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And now we come to a conclusion. I've got two offers in front of me. One of them has me starting on Monday, the other has me starting Jul 16.
The first week of being unemployed was crazy busy. I think I worked harder that week than I did at the prior job. Posting resumes, applying for jobs I could find, and speaking to recruiters. Heck, one earpiece actually died, and I don't know if the battery just refused to charge or if I was sweating into it and shorted it out when I was out doing some errands.
Early on, I found two jobs that both looked promising. The more I learned, the more amazing they looked. I'd be happy with either one of them. Just going to call them C1 and C2.
C1 had a phone interview with me a week ago, and it was the best interview I have ever had. I seriously cannot recall one ever being even half as good. I had done some research on the company, and found some things that didn't make sense. I asked questions, and the answers came straight away. I got answers to all of the questions on my list, and the answers were positive. They still needed to do a follow up interview with a non-managerial teammate, and that was scheduled for Monday. That one I almost blew, I think. See, I had an interview with C2 on Monday as well, and I tried to leave a significant buffer of time afterwards. Turns out that the interview at C2 was nearly two hours long, instead of the one to one and a half I had planned for. I wound up being late for that phone interview. Add in that I was driving much more than I had intended to be, and the distraction level made me think that I had blown it entirely. As you can guess from this, I didn't.
The interview with C2 went rather well, as well. I hit a few bumps, and some questions they asked forced me to reveal things about me that I'm not thrilled about. Yes, I could lie, or bullshit my way through them, but I prefer being honest. As a result of that, they extended me an offer as well.
The problem for me came about in deciding which offer to accept. Both offers are amazing. Each company reached about 95% of being the perfect job. That remaining 5%? They complemented each other. C2 is a huge multinational, more able to withstand economic hard times. C1 is smaller (less than 100 people), so more susceptible. C1 is a full-time telecommuting job. C2 will see me commuting 3 days/week, 1.25 to 2 hours each way. C2 gives an extra week of vacation time up front. C1 makes medical/dental/vision benefits available on day 1. C2 does a lot of team building activities (team lunches, ping pong tournaments with other departments, etc). C1 has a team conference call every day where everybody helps out everybody else. C2 has better benefits. C1 uses technology I already know and love. C2 uses technology that, while I'm not as fond of, has the potential to be more varied. And the list goes on and on.
After the interviews were totally done, I realized that both companies could extend me an offer, and I had no idea which one to choose. I tried the list of pros and cons, and that didn't work. The cons for each were outweighed by the benefits of the other. Things that I thought mattered hugely turned out to matter very little while I was contemplating this. The work culture at both is great. The work/life balance at both is great. The team and management at both are great.
In the end, I applied the only test I could think of: Where do I wish to be in 5 years? What do I want to be doing? With that, the answer finally started coming through. I know I want to run my own business. The things I want to do at that business are things that C1 is already doing. I can learn better from C1, and know how to make my own business work well, more so than I can from C2.
I spent some time meditating on it tonight as well, and every time I tried to focus on why to work at C2, C1 kept coming back to the front of my thoughts. My mind knows where it wants to work.
Barring Wife doing a veto, I'll be starting at C1 on Monday. And the morning traffic will consist of "Come on, would you two dogs move already, so I don't trip?"
And yes, I do give my wife veto authority. Two jobs ago, she tried to say she was uncomfortable with me taking a job. I didn't listen. Our health insurance was crap, and we couldn't afford the medication for her arthritis (rough cost: $1800/month). This left her in a great deal of physical pain. Had I listened, that wouldn't have happened. I make damn sure I listen now.
ETA: I've had two weeks off, and the chance to get recharged mentally and emotionally. I'm ready. It's time to get back to work!
The first week of being unemployed was crazy busy. I think I worked harder that week than I did at the prior job. Posting resumes, applying for jobs I could find, and speaking to recruiters. Heck, one earpiece actually died, and I don't know if the battery just refused to charge or if I was sweating into it and shorted it out when I was out doing some errands.
Early on, I found two jobs that both looked promising. The more I learned, the more amazing they looked. I'd be happy with either one of them. Just going to call them C1 and C2.
C1 had a phone interview with me a week ago, and it was the best interview I have ever had. I seriously cannot recall one ever being even half as good. I had done some research on the company, and found some things that didn't make sense. I asked questions, and the answers came straight away. I got answers to all of the questions on my list, and the answers were positive. They still needed to do a follow up interview with a non-managerial teammate, and that was scheduled for Monday. That one I almost blew, I think. See, I had an interview with C2 on Monday as well, and I tried to leave a significant buffer of time afterwards. Turns out that the interview at C2 was nearly two hours long, instead of the one to one and a half I had planned for. I wound up being late for that phone interview. Add in that I was driving much more than I had intended to be, and the distraction level made me think that I had blown it entirely. As you can guess from this, I didn't.
The interview with C2 went rather well, as well. I hit a few bumps, and some questions they asked forced me to reveal things about me that I'm not thrilled about. Yes, I could lie, or bullshit my way through them, but I prefer being honest. As a result of that, they extended me an offer as well.
The problem for me came about in deciding which offer to accept. Both offers are amazing. Each company reached about 95% of being the perfect job. That remaining 5%? They complemented each other. C2 is a huge multinational, more able to withstand economic hard times. C1 is smaller (less than 100 people), so more susceptible. C1 is a full-time telecommuting job. C2 will see me commuting 3 days/week, 1.25 to 2 hours each way. C2 gives an extra week of vacation time up front. C1 makes medical/dental/vision benefits available on day 1. C2 does a lot of team building activities (team lunches, ping pong tournaments with other departments, etc). C1 has a team conference call every day where everybody helps out everybody else. C2 has better benefits. C1 uses technology I already know and love. C2 uses technology that, while I'm not as fond of, has the potential to be more varied. And the list goes on and on.
After the interviews were totally done, I realized that both companies could extend me an offer, and I had no idea which one to choose. I tried the list of pros and cons, and that didn't work. The cons for each were outweighed by the benefits of the other. Things that I thought mattered hugely turned out to matter very little while I was contemplating this. The work culture at both is great. The work/life balance at both is great. The team and management at both are great.
In the end, I applied the only test I could think of: Where do I wish to be in 5 years? What do I want to be doing? With that, the answer finally started coming through. I know I want to run my own business. The things I want to do at that business are things that C1 is already doing. I can learn better from C1, and know how to make my own business work well, more so than I can from C2.
I spent some time meditating on it tonight as well, and every time I tried to focus on why to work at C2, C1 kept coming back to the front of my thoughts. My mind knows where it wants to work.
Barring Wife doing a veto, I'll be starting at C1 on Monday. And the morning traffic will consist of "Come on, would you two dogs move already, so I don't trip?"
And yes, I do give my wife veto authority. Two jobs ago, she tried to say she was uncomfortable with me taking a job. I didn't listen. Our health insurance was crap, and we couldn't afford the medication for her arthritis (rough cost: $1800/month). This left her in a great deal of physical pain. Had I listened, that wouldn't have happened. I make damn sure I listen now.
ETA: I've had two weeks off, and the chance to get recharged mentally and emotionally. I'm ready. It's time to get back to work!
for listening to your gut. Well it will serve you. 
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