OK, so Oct 2005 I was laid off. I started work in Jan at a new job, with a 100 mile per day commute, but at a very high hourly rate (salary-wise, 50% higher than my old job) doing programming work that is not exactly my main area of interest. Also, the work is not common in these parts so the experience I am gaining isn’t exactly taking my career forward. It’s a consulting position so there’s quite definitely a deadline, but at some unknown point in the future. Right now I’m “good” till the end of the year, but the project won’t “go -live” till March, so I’m sure there will be work for some months into 2007.
While I learned through experience that a “permanent” position is not really permanent, I prefer the stability of a regular job to consulting work. As my family depends on my income and health insurance, being out of work (again!) would be a stressful time. So, I have been looking for full time work. There are a couple large companies in my home town, both of whom have been hiring IT people of late. I have been to a few interviews at both places but have not found the right job. I am working on my own as well as with a recruiter.
Another issue I am dealing with is the “contract to hire” positions. Along with the big paycheck, my current job has excellent benefits. Really excellent, and also inexpensive. If I accept a contract to hire job, I’ll make less (probably 30% less), and pay more for benefits. But the end result is a full time job at a stable, growing company. And I would have to walk away from a fat pay check at a place I have gotten accustomed to. Inertia is a big part of my career planning .
So, given this long-winded description, does anyone think there are other options available to me? To my mind there are two options:
[ol]
[li]I could stay and wring every last fat $$ out of this job then scramble to find a job when it’s over.[/li][li]I could find a fill-time job closer to home, for less pay, but more stability.[/li][/ol]
I am sorry you don’t have the stability you are looking for - yet. What is impressive is the thoughtfulness with which you are pursuing your options.
At this point, all you can do is continue that pursuit. In other words, stay with your current situation and wrangle all the $$ you can, while also networking to find the right, more permanent position. That is tough to do - networking is hard and requires time you don’t always have - but worth it every time.
One thing I did during a job search - buy ACT! or some other contact management software - Microsoft also has Business Contact Manager. Input all your networking contacts and set up To Do’s for each - for ones where there is a warm lead, set up a To Do to call them every X days; for ones where the trail is cooler, set up to call them every Y days/weeks. I found that by doing this: a) I got into the habit of printing off that day’s To Do’s and getting them done; and b) I set a quota for how many networking contacts I had to make every day - and since sales (and job search IS sales, right?) is a numbers game, this really helped me.
One thing to keep in mind, and certainly influenced my decision to walk away from about 30K in retention bonus money, was that I was offered a job in the spring, when many places coincide most of their hiring drives to meet up with the college graduation schedule.
Turns out I would have been OK if I stayed on thill the end, but not putting my family through that stress, plus getting to give a big fat hariy middle finger to senior management at my old place, made it worth it. It helped thet my salary went the opposite way of yours, however.
Look at that 30% or so as a premium for the instability of consulting work. It’s nice to have when you can get it, but it’s basically a message to you saying “you shoudl be putting this extra money away, since we can’t guarantee you a job.”
Knowing you’ll be good until next March, I might stick it out (depending on the job market in your state…Michigan sucks right now so that was another reason I jumped). March is springtime and a lot of companies will probably be hiring then.
I would suggest staying where you are (while still looking for another job) but the difference between what you are making now and what you would be making at a more normal wage (let’s say you are making $2000/wk but anywhere else you’d be making $1200, so we’re talking about $800/wk) you put in a savings account. This way you have money for the transition between jobs, and anything you don’t use is your’s to do as you please.
PS, may I suggest ingdirect.com. They’re currently at 4.4% on a basic savings account.
You do realize that people rarely make above minimum wage wrapping conundrums in mysteries. Usually it’s just teenagers working those jobs, and there’s limited opportunity for advancement.
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