Trailing Geek

A Trailing Spouse’s Job Hunt: Part Three

By late April my job search culminated in two full-time offers. It was really beyond my expectations that I would find a gig in Smallville so quickly. I had given myself until late summer and if nothing happened by then, Girlfriendy would just move to Smallville first and I would join her when I found a position.

Now I was looking at the very real possibility of living in Smallville come June. I was not even remotely prepared, I mean, the condo just went on the market! But first I had to make a decision: Pleasant U or Company X?

Pleasant U had called to offer me the job as I was waiting at the Smallville airport for my flight home after interviewing on-site at Company X. I basically had the weekend to decide. They were such different organizations. I could see myself at each place, but what did I truly want?

Company X Pros:

• Private sector, with a culture and environment very similar to my current position. It’s what I knew.
• Higher salary.
• Established, stable company. No fears about layoffs or going under.
• Community oriented company, they care about making a difference.
• Fantastic benefits, they take excellent care of their employees.

Company X Cons

• Located in suburban office park in neighboring town. Somewhat isolated.
• The industry. I never thought I would work for a company in this space. The projects I would be working on didn’t exactly excite me.
• I didn’t feel a strong connection with my fellow team members. Perhaps they were just being typical techies and take some time to get to know, but the interview was admittedly a bit awkward.

Pleasant U Pros

• Getting to work on a beautiful, leafy college campus surrounded by brick buildings in Smallville itself. My commute would be 1 mile.
• Excellent benefits, including reduced tuition if I ever wanted to take classes.
• The research done by The Ponderosa is really fascinating, and I would, as cliche as it sounds, be making the world a better place.
• Small, spunky team who seemed to have a good sense of humor.

Pleasant U Cons

• Lower salary.
• Because I would technically be a research assistant, I would be under an annual contract. The job listing specified it was a limited duration contract, which Girlfriendy prompted me to inquire further about when I spoke with Pleasant U about the job offer. I was looking for a permanent position, not a temporary one. However, Girlfriendy said contracts for university employees, especially in the areas of research and academia, were very common.
• Public sector position. I had been working in the private sector pretty much my entire career. I did work some part-time gigs in a state agency and for my undergrad university to have a taste of the “pace” of public sector life, but I knew this would be a big change and transition for me. Would it be too much of a change?

My gut was kind of steering me toward Pleasant U, and that intensified after Pleasant U modified the job description/offer to be an “annual renewable” contract instead of a “limited duration” one, to address my concerns. They said even though they were a research group (and therefore lived and died by grant funding) they were unique in that their IT group was self-sustaining through the license fees from the applications they build. That eased a lot of my fears. They were essentially offering me a permanent position.

Girlfriendy was very supportive, and encouraged me to take my time in making a choice. Though we were clearly moving to Smallville for her, I wanted to make the most of the situation and not just “get by” or “survive.” Who’s to say I couldn’t further my own career as well? Or have the kind of work/life balance that had been so elusive for me in the Metropolis rat race?

In the end I chose Pleasant U – making my personal life and quality of life, a priority. I loved the idea of working on campus, a mere mile from home. And having the option of taking classes at the reduced staff rate. And nothing against Company X, but I just felt like the team at The Ponderosa was a better fit for me. Plus, a part of me was kinda excited I would be working for a research group at the same university Girlfriendy would be attending…it made me feel closer to her somehow, a little more connected to her world.

As for the salary, yes, I would be making slightly less in comparison to Company X, but I was taking such a hit anyway from moving to Smallville (25% reduction due to “lower cost of living” which has turned out to be complete bunk but that’s another post) that it wasn’t enough to sway me.

After accepting Pleasant U’s offer my hiring manager said they would like me to start as soon as possible, and no later than four weeks out. Four weeks!!! That gave me until late May. That was not a lot of time to wrap things up at my my current job, find housing in Smallville, and move my entire life. Plus, Girlfriendy did not yet have any options for summer employment in Smallville, which meant there was a good chance I would be making the initial move alone. It was terrifying. Never in a million years did I think I would end up in Smallville for any amount of time without Girlfriendy there with me…seeing as how I embrace change as well as a concrete block, moving alone to a new city to start a new job was the worst thing I could possibly see happening.

My current company was thrilled I had found a position, but we had yet to find my replacement. It had been a long, frustrating search. In the end, we hired someone (and I truly believe this was the best candidate so the universe works in mysterious ways) the Wednesday before my last day, which was May 14. He came in for a two hour training session and I basically did a massive brain dump. I left feeling good about where things stood.

I had chosen my first day at The Ponderosa to be May 21, and wanting to give myself some time to move and relax, I chose May 14 as my last day at my current company. Looking  back, however, I should have taken a heckuva lot more than 7 days off!

As luck would have it, in early May Girlfriendy found a summer position with a research institute in Smallville which meant she could join me sooner than later. However, her gig did not start until June 1, and neither did our lease, so I was on my own for a full week. The end of May and beginning of June were complete chaos, but we lived to tell about it.

Now that I’ve been in Smallville and at The Ponderosa for two months, I can say I made the right decision. My quality of life has improved, and I do have time and space for people, places and things outside of work. Is this how the other half lives? So far, so fabulous.