Saturday, January 14, 2006 5:59 pm  <|>
<245> Something Old Something New: Finally it has happened. I got a new job! I got a call two weeks ago from an office leasing company who found me on Monster and thought I'd be a perfect match for what they were looking for. I had actually had another call earlier that day from another company who also found me, but they only wanted a contractor, which was already my situation... so I wasn't really thinking about that one. But this offer for an interview, well it seemed like a pretty good deal and I thought I should at least check it out and learn a little more about it. So I went for an interview and it lasted more than an hour. I met with two of the guys in marketing and they seemed pretty nice. The next morning I got another call and they said they wanted me to come in for a second interview. So on Monday I went in for 3 hours to meet a variety of people there in little groups. Going into it that morning I still wasn't sure about it... whether I would like it... if I was ready to change jobs for real. There were a bunch of factors to consider. But then by the time the morning was over I was pretty excited about the chance at working there. Everyone that I talked to seemed great, especially the people in the marketing department which is who I'll be working with.

So the deal is they already have a graphic designer, but they wanted to bring in a second designer to help with the print stuff but more importantly to help redesign their website and rebrand a lot of their materials. They are looking at doing more interactive stuff too... so it seems like a pretty good opportunity and I'll just be a designer... I won't be thinking about monthly reports and all that that I do now. To be honest, I'm going to miss doing some of that. I mean, I've been running the marketing department of my current company basically for more than a year. I was never supposed to really be doing that coming into it, but I enjoyed it a lot. It seems like there will be room to learn a fair amount more about marketing at this new company too, so it should be interesting. The other thing about it is it's in NJ. I really didn't want to commute I thought, but this is in a part of NJ that is so close to the town I grew up in and it's a straightforward drive across the bridge (the same way I go to go to my parents' house anyway) that it's really not too bad. Actually, it only takes about 25-30 minutes to drive there in the morning. The traffic wasn't bad at all when I went for the interview because I'm going against most commuter traffic where people are coming into the city to work rather than the other way around like I'll be doing. Though I imagine it'll be a little more congested on the trip back home. Still, right now it takes me about 30 minutes or more to get to work from my place by the time I walk to the subway and then take that, which will also be even longer soon when we move offices to further away. Plus I'm all for the comfort of my car on the way to work with my iPod plugged in all nice and the heat on. When I walk and have to wait for the subway and deal with the people.. this could prove to be much better. But overall we'll just have to see.

So I found out on Wednesday that I got the job. It had been between me and one other person who also had a second interview right after me on Monday. He had said he'd try to let me know later that day so when that didn't happen and Tuesday came and went I wasn't sure what to make of it. Still, I had hope because I knew they'd call either way and so no news was ok at that point. Then Wednesday I got the call. He said it was unanimous... that the other guy was nice, but once they saw me they said they definitely wanted me. That was nice of them to say. I did think the interview went pretty well. The kicker for me though was in going into it I basically felt I had little to lose by being totally honest. So I made sure it was clear about my situation. That I'd have doctor appointments once every month or two, and the main thing, I asked if they'd have any problem with me taking 3 weeks off in the summer unpaid. He said that was no problem if it was unpaid. That is the only reason my status changed at work. I would have still eventually ended up leaving I think since they were really underpaying me and there seemed to be little room to move up in the long term, but the independent contractor status, although I admit is very nice for a lot of reasons... I just couldn't keep doing it at the amount of money I was making. The insurance was what got me... paying that out of pocket. I mean, take that away and the income isn't so bad, but that adds up to about $7,500 a year just for insurance (at least!) and that ends up being a fair chunk of your paycheck each month when you have no paid time off and are still making up time missed from school and such. So at least it'll be nice to know I have a little more coming in each month. I want to be able to start saving again and maybe we'll even start on our downpayment fund eventually for a house someday.

So enough about that good news. It's Dan's birthday tomorrow, so we're going to go home to have dinner with his family. Today has been a laid back day. Becky, Dan's sister, usually hangs out with us Friday nights and stays over until part of Saturday, but today she's staying tonight too. We were going to get a screenprinting kit to work on, but they were sold out of them except the glow in the dark ones, so we decided to wait. Just something to add to the to-do list of things to learn. My remaining goals for the day are to make more stickers and to work on some wedding stuff. I'm feeling a little tired, but productive still so maybe I'll do some artwork too... that'd be nice. I have a mini-interview (really just a couple of questions for a submission) due for Peelzine by tomorrow, so I need to finish that up and send it in. These things should keep me busy into tonight. So off I go!