Leaving CGI after nine years

Just over nine years after rejoining I have left CGI (they bought Logica in August 2012). That is the longest time that I have spent at one company and while I could have been thinking about retiring I have chosen to go for a new challenge instead.

I have enjoyed much of my time at Logica/CGI and I look back fondly at my time at Nokia Siemens Network where I was able to combine interesting work with travel to some interesting places like Moscow, Kiev, Dubai and Rabat, being a project manager at EDF Energy in two challenging spells and spending a couple of years in Cardiff in a decent hotel close to a great curry house.

There were less good times and in the end that is why I left. When I rejoined Logica it was as a member of the UK Consulting team and it was the consulting role that had brought me back. I went through several reorganisations after that, spending time in teams with names like Professional and Technical Services (PTS), before drifting into internal roles first as an expert on the financial side of preparing bids and finally as an internal consultant on Continuous Improvement where I had no power or influence and nobody was really interested in making improvements.

When asked in job interviews why I was looking to leave CGI I came up with the boiled frog analogy, I had joined as a business consultant and through gradual changes had ended up in a job that I would not have applied for when looking for a job nine years ago. There were some specific pushes too, I was in almost continual conflict with my manager (insufferable micro-manager and patronising with it) and I had another concern that I cannot mention here.

Having come to the conclusion that I was in a job that I did not want, and did not need, I decided to leave. My final day was 30 April 16.

As it happens, I got another job soon after I resigned but there is a two week gap between me leaving CGI and starting there and I will wait until I have actually started before telling you about the new job.