find the job of my dreams

I have some good days and some bad weeks. It looks like I’m making somewhere between 1/5 and 1/6 of what I used to make. I sure wish that we got health insurance and dental benefits. At the very least I’m getting an education about how to stretch my budget. I could have saved a lot more during my previous careers.

One of my clients told me the other day that the best part of her month is coming in and getting a massage. That really made my day and I’ve been able to keep this feeling all week so far.

I had an interview for a massage therapy related job on Tuesday. An offer was verbally extended to me pending a background check. It looks like I am going to be able to use my massage therapy training.

Yesterday morning I had another interview. It was another job for which I’m not qualified. They appeared to be willing to teach the required skills but it would require a lot of work. I would need to drop out of my massage therapy classes to take this job. I have some mixed feelings about this opportunity. Maybe I won’t need to make any choices; it didn’t feel like the interview went well.

This goal is where I’ve been spending most of my time lately. I spend a sizable portion of my waking hours with my employment. I have a file where I recorded the things I like about my job. Here is what is good about my current job.

• Customer focus: One thing that I have enjoyed is the company’s focus on customer service. It is not just a motto but something that is embedded in the company culture. I guess the best way to describe it is that this is the level of service I’d like to receive if I’m paying someone for the services my company sells.

• Training: I had an extensive amount of training. There’s an incredible breadth of knowledge that’s required to do my position well. I still don’t know what to do a lot of the time but the training was deep enough I at least know what general direction I should head.

• People: My peers have my respect. Even when I don’t agree with the approach that is sometimes taken on a problem I respect the others I work with and I believe that they respect me too.

• Value: There’s an appreciation for the job that I do. Others are aware how the work that I do contributes to the overall success of the company. This gives me an opportunity to make a difference.

• Open door policy: I am encouraged to ask questions. It’s the foundation for good communication. I can walk up to a vice president and talk about issues. You can do this at other companies too but it usually requires you to be the president.

• Medical benefits: After paying for my own medical insurance for 42 months it is good to have someone else helping to pay these premiums. The company does pay more for my insurance than I was paying out of pocket but my cost is a lot less.

• PTO: My company lumps sick, vacation, and holiday hours into paid time off. It allows for more flexible usage of my personal but company paid hours.

• 401k matching: They only offer a quarter percent match on the first three percent of income. It’s not much but it is better than nothing.

• Commute: Several of the company’s facilities are reasonably close to public transportation. I could take the light rail and bus shuttles if I weren’t so insistent about driving my car. Overall, the commute for me hasn’t been taxing.

As far as the bad and the ugly are concerned there are a few areas which are very important but I’ll omit the things that should just be small stuff.

• Employee termination rate: The company hemorrhages employees. In about 4 months time there has been about 10% turn over rate within my department. I can’t even recall all the people who have left the company since I’ve started.

• Work schedules: I’m currently on a night shift. I thought that I would be able to adapt to the hours but it has really wrecked me. I don’t get enough sleep. I don’t sleep consistently. I feel tired when I head into work and I’m half dead while I’m there. I’m afraid that I’ll fall asleep on shift and be fired so I frequently drink an excessive amount of caffeine. Sometimes I don’t feel well because of my caffeine intake. A larger concern is how our staffing doesn’t match the workload. It is difficult getting time off approved.

• Politics: I didn’t think there would be politics in a company this size. We have fewer than 200 employees. In many instances it is more important to know the right people than it is to know the right stuff and perform the actual job well.

• Career development: I see more barriers than tools and resources to develop myself. The company is trying to grow quickly and there is a lot of outside hiring.

Today I declined a position and accepted one that pays less. And when I say less I specifically mean $14,600/yr less. That’s a big chunk of money to me but I’m feeling strangely fine. I think I’m going to enjoy my new job.

Earlier on this month I had group of interviews with a defense contractor. Since there are several functional groups I had about 4 hours of interviews. One of them went badly because my background in the required subject areas was not strong. Three of them went well and I would have liked to work for two of those groups. And then there was this other one which didn’t seem like an interview at all. It seemed almost like an odd collection of thoughts about the company by the interviewer.

Well I hear back from someone in human resources. I have an offer from that company. The pay is good. I can’t recall ever having benefits as good as this company provides. The kicker is that I’d be reporting to the individual who gave me the slightly odd interview. My mind is screaming at me that there are red flags about this job. I need to decide by Thursday.

A friend of mine works at a company that makes GPS navigation and other communication equipment. He encouraged me to apply to some openings within the company and he forwarded my resume through to HR as an internal referral. Despite having a large number of openings for software engineering and my friend’s referral I managed to get the short polite form letter. Ouch!

I’m not a big fan of traveling but at least I get to see a new town.