find a new, more fulfilling, better paying job that still allows me flexibility!

Got back from leave yesterday and was called into the office by my boss – bottom line is he has to go back on the verbal agreement we made 4 months ago that I could keep my hours and get a raise – now he wanted me to go in every day FOR THE SAME MONEY he is paying me now.

My choices were – accept this, OR take a significant salary cut, or leave. He has signed a lease on new offices and he needs the extra money for the new rent.

He says by end Feb he will have decided what he will do if i refuse to make the changes one way or another, but that i must not look for another job till then.

I said to him, my son just started at a new private school which I took on the understanding that I would be paid the agreed new salary from February (my raise, agreed on 4 months ago, has not even kicked in yet. and no i don’t have a contract because he refuses to give one.

So I was pissed. Went home. walked on the beach. the x-x said in an email it was a sign i should move on and if i left he would support me until i found someone who would value my work etc..

so at the beach i get a text message from London from an old colleague and friend Jolene. First i have heard from her in 2.5 years before she left for the UK. Asking me if i would by any chance be looking for a job in March. She is coming back to SA and has a job with her old company lined up and they asked her if she knows anyone who can do “fill in all the stuff i do, word for word”

by 7 pm i had an interview lined up.

At 12h30 today I went for the interview (4 people, 2 hours, lots of fun)

By 6 pm tonight i got the call and a few minutes ago my letter of appointment arrived in my inbox.

So i get:
A half day every friday to spend with Raph – i asked for this, never thinking i would get it, and they agreed immediately. To me this is the biggest miracle.
A decent raise
Work location 30 minutes away not 60 minutes away
in a Stunning old Victorian house with courtyards, wooden floors, near to trendy cafes, foodie shops and bars in gorgeous area.
Brilliant benefits including medical aid – i can choose level of scheme.
Lovely work environment – Jolene says they are a fantastic company to work for and she is delighted to be going back.
To work with Jolene – we work great together.
Safe, secure parking at work.
Loads of leave plus additional long weekends.
Cooked lunch if i choose to work through the lunch hour.
Great well-known company in tourism sector to work for – excellent on my CV.

Yay!

in the last 24 hours.

waiting to hear from the people i just had the interview with.

will report back.

and got him to give me a raise without my hours changing, although i shoud have asked for a higher raise for sure – i would have gotten it i realise now that it’s too late.

the conversation went well tho, from my side.

and even though it’s not challenging or particularly fulfilling i have the time with Raph I want and THAT is fulfilling (and challenging).

i guess for now that is the choice i have made.

not heard back from the people i saw yesterday and now in a spectacularly badly timed move my boss has asked to see me tomorrow regarding my hours and package.

i would rather have gotten a few more days to see if by some small miracle the other people got back but in the meantime i have to discuss the fact that i want a raise (which believe me i have earned, apart from the recent slump but have really pulled finger since then and made up the work and then some) but don’t want to increase my hours, which is his angle.

i mean increas hours and increase money is not a raise is it?

so i emailed him and said as much and i may soon be out of a job entirely.

i do wish i believed that the universe is unfolding as it should.
bugger.

i had the interview today for a job i would absolutely love.

the question about my wanting to work 2 days a week from home surfaced – they brought it up cos i had mentioned it on my original application – and they seemed neither excited about nor totally against the thought, but it was hard to read what they really thought. they seemed impressed with the writing i had done for them (set task) and i feel the interview went well on all other counts but this could easily make or break.

i told them straight that i have a commitment to my son not to work outside of the home for 5 days a week and said i hope their company is one of the progressive ones that allows flexibility.

anyhow, it’s done now. if i don’t get it i will be ok with that because Raph ultimately comes first.

ok, so i have this interview on Monday and the more i deal with and read up on the company i question the more i really want this job.

not only would i have a lot more variety in the work, but it would also take me a big leap forward in what is a relatively new change in direction for me, and the direction is definitely one i want to pursue.

however i am almost 100% sure that they never read the part on my original application that said i want to have flexibility and work some of my hours from home.

in SA this is still very much NOT as ok thing to do in most industries (we’re backward here) and i do not want to work away from the home all week, because of Raph. I know he’s already nine but i do feel that the one on one time we get to spend together is helpful to him with some of his personal, emotional needs.

so i could ask my boss, and probably will, for a wage increase, to sort out the parking situation and to give me an actual contract (after 15 mnths of him not doing this) and there’s a good chance he would do as no one else wants to stay at the company because of him being a wanker, to be honest. with him i have fewer hours and i get to work from the office only twice a week which is perfect.

BUT the work is getting so tedious, it’s killing me inside, and on top of that there is a dead atmosphere, no energy, no enthusiasm… we are not even allowed to talk to each other in the office at all, and heaven forbid if anyone laughs they get called into his office (the boy is 32 years old, for pete’s sake) and told off for not working hard enough.

any time we are asked for creative input it is ignored, while he expects us to stroke his ego and praise his ideas.

ok, so how do i play this?

i want the new job. i want my current hours.

in addition i have to spend all week end preparing for the interview, they sent a BUNCH of work to do and deliver on monday morning as part of the interview process.

and im sick, still. so perhaps i will not make a very good impression, not get offered the job and all the above will be a waste of waffle :)

2 responses already

1 interview lined up for Monday….

_{hard part will be getting anyone to allow me flexibility}

not only is my boss a dick, but he has not arranged parking for any staff member (himself included) and I have now had:

1. my tyres deflated
2. two shouting matches with locals in the area where I park (the cost of parking nearer to the office where there are car guards is ridiculous)
3. a nasty note on my windscreen on friday
4. my car window smashed today and my cell phone stolen from the car (it had fallen out of my bag on the back seat and i had not noticed it was missing till half way through the day)

so i’ve emailed him (he’s in jo’burg this week) and asked if he is prepared to make any arrangements for staff parking (i already know he won’t be)

come Monday i’m asking him for a raise and parking (again)and as my new assistant (who has been with us less than a month) already has a new job lined up i will be the one person who has stuck with the company for this long (15 months) during which time 8 people have started working here and left – due to his attitude towards staff.

if he still values me so little as to refuse either the raise (we were meant to review my salary months ago – in fact he still has not even signed a contract with me in the past 15 months) i will tell him that i’m looking for another job (he always seems so shocked and upset when people resign).

i’ve really had it with this whole scenario.

grr.

i mentioned here, and was all excited.

then i emailed to ask for directions to the “Cape Town” office and it turns out they’re all the way in the Northern burbs whereas i’m in the deep south so it’s not going to be possible.

never mind, i’m still applying and looking.

so went online and applied for a great-sounding job forthwith…