The Dept. of Useless & Ill-Informed Opinions

Never Say Never

From 2005-2007, I worked for a great company. Everyone cared and we were well-respected in our industry. But all things change, and when we were acquired by a huge international corporation, they systematically destroyed everything that was once great. When they announced layoffs for the US, I started looking elsewhere, knowing my job was easily done by existing people outside of the US.

That new job was awful. The company was bogged down by a cadre of veteran employees who refused to allow progress, always wanting to keep things the way they had been, simply because it was how they were done. When layoffs came in early 2009, I was tagged, as I’d never quite fit in.

I spent 22 months out of work. And who ended this? My former employer. I was hired as a consultant to work on a project for a year or so, hired by someone left from the old days who knew me and knew I needed something. Friends and family would ask if I hoped to be brought on full-time, and I always had the same answer: “I am never going to be a full-time employee of Company X again.”

Well, today was my last day as a consultant. As of Tuesday, I’ll be a full-timer again.

It was the right opportunity at the right time for (mostly) the right money, and it’ll give us security at a time when “layoff” seems to be the word of the day/week/month/quarter once again in my industry.

I’m conflicted by the cons, but mostly happy about the pros. And I am looking forward to the idea of being salaried again for the first time in 3 years. Consulting was lucrative, but I constantly felt chased by my hours. It’ll be wonderful to know that I can dart off to a doctor’s appointment or take a long lunch without having to make up every extra minute to get myself to 40 hours.