A list of all the things I like about my job, right now — not a lot.
When I take contracts to work, instead of doing the permanent full-time thing, I have some actual control over my destiny. I also get compensated fairly for what I do, and I don’t have this blurred line of “exempt” status, which ropes me into working overtime and never being properly compensated for my work.
I can’t even count the number of times when I was “perm” that I pulled out all the stops to fix stuff other people had broken, really put myself through hell, and expected that my contribution would be recognized. But no. They just treated all the work like it was a normal thing for people to do, and they moved on. The promotions never came. The special consideration never came. Not even a bonus, for my over-and-above-the-call-of-duty work.
So, why bother? Seriously. I can make more money contracting, and since I don’t have any kids to put through college and my spouse is covered by their own insurance, I’m not bound to a permanent job for the benefits. I need the money more. And I need my freedom. The permanent full-time thing is a scam that works in the favor of employers, not the minions.
They can have it. They can keep it.
It’s time to break out of this annoying little mythology about “job security” and get on with making some serious coin. Yes, I need to pay for my own insurance. But if I land the right work, I can totally cover it. And I’ll be free to come and go as I please.
I looked at my savings over the weekend. By the end of this week, I actually will have four months’ worth of living expenses in the bank. Sweet. That means I have some leeway — not to quit work entirely, but to take a little time off between assignments. And also pursue some of my own interests on the side.
Please – please – please– let me get laid off this week AND get a severance package. So I can get on with my life. Contracting. Making the big bucks. And not roped into a life of indentured servitude, stuck with the spoiled fruits of other people’s screw-ups.
Surprise! My contract at my current job has been extended for another year.
The first surprise was that it was announced yesterday.
I know my boss has been working up at corporate a lot,lately,and I know there are organizational changes going on, and I guess I did know things were “being discussed”, but I wasn’t 100% sure I was on the chopping block.
The second surprise was that my contract was renewed for a year only.
Originally, it was a 2-3 year deal, where people were talking a lot about a 3-year timeframe. The fact that I’ve been “extended” less than a year into that contract really makes me wonder about how these people do business.
The third surprise was that I was actually really relieved when I got the news. I have been wanting to leave. I have been taking steps to leave. I have been talking to recruiters about making a move, and I have continuously gotten emails and calls from folks who have pretty decent opportunities. I could go, if I wanted to. I’m pretty sure about that. But now I don’t have to. I can bank on this job just down the road from my house for the next year, while I give myself time to transition to what else I want to be doing.
Which doesn’t involve as much dependency on a day-job to get me by.
The pressure is off, for now, which is nice. No more adjusting, no more re-learning. Just buckling down to do my own work in the meantime, and get myself more independent than ever.
The reality of my situation is starting to sink in. There is a very good chance that I will be out of this job by mid-June. It occurred to me last night, when I was thinking about the money I just spent on a replacement van — what kind of money I’m going to be making over the next few months, how many hours I’ll be working, etc. It occurred to me that I need to not bank on this job being around, six… no, three… months from now.
Oh, we got a really good van, by the way, for about $2,000 less than book price, because it doesn’t have all the power “bells and whistles” that people come to expect, and it’s been sitting on the lot since September. I really feel like I got lucky, finding that van. It’s smaller than the one we had before, so it’s easier for my spouse to drive. Plus, it’s a 2005 with under 100,000 miles (I know – where did I find that?) and it only had one accident reported on the carfax. Pretty amazing. I managed to cobble together the money to pay for it in full up front, and we even have a couple thousand dollars left to live on. It’s not much of a safety net — 1/6 of what we had 24 hours ago, and if anything catastrophic happens, we’re pretty much screwed — but I get paid on Thursdays, so there will be money coming in from this contract for at least a little while.
Yep, we got lucky.
And now my luck continues, actually, because I might be out of this job in another 3 months, after my major projects are delivered, and the company switches over to a new technical infrastructure. What makes me think so?
Nobody has added any projects to my docket after my two big projects launch at the end of May/beginning of June,
My boss has been spending an awful lot of time at corporate HQ and has stopped going out of their way to be super nice to me,
My boss’s boss has been dismissive towards me and cancelled the 1-to-1 meeting they scheduled with me when they first came on the job, and
Nobody on the “new technology infrastructure” team is making eye contact with me.
That’s what my keen observational powers are detecting, anyway.
To be honest, it’s a relief to think I’ll be out of there. I’ve really been disliking the work environment, with all the political changes going on, the rumors, the gossip, etc — and the company switching over to an “open” workspace configuration. God, that sucks. Talk about fresh hell. The wild thing is, for all the technical environments I’ve worked with, and all the teams I’ve been part of, this extended team is the one I like the least. They’re okay as people, but they’re not the most inspiring.They’re more interested in feathering their nests and keeping up appearances, than kickin’ it in the technical sense.
And I just don’t relate to that.
But in another few months, it’s probably going to fall into the category of “not my problem“, which will be wonderful.
I’m sure there will be other problems at my next job, but this team and the dynamics will not be one of them.
So, I’m getting proactive and gussying up my resume, updating it on job sites, and also updating my other online profiles. I’ve reached out to folks I used to work with, to see if they can keep an ear open for me. I also have talked to recruiters and put them on notice for June timeframe. Even if I don’t get shown the door, I’m probably going to shift out of there, once my big projects are done. I have no enduring loyalty to this company. I don’t actually like the products they make. I just like the paycheck and the commute. Other than that, I’m fine without them in my life.
It’s funny… I’ve had this nagging suspicion in the back of my head for some time, that the 2-3 year contract they set up was not going to be fulfilled on their end. They’re letting other contractors go, and with a “last in, first out” approach, that puts my head on the chopping block next, because I’m the most junior contractor left.
Now that it feels more definite, I feel like things are freeing up for me.
Ideally, they’ll just tell me what the deal is ahead of time, so I can get a running start. I’m already talking to recruiters… And I’m not waiting for them to come clean, because they generally don’t — and probably can’t. If I hold my breath, waiting for them to do things the right way, I’ll probably suffocate.
Broken Brain - Brilliant Mind 