Wednesday, November 15, 2006

About that new job...

I think I have decided what to do. But it's funny, I woke up this morning and for a minute, I thought my dilemma had been solved. Why? Because I had a dream about it!
In the dream, I was in my office and picked up some papers out of the fax machine. I saw that they were for my boss' boss, who I'll call Zelda, but glanced through them anyway, figuring they couldn't be confidential. But I noticed a page that had names of employees and short descriptions of their job duties-- and that below some of the descriptions there was a line that basically said that person was going to be laid off soon! I found my own listing, which read something like this:

Madame X
Director of Something or Other
Vague supervisory responsibilities and general knowledge, but doesn't really do much. Attends meetings, and when she speaks out, it's always a doozie!
This position is to be eliminated in the next round of layoffs.
So of course I got all freaked out, and thought, whoa, I was almost going to walk away from that new job possibility because I thought things were going so well here, but now maybe I should go after it! I decided to bring "Zelda" her fax and confront her about it, but first I wanted to go to the ladies' room to compose myself. I stomped down the hall and threw the door open, but realized I had actually walked right into Zelda's office! She smiled and said it was ok, so I went in and showed her the fax.
"I'm sorry," I said. "Of course I would not normally read anything addressed to you [yeah, right!], but this was in the fax machine and I couldn't help seeing that it referred to a coming round of layoffs, and that I seem to be on the list." Sheepish smile from Zelda. "I've been very happy here and I thought you were all happy with me, so I really can't understand this. Is this just a proposal from someone who doesn't really know all the people involved, or am I really going to lose my job? To be honest with you, I just got a call from someone at another company trying to hire me away and though it was a very difficult decision, I was about to tell them I wasn't interested, but I would really like you to just be straight with me about this, so I'll know if I should pursue this other job." Zelda said something evasive, and then asked who it was who had contacted me, and kind of narrowed her eyes in a competitive-looking way when I told her. I asked her again to tell me where I stood... and then, I WOKE UP!

So the dream did not really answer anything, but I really don't think I'm going to get laid off here... and I don't think it's the right time for me to move on yet. It's tempting, but the more I think about it, I just don't think I want to start climbing a different, more treacherous corporate ladder right now. There will be other opportunities, and someday it will probably be time to move on, but right now, I think I am going to stay put.

3 comments:

maria5573 said...

Hi! Just started reading your blog! Congrats on your new home. Yay!

As for the job opportunity, I think it's always smart to explore your options, but if your comfortable with your decision to stay put, then it's probably the right thing. Obviously, you are a wanted woman, so when you do decide to make a change, it probably won't be very difficult for you to cast out feelers.

Plus, it might be nice for you to settle into your new home and dream up projects there, without the added stress of proving yourself at a new company.

As for the dream job...I'm not sure I have mine either, but I'm happier than I have been in years and year and landing this job had everything to do with being focused and knowing what I wanted. By drawing strengths and disciplines from your approach to personal finance, I'm sure you'll find it!

Single Ma said...

Let my grandma tell it "dreams speak nothing but the truth!" but if you're happy where you are, don't rock the boat...yet.

Tiredbuthappy said...

I have always had an attitude that if someone wanted to offer me more money, better perks, etc, I couldn't afford to be overly loyal to my employer. I used to nag my partner to look for a better job, especially a better-paying job. He always said, "there are more important things than money". Whatever.

Well, turns out he really shouldn't have listened to me. We were looking at his new contract last night and he pointed out that his salary has gone up about 30% in two years, and he's now running a department.

Sure, he's still underpaid for the level of responsibility he has (could be making maybe 30% more somewhere else, I think). But if he stays where he is for a while longer, he'll be in a great position to move somewhere else. If he'd job-hopped like I wanted him to several years ago, he probably wouldn't have moved up this fast.

And my own career is not going as spectacularly as his is, so I'm trying to take a page from his book and hunker down and learn what I can from my current situation.

Anyway, long story all about me, but I think you made a good decision and it sounds like you're on a good upward trajectory no matter where you're working.