On the 21th of July, 2021, I wrote an article titled "At Crossroads". Since this article is a sequel to it, I highly recommend reading the original first. But in case you can't be bothered.... Here's a summary:

In the June of 2021, I - someone already dissatisfied with his job, but unwilling to leave before I have any alternative options (either another job lined up, or unemployment benefits, which require you to work for 1 year) - received a job offer from a Czech company, aced two interviews but failed the last one, and thus began to frantically send in my applications to other companies, to escape my current job.

Between the 21th of July 2021, and the 12th of September 2021 (today, the day of me writing this article), I sent my application to around 350 companies. No joke. Out of them, maybe 50 bothered to write back to me instead of totally ghosting me. Out of those 50, I guess 5 actually bothered to interview me, while the remaining 45 informed me that "regretfully, they will not be moving my application forward / they are moving forward with someone of more experience".

Out of the ones that interviewed me, one is already willing to hire me (and offering me far better working conditions and salary, than my current job), one told me to wait until HR processes my application, one has scheduled a coding test on next Friday (17th of September), and the other two are kinda ghosting me.

So, how did it get to this?

Let's just recap for a moment...

Let's just roll back time a little, right to.... say, February. The supervisor I hate so much wasn't officially my supervisor yet, but for some reason, he was giving me the tasks. And the first impression was terrible.

Instead of giving me written instructions with unambiguous details on what the hell was he wanting from me, he was giving me vague spoken instructions that I have a tendency to forget. When I asked him for UML diagrams and specifications, he was straight-up scandalized, acted all rude, complained about my style, etc. From that day on, I hated his guts, and began to intentionally clock in as early as possible, so that my 8-hour shift would end as early as possible, minimizing his window of opportunity to contact and bother me.

Months passed, my resentment grew. As I stated in the original article, in late June, 2021, I got my opportunity, my golden ticket to leave this sinking ship, this trainwreck of a company behind, and sadly, I failed. Worse yet, they made the supervisor I hate officially my supervisor.

But I did not give up. I kept applying to other companies, I got interviewed by them, etc.

Then, in late August and early September....

...**** just got real.

On the 27th of August - which was a Friday -, several of my coworkers - one of whom is a senior, who has been working for the company for over a decade, at least two more years than the supervisor I hate - announced their schedules. The junior colleague announced that he'd be partially working from home that day. The senior colleague announced that he'll be away for a bit of the day, but he'll make up for it in the evening.

My ***hole supervisor snapped at both, screeching about how worktime is between 9 AM and 5:30 PM, how any deviations from this must be anounced 48 hours in advance, how workers can only work from home on days other than Monday and Friday (I work fully remotely btw), etc. He was ranting about how the intention was to allow workers to handle their clumsy everyday stuff, but still keep work in the forefront, and how we are abusing the system and prioritizing our personal needs at the expense of work, etc.

I did not respond. I simply took a screenshot of the conversation and showed it to my friends, who were already well-aware of my resentment. I showed it to some of my family too. With the exception of my mother and my older brother, everyone was agreeing with me: I must quit.

Luckily, by that time, I have been already paid 12 times, I have been already working for one year, so in case of my departure, I would have been entitled to unemployment benefits for 3 months. Lucky me. I also had enough spare money to just tank it for a year or so, pay college tuition for two semesters, etc. So really, nothing was preventing me from taking a big leap of faith.

Still, to placate my mother, I gave the company one more chance. On the 30th of August - which was a Monday - I gave a call to the CEO (who is actually a really nice guy, a friendly fellow), I confessed everything to him, I told him that I was considering quitting, that I witnessed my supervisor threaten a senior employee, that my employment contract says nothing about working 9-to-5 (my contract only says that workweeks must be on average 40-hour long), etc. Just like my mother, he dissuaded me from quitting, and told me that he'll smooth things over, that he won't let someone get away with demoralizing coworkers like this, etc.

For a day or two, I heard nothing from my coworkers or my supervisor. But then...

...**** got even more real.

2th of September, 2021, Thursday. I read an e-mail sent out by the head of the development division the previous evening.

In this e-mail, he outlines some new rules and regulations:

• Developers got "flexible" working hours - if we clock in one hour early, we can leave at 4:30 PM instead of 5:30 PM, and if we insist, we can clock in at 10 AM at latest (but then have to work till 6:30 PM or so). Yay? Yeah, no, **** you.

  • We also must let our supervisors know about our schedules, and we can't change them at will. What the ****?!

• Developers are still expected to answer urgent e-mails and respond to phone calls between 9 AM and 5:30 PM, regardless of their chosen schedules.

• Every Thursday and Friday, there are going to be pointless meetings, starting at 3 PM on both days. These meetings are supposed to last 1 hour each, but so far, every time, they lasted over 1 hour 40 minutes.

  • The first time, I simply politely asked to leave. The next two times, I simply left without a warning.

But that was not the end of it.

On the 9th of September, Thursday, I got a phone call from one of the companies that interviewed me. They are willing to hire me, immediately. I told them, that by my heart, I want to accept immediately, but I'd still rather have some time for hesitation until Monday. They gave it to me. Basically, that day, somehow, I also worked one hour overtime, even with me leaving the pointless meeting without any warning.

And the following day - 10th of September, Friday, I got a message from my supervisor:

I see that you consistently report your "overtime" because of the meetings on Thursdays and Fridays. It's possible that no one has cleared to you what overtime means, so I will describe it to you to clear up any misunderstandings: it is up to the executive to declare overtime, which is labour outside of official work hours. The fact that a meeting, which takes place within general work hours happens to extend beyond your individually negotiated schedule does not mean labour outside official work hours. Because you have to adjust to the majority, I recommend that one those days, modify your schedule, e.g. start later or hold longer breaks, so that the meeting won't extend beyond your day's schedule.

My reaction? Laughter. This poor sod doesn't realize that I'll be quitting very soon. But besides that, I - having no respect for his privacy - screenshot his message, and showed it to all my Hungarian-speaking friends, so they could laugh at it as well, and further encourage me to quit. This time, even my mother was onboard with me quitting, and helped me prepare a letter of resignation.

Also, on the very same day, I once again haphazardly, without any warning, left a pointless meeting once my worktime ended, which was at 16:30, perfectly in line with the new rules and regulations. It seems that my supervisor is the one who didn't get the memo, but it doesn't matter: this time, I'm determined to resign. And I will do it for real tomorrow, on Monday.

The nice CEO still deserves a phone call from me though, I'd rather not be cruel enough to just shock him with my written letter of resignation. Hell, the reason I'm resigning on Monday is because I did not want to ruin his weekend to begin with. Otherwise, I would have done it on Friday, two days ago.

Okay, let's lay our cards on the table

My current job pays me a gross monthly salary of 300 000 HUF ($1012.72), but because of taxes, I only get to pocket 200 000 HUF ($675.14) per month. Yes, I'm arguably the most underpaid software developer in the world, but because of costs of living being much lower in Hungary, that 200 000 HUF would be a more closer equivalent to $2000 than $675. Still, it's a pitiful amount none the less.

Now, what are my new job prospects offering?

The company that is willing to hire me here and now is offering me gross monthly salary of 428 000 HUF ($1444.81), which obviously turns into a net monthly salary of 284 620 HUF ($960.80), but beyond that, they are offering 40 000 HUF ($135.03) of cafeteria per month (it's a type of payment that you can only spend on food, nothing else), fully flexible working hours, full home office, support for training, a phone subscription after probation is over, and free private healthcare by Medicover. The fact that I am also going to get quarter-annual bonuses and raises is just the icing on the cake.

All this, and I get to say goodbye to the supervisor I hate so much? Sign me right up, baby!

But jokes aside, that's not the end of the story, because I had my final interview with another company on Friday, which is offering me a potentially even better salary, and I also had an interview with a Portuguese company, which will be testing my programming skills on next Friday. And two more companies also want to have a phone call with me.

Now am I made, or am I made, mang?

This job has been making me miserable and eating away at my soul for a very long time. And now, I have genuine alternatives. Even one month prior to today, I already had the option of just taking unemployment subsidies while looking for a new job. But now I already have a new job lined up!

Once again, I am at crossroads. But unlike last time, this time, all I have are good, beneficial options. Last time I was writing about my career, I was stuck between a rock and hard place. Now I'm feeling like an attractive Chad that five women are throwing themselves at. That's why I'm feeling so confident. That's why I casually left the pointless meetings. Because I'm not their slave anymore.

Sorry, old workplace, but the moneymoon phase is long over. This marriage has turned sour, and I want a divorce. And much to your potential dismay, I already have another job to move in with. A job that offers superior benefits and career growth opportunities. Sayonara.

TL;DR: I'm quitting my job tomorrow, and I couldn't be happier for it.