, those projects are not your's. They belong to the company you work for.

If you have decided to leave and can make more cash somewhere else, your only responsibility is to fulfill your negotiated notice requirements to your current employer. If you are in a "will-to-work" state and your employer was foolish enough to require you to sign an employment agreement with this in it, well I guess they are in for a suprise if you do leave with no notice.

My experience is that most recruiters begin attempting to recruit resources well before the start date of the contract for which they are hiring. Only in very rare cases is someone brought in on a moment's notice. When that does happen, the consultant is always expensive, as few people can be in Atlanta on Friday and in Los Angeles on Monday.

So my advice is to secure a new position and move on. Let your current employer discover that "human resources" aren't like crops growing in the field, but more like other herd animals and wander around and have to be rounded up from time to time.

If you don't think that you're being valued by your current employer, then you should give serious consideration to leaving. If I were in your shoes, I'd extend the olive branch to your current employer one last time, to see if any headway can be made. You indicated that you enjoy the work, and if you can make it work, then by all means, do so. If it can't be worked out, and you're unhappy with the value that's being placed on your work, it's time to look elsewhere with a clear conscience that you've done all that you can do. Some employers manage to shoot themselves in the feet by letting good people go on a more or less habitual basis. Is there a high rate of turnover with your current employer? It's improbable that you can change your employer's mind if they have a set mentality for what is and isn't valued.

The honorable thing to do, however, is give proper notice, regardless of how unhappy you are. This early in your career, you're building a reputation, and you don't want to cast any shadows on it. Absent any exigent circumstances, lack of proper notice is often viewed as a sign of untrustworthiness.

I'd never tell anyone to stay at a job where they're undervalued. What I will say, however, is to consider your alternatives first and weigh your options.

Since you're already gainfully employed, I would revisit the salary situation with him & tactfully discuss compensation alternatives (extra days off, stock options, etc.). I'd also pick his brain to find out what would ease his mind about paying you more, and get a commitment to significantly bump up your salary at your next performance review (hopefully it will be a favorable review). That way, you're putting his integrity on the line. If you've kept working your butt off for him and he renegs on giving you commensurate pay (or he won't even consider your salary review idea), then you'll know what needs to be done.

If and when you decide to jump ship (since that sounds like where you're headed), be aware that agents ("headhunters") are salespeople trained to make job opportunities look like they're last-minute, so as long as you've got an impressive resume, they'll continue to be interested. Also, beware of getting caught in a bidding war between 2 agents, because they'll start lowering their bids to win the client's contract, which means you'll ultimately make less money... and the whole point of jumping ship is to make more, right?

It is not clear about those projects. Unless you have an agreement stating that you will stay, you can go upon proper notice. MAKE SURE that all information and planning is up to date and ready to turnover. Then explore the possibilities. When you get a nibble, the company you're with may well up the ante to keep you, especially if you have every thing up to date. If not they can't accuse you of blackmailing them. Just make sure the offer is a solid one.

Don't believe anything they say, they have a degree in lying their a$$ off. They are out to get paid, the client getting the best candidate or the candidate getting their best position is an annoying statistical side effect. They'll tell you anything to get you to apply, because if you get the position they get paid, by your future employer and they might even get to site your replacement.
Stopping them being interested will be the big problem, but don't expect them to not fill a position until you are ready, they'll fill it with someone else and wait for your availablity to coincide with some future opportunity.

You really need to do what is best for you. You will be better off not dealing with recruiters, if at all possible. Try networking with other industry professionals and also apply for jobs that seem like a good fit. Unless you are legally required to give more notice (you may need to check with an attorney, if there is any question), when the right opportunity comes along, give two weeks notice and move on.

Good luck.

Craig Herberg

I'm in the same boat as you are in regards to the whole salary thing on salary.com. I also have the same skills as others in my position. But, I'm also just out of college (1-1/2 years), and I know I'm not going to make as much as someone with 15 years of experience.

You also have to remember that your salary is going to depend on other factors as well. You have to look at your corporate culture, the size of your company, location, experience in your field, job market, and corporate profitibility.

And you're dead-on with it being about respect and dignity. If I was making $100,000/yr and people treated me like I didn't matter or have concerns of my own, I'd be out the door, too. In fact, I'm considering going to get an MBA for this very reason.

One other thing to consider, and it's tough to do at the beginning of one's career, is the "big picture"...where are you going to be five years from now? You may derive a certain amount of instant gratification on an emotional level for taking a piece of juicy contract work that's dangled before you by a headhunter at a higher rate. But, as other posters have mentioned, that may be a temporary situation with a much less stable company, and you may find yourself with nothing at all in a few months' time. If you are otherwise treated well, but promotion is a slow but likely probability at your current employer, I'd give serious consideration to holding the line. It just depends on what you're after.