There are times when I wish I blogged anonymously, and the last few weeks are one of them. As I hinted in the previous post, I am leaving my current position. Friday is my last day. I have known this since before Christmas, but today was the first chance I had to tell all of my staff at the same time (due to holiday vacations), so I have needed to keep somewhat silent about it.

I am not exactly leaving by choice, unless you call not fighting the issue “choice”. Still, I am resigning in lieu of termination. This allows me to say I quit but collect unemployment. And I am not being fired, per se. It was decided by the people who hired me (who knew that I did not have a research administration background), that they feel the person in my position really needs a research administration background. And therefore, we are calling this a bad fit, going our separate ways.

I do not necessarily agree with their assessment, but what I do know is that the work I was doing cannot go forward without the confidence and trust of that management oversight group. I did not have their confidence. So regardless of the reason why, that is my failing.

Telling my staff today was the hardest part. I have very much enjoyed working with these ladies, and I did not want them to believe my going was a reflection on them or a signal that this pilot program was going anywhere. The management oversight group is still dedicated to the project, and very much wants it to succeed.

On many levels, this is more a blow to my ego than anything else. But I have sent my resume out and already gotten some responses, so career wise, this position was perhaps an interlude, and being let go is just a push back out into the current.