To Jump or Stay... Enter the Closer.

The other day I mentioned on Facebook that I had turned down a job and that wasn't exactly true... I had never officially been offered the job but all the pieces were lining up when I had decided to pull myself out of the running. But lets back up a bit so I can bring us up to the point that I made the decision and then I'll bring us forward to this morning.

I'm not officially looking for work right now, I'm just constantly aware of opportunities through online search agents that send me notifications on a daily basis of jobs out there that align with my specific skill set. Not to mention a constant barrage of phone calls and email from job shops looking to fill positions with warm bodies, whether they fit the position or not.

It's unusual for jobs in my specific industry to show up on the north shore of Boston, but recently a daily search agent email had a job listed a few miles up the road from my current job and it mentioned many of the right keywords... AutoCAD, Revit, 3D, Navisworks... these are the tools of a coordinator. Curious, I inquired with the agency advertising the position. As we spoke about the position I immediately became aware of what company it was and knew that it wasn't exactly what I did. The agent asked if I would consider the position anyway and I said why not.

A week later I was sitting down with the Engineering Manager for a one hour interview that turned into two and a half hours. I knew walking out that door that he was going to offer me that job. If it wasn't through an agency he would already have made the offer.

At home that weekend I replayed the interview in my head and a little nugget jumped to the front of my brain... "the hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30 to 5:00."  The Monday through Friday part was fine, but what did he mean by 7:30 to 5:00? Were those the hours within which you could do your 8 hour day, or was he saying that literally you were expected to show up at 7:30 and work until 5:00? That's a nine and a half hour work day minus the half hour for lunch and it was a nine hour day, a 45 hour week.

I haven't worked less than 45 hours a week in the past two plus months, but that's because I have too much work on my plate to do less and since my bosses refuse to bring in help, even in the form of an every other week high school co-op student from the local vocational high school I'm stuck doing 45 to 50 hours until we get through this heavy work load patch. Also, if I come in at four or five in the morning I can leave anytime after I put in my 8 hours.

Back on the phone with the agent who sent me to the interview we began discussing salary. Although we discussed this prior to the interview, the agency now felt that because this company picks up the cost of the benefit package, that I should probably drop my salary a bit. That was a little unsettling to me, even though I knew that because they pick up that cost I would literally see an extra 10 to 12 thousand in my hands. I guess I felt like "why should I be punished, to only take home the same money I did last year, because this company decided to pick up the cost of the benefits package for everyone?" Basically that would make the very fact that they do that, no longer a benefit... either way I gave up the 10 to 12 thousand for the benefit. This topic made the hours of the work week fall away from my mind and I needed to think about what I was being asked to do.

I went home that night and reached out to two people with whom I believed I could get some decent feedback and they both helped significantly. I decided that meeting them halfway would be reasonable. I'd drop 5-6K  and hope they'd see that as fair. That settled, I drifted off to sleep... (sound of screeching brakes). Except when I'm asleep the worries of my world find a way to wake me up and now that 45 hour week thing was looming. I needed to know how to read that.

First thing in the morning I sent an email to the agent asking her to clarify the hours I was expected to be there. They knew I often come in early and sometimes leave work early... well after my 8 hours are in, but earlier in the day. They asked the company about the hours and we spoke later that day. As I had suspected you were expected to show up at 7:30 and work until 5:00. Also, you could come in earlier than 7:30, but you were still expected to work until 5:00.

I don't want to seem like a primadonna, but especially after this past decade of long work hours while dealing with health issues and eventually dialysis, after the transplant I made a decision for myself that I was going to do more for me. I have no problem working a 40 hour a week job. I have no problem with working extra hours to meet deadlines and stay on top of the workload as required. But those things should be the exception, not the rule.

It was pretty much at this point I knew I would pull myself out of the running. but the conversation continued and I was reminded that my first 3 to 6 months would be with the agency, and so they started to discuss their salary and benefits. They were officially only offering me a rate that was 86 cents less per hour than my current salary works out to be if you divide the annual by 52 weeks of 40 hours. Then they topped that off with a reminder that after 90 days you could join their health plan. So... i'll make about a thousand dollars less over the six months I work for you than I would just to stay where I am ANNNNNDDDDDDD... you need me to pay for my own health insurance for the first 90 days, which will cost twice as much as I pay now because  my company picks up half the cost. Then I'll transition to the company's payroll, where I'll spend another three months without insurance so I'll be picking up the bill there too... but you've asked me to drop my salary by 5 to 6K so the company will hire me in the first place. So where's the money coming from that's going to pay for my insurance?

OK... I'm out!

I wrote a very kind and apologetic email bowing out, and thanked them for all of their hard work in trying to make this happen. I was honest about my need for 40 hours as opposed to 45. I had also written them a prior email explaining why I had been struggling with some of this relative to my history. They emailed back to make sure that was really what I wanted. I told them yes, and that was it. I then made mention of it on Facebook and though I felt a little unsettled about pulling out, I ultimately felt that it was the right decision. But the job seemed like it would have been great and it seems like a really good company.

Last night my phone rang. I let it go to message. I listened afterwards and it was a new agent from the same company, apparently a "closer"... someone who makes things happen. It sounded like he wanted me to let him take my concerns to the company to see if they would accommodate me. I'm not sure if they just really want me in there to line their own pockets or if the Engineering Manager of the company really wants to see if he can get me to reconsider. Either way... I now have to decide if this is something I want to do again... the thing is.. I don't want to be the guy at the company that has his own set of rules... everybody hates that guy. So of course I have to say no. But then why am I  even considering it at all?