Time, Value and Opportunity

It was about 2 years ago that I last did a thorough evaluation on my market value and career opportunities, relative to my experience and skill set.  At the time, I was woefully underpaid (as compared to average national market value for what I do), and upon realizing this, went about preparing an argument to request a raise – after all, I was an incredible bargain.  And then it got weird.  Totally unprompted – almost magically, even – I was called in to my manager’s office, given a pep talk about my worth, along with a raise and a promotion.  And while this didn’t necessarily align me with my market value, there is something to be said for loyalty both on my and my employer’s part.

One of the key factors that drove my decision to evaluate my career at that point was my experience level.  At just over 2 years in, I had surpassed the restrictive “entry level” barrier and crossed into that oh-so-wonderful “experienced/non-manager” territory, and that’s a pretty massive step, in terms of responsibility, pay scale and the like.  And now here I sit, two years later, in an almost identical situation – evaluating my market value and opportunities.  And while some might scoff at the notion, given the economic downturn of the Country, I think they’d be surprised at the potential out there, for those with the right skill set.

So, I’ve begun looking at opportunities again, and I’m very pleased with what’s out there – if I wait for the right opportunity, I could double my salary!  So long as I’m open to relocation throughout most of the Country (I most definitely am), its almost as if there isn’t a recession going on, and this is especially true of the energy and IT/software/web fields.  It feels dirty looking for work while still securely employed, because I’m loyal to my employer because they’ve been loyal to me, and its a great place to work.  That said, business is business, and I’m sure part of my infatuation with working here has to do with it being my first white-collar job (its easy to be impressed by free coffee and paid time off after delivering pizza in college).

Despite the recession and otherwise shaky economy, there are opportunities out there.  Its time to find them, and realize my potential.

Change, Transition and the Future

With the way the auto industry is suffering, and changing, I’m not particularly surprised that I’ve seen a temporary (*crosses fingers*) reduction in my hours from 50 to 40.  Even so, since finding out last week I haven’t been very concerned about my overall job security, but over the last few days I’ve been contemplating this whole “career” thing a little further.  And after beginning the process of updating my resume at Monster (which I should always be doing… yeah, I know, I know), I’ve been hit with a good number of responses, and surprisingly, the majority of them are not recruiters.

The response has given me pause for a couple of reasons.  First, if simply doing only a partial update to my resume warrants such a response, imagine what a complete update would provide.  Imagine if I were to completely update my resume everywhere else it exists, not just Monster.  And second, its pretty amazing the change in response one gets after having over 3 years of experience, as opposed to 1 or 2.  I remember when I was job hunting during my second year, noticing how there was a significant barrier there, where all the “good” jobs required 2 or 3-plus years of experience.

All of this makes me wonder what might lie ahead on the career front.  I’ve grown quite comfortable where I work now, but there are definitely areas where I don’t feel fulfilled, or like I’m presented with enough opportunity to learn and grow as an engineer and a professional.  That’s bothersome, to say the least.  And at the same time, working 8-hour days is very nice, and something I could totally get used to.  The trick is to find a job where I can pull down what I was at 50-hour weeks, and do it in 40 hours.

And that’s the biggest thing, I think.  Even after just one day back at 8 hours, it became incredibly evident to me that all that overtime pay isn’t really worth the tradeoff of giving up my time.  I think its time to see what my options are.

Tough Times

For well over a year now, I’ve had the luxury of having access to 10 hours of overtime every week, and I’ve taken nearly all of it.  But with the recent and severe downturn of our industry, it seemed inevitable that this gravy train would have to reach the station sooner or later.  Well, the conductor just announced our next stop, and its just ahead.

Starting on Monday, I’m back to “measly” 40-hour weeks.  I suppose, in a sense, its both a curse and a blessing.  Its temporary, as there’s plenty of work for me on the horizon, but that work is dependent on getting stuff from our colleagues in France, and France essentially doesn’t go to work in the month of August.  So, as summer heads to it’s close, I’ll actually be enjoying the extra time, rather than lamenting the loss of the extra cash.  I’ll have more time to spend with Carrie, as well as tackle a number of other projects that need my attention.

The crazy part, to me, is that its going to feel quite odd getting home at 3:00, as opposed to 5:00 as I do now.  I’ve taken a few “early” days here & there during this OT run, and its amazing what those 2 hours can do for one’s spare time in the evenings.  I hope to make the best of it, while it lasts.

Sean Hannity is polluting my world

Would it be inappropriate to ask my coworker/supervisor, who sits about 8 feet way, to not listen to Sean Hannity?  I mean, as annoying and repetitive as sports talk radio can be (which he listens to in the morning), at least that doesn’t consist of inflammatory and disingenuous rhetoric.  As much as I try to ignore it, I still find it aggravating.  And unless I’m doing mindlessly repetitive work, I’m not good with headphones at work.

So, what do I do?