On the Hunt

[saffronhare]

The job hunt, that is. The company eliminated my position yesterday, so I'm all done at the day job I've held for 8+ years. Not so horribly surprising, given the industry and such.

I'm reeling a bit, but mostly I'm feeling relieved. It was getting less and less enjoyable -- not only in terms of the way my job description kept shifting further away from what I liked best, but also in terms of corporate environments. It's about time I leveled up again.

The severance package is pretty decent, and I spend the day chatting with a freelance client about a pretty significant project that'll give me some additional income over the next couple of weeks while I set up informational interviews to get me started. Informational interviews are really fun...almost as much fun as an actual offer. With luck, those will help me expand my sense of possibility and enable me to develop a better-articulated vision for what I want to aim for next. Some chronicling likely here.

In the meantime, I purchased a pedometer on my way home yesterday. Jack is likely to be getting some extra walking in the near future. And maybe I'll finally make some progress on my GSP!

Comments

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Huh. While I'm surprised they decided to remove such a "value-added" position as yours (with everything they get out of you, it hardly makes fiscal sense), it sounds like you have a PLN. Good luck!

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Meh. Seven other people were laid off yesterday, in addition to me; cuts happened in ever department. The fiscal logic (for good or ill) is that, as a director with eight years at the company, I make a great deal more than the other two writers. They've eliminated my position and plan to hire a "junior writer." They'll still be something around $30K ahead of the game.

I'm told I should expect a few calls about freelancing some of the projects that nobody else there has the experience/proficiency with (such as a few things we do for that five-sided building in Arlington)...for which I will charge them up the nose.

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Right; while I could have predicted the reason (cost savings), I think they'll lose out overall in revenue/productivity. But if you get to recoup some of that freelancing fees, so much the better...

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Yeah. There's a lot I did as Director that the other writers claimed blissful ignorance of, and are not prepared to take over. Ah, well.

Some particularly gratifying scuttlebutt from the department meeting/debriefing after the layoffs, relayed to me by one of the other writers was a comment from one of the designers, who "spoke to the impossibility of your departure since you are the only person with good ideas ..." That was kinda nice to hear.