Job Offers

[DANIEL]

So I had another equipment supplier we work with offer me a job here a couple days ago and it got me thinking. This isn't the first time and I suspect it won't be the last. There have been several customers, contractors and equipment suppliers that have offered me jobs in the middle of what ever project we're working on. I know most of it is the fact that they see my work, know I can help them out immediately and obviously like working with me but it always leaves me feeling a bit uncomfortable. I usually defuse it with an excuse about being tied to the area or my daughters insurance, which in most cases ain't a lie lol, but I always feel bad about declining and it always makes me worry about my own job should my employer find out about these offers.

I know in most cases they shouldnt be offering and could probably suffer legal ramifications as a result but I've never made a deal of it. I guess I'm making this post to get some feed back, advise and general thoughts from ya'll on this and even see if any of ya'll have experienced this and hear what you have to say about it.

[ReMark]

I worked for a consulting environmental engineering firm that had as one of its clients the company that I work for today. The VP drove up to see our new offices and ask about how they could go about setting up a CAD system. In the middle of the conversation, which took place in a conference room called the "fishbowl" (four-sided glass walled), he offered me a job and as he did the President of our company was walking by the door which happened to be open!

Flattery is nice but unless you truly want to make a change take the offers with a grain of salt and a "Thank you for asking but I'm happy where I am at the moment" response.

BTW....I took the guy up on his offer and within three months I left the company I had been with for almost 12 years. Never regretted having done so.

[mammajamma]

I don't know why you think it's a legal issue. Possibly in an ethical grey area, but I doubt it's illegal.
All you need to say is, "No, thanks." You owe them no explanation. If you feel you should say more, simply say that you're happy where you are. That would please your employers, should it get back to them. And they should be thrilled that they have an employee who is in such demand, but wants to stay put.
We have quite a few people working for us who used to work for our clients or contractors, and have lost a couple to the same. It's a fact of life in such a specialized community (engineering for food processing facilities). It is good manners to finish up a current project before jumping ship, though.

[DANIEL]

none of the offers I've had have been that brazen! and I too have taken most of them with a grain of salt as you said but some times I can't help but wonder if I'm burning bridges so to speak, ya know?

[DANIEL]

I don't know why you think it's a legal issue. Possibly in an ethical grey area, but I doubt it's illegal.
All you need to say is, "No, thanks." You owe them no explanation. If you feel you should say more, simply say that you're happy where you are. That would please your employers, should it get back to them. And they should be thrilled that they have an employee who is in such demand, but wants to stay put.
We have quite a few people working for us who used to work for our clients or contractors, and have lost a couple to the same. It's a fact of life in such a specialized community (engineering for food processing facilities). It is good manners to finish up a current project before jumping ship, though.

I've never been clear on where confidentiality and intellecual property agreements end.

[ReMark]

You're not burning any bridges unless your response to an offer is "How dare you! Get out of my office immediately!" I doubt you would do that.

I did not have to worry about intellectual property because I took a job with a chemical company which was a far cry from what I had been doing.

[mammajamma]

I've never been clear on where confidentiality and intellecual property agreements end.

Heck, we probably wouldn't still be in business if it weren't for clients jumping from one company to another (and bringing us with them for new projects) We have no sales staff (never have) but we do have happy repeat clients and new clients via word of mouth. Yes, we sign confidentiality agreements and abide by them. Some of our clients are in direct competition with each other, and they know it. How else would we have the experience we need to help them make the type of product they make? (Dairy, booze, candy, salad, pizza, etc. etc).
But, of course, it would be bad form to ask someone to jump ship in the middle of a project in order to eliminate the middle man, as it were. That could be asking for trouble.

[ReMark]

For me to breach the confidentiality statement I signed I would have to either give the competition formulations for our products or hand them a set of prints for a wiped film evaporator we had custom designed along with all the design parameters. Short of that, I could go work for another chemical company tomorrow doing exactly what I do now which is mainly piping schematics and process piping and instrumentation diagrams.

[DANIEL]

I struggle with that mainly because I have everything we do aside from the plc work memorized, I don't need the prints or the process formulas for what we do any more, if they lost files I could recreate them from memory.

[ReMark]

Is that why they lock you in the vault at the end of the day?

I added the emoticon because some people (who shall remain nameless) don't get my dry sense of humor.