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I have been working with an IT company for three years now. This was in addition to my studies. For my final exam I had to do an internship. Halfway through my internship, my boss (from my job) asked if I would continue to work there after I finished my internship and I said explicitly yes. I currently have a contract that doesn't specify any set number of hours, but work 30-40 hours most weeks. This contract runs until January. After then I will get (and I have explicitly verbally agreed to accept) a full time contract.

In the final week of my internship, the company I was interning with offered me a job as well.

Since there are better options for the future, I want to accept the job at my internship. However I have made most of the software that is being used by the company and feel obliged to stay there until they find another developer who can do my job, but by then the offer may have expired.

I haven't signed a contract at my current job yet but I have made a verbal agreement. I am a bit lost about what to do now. Does anyone have suggestions ?

ShingalaDash
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  • @JimG. The question you proposed has a different situation. In that case the OP hasn't explicitly said yes to the offer. I, on the other hand, have accepted the verbal offer and a contract is being made. – ShingalaDash Jun 08 '16 at 11:14
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    @PatrickNijhuis no written agreement, no problem. You just might to say as fast as possible that the situation has changed and you are in the impossibility to sign for this job. – Gautier C Jun 08 '16 at 11:32
  • If you were that crucial they should have made sure that you had a proper contract in place that set out such things as notice period. – Martin Smith Jun 08 '16 at 11:52
  • @MartinSmith I do have a contract at the moment. I will edit my question accordingly – ShingalaDash Jun 08 '16 at 11:55
  • So go off what your actual signed contract says in terms of notice period. They don't have any obligation to you beyond that and neither do you to them. – Martin Smith Jun 08 '16 at 11:58
  • "In the final week of my internship they offered me a job as well." who is they and are you still in your internship. (for the last three years?) – Raoul Mensink Jun 08 '16 at 12:37
  • @RaoulMensink I am currently doing an internship (about 1,5 weeks left) and part-time job in the evenings and weekends. The internship has offered a possition and the part-time job has offered a full-time contract when the part-time contract ends. – ShingalaDash Jun 08 '16 at 12:41
  • @PatrickNijhuis I have made some Edits to clarify what is part time and what is your internship Company. Because I did not see you that had a Job beside your internship nor that it wasnt finshed yet because of this. – Raoul Mensink Jun 08 '16 at 13:10
  • @RaoulMensink Thanks for the edits! I accepted them. – ShingalaDash Jun 08 '16 at 13:12
  • "However I have made most of the software that is being used by the company and feel obliged to stay there until they find another developer who can do my job" NEVER, NEVER, NEVER get stuck in this mindset. I did this once and the company kept delaying the hiring process. Went on for years. It's not your responsibility. – Andrew Whatever Jun 08 '16 at 17:31

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I have made most of the software that is being used by the company and feel obliged to stay there until they find another developer who can do my job, by when the offer may have expired.

Don't be concerned by this. What would happen if you were hit by a bus on your way to work tomorrow? If they can't survive you being hit by a bus, they are in very bad shape and you probably shouldn't work for them anyways.

So, once you get another offer and contract to look at, compare the two and decide which to take. If you end up not going to the internship company, just tell them you have decided to pursue a different opportunity.

mikeazo
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It seems you are at least stuck until January with this company (according to your contract), but I would talk to your current employer about your situation, and see if you could do remote work.

Since you claim to have written "most of the software" your current employer might be more lenient on you, and allow you the ability to work out of the office. You also might be able to negotiate work hours, and all that since I'm sure your current company trusts you greatly since most of the work was done by you.

This all depends if you are up for working at one place, while doing remote work for another. You also need to figure out the hours you would be working at Intern-Job, and see if it's feasible. 80 hour work weeks aren't uncommon.

If you only want to do one Job, then you really need to look at the options. Why exactly is the current company not "future-proof" whereas the Intern-company is?

I'm assuming Pay is a factor in this, but also how much work you will be doing, and most importantly, which job will give you the more enjoyable experience, in ability to have fun coding, learn a lot, and have a great environment.

Personally, as someone who does contract/remote work I think snagging current-job as a remote work would be great. You already know the system, far more than anyone else too, you already have proven yourself with the company so I don't see why they would not be accommodating to you, if you wanted this other job, especially since they seem to need you.

You could make great money, learn a lot, but the only thing would be having to work more hours.

Good luck!

XaolingBao
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  • Thanks for the awnser! The current company is not future proof because it is not really an IT company. It happens to have a webshop and some backend development. The intern company is a full IT company with diffrent IT related departments and lots of development knowledge. – ShingalaDash Jun 08 '16 at 14:35
  • Sure, no problem. Makes sense, which is why they would probably be extra willing to accommodate your needs. I personally would love to be able to maintain one project I already developed, while working on others. IF you have the time, then you definitely could do both, and it will not only be an amazing start out of school, but you will get a good amount of money and experience, plus it will look great on your resume. – XaolingBao Jun 08 '16 at 14:57
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If you have not signed anything, then you are in no way obligated to stay with your current employer past your current contract. If you think the new opportunity is better for you, then you should accept it and inform your current boss that you aren't planning on staying with them.

You shouldn't feel obligated to stay with your current because you are important to the organization. You should look out for your best interest, just as the company will look out for their best interest. They have until January to find a replacement and have you train them. That is plenty of time.

dyeje
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