*SOME CONDITIONS APPLY
Some of you who read this regularly might be curious, then, about the job interview I was going to Washington for. I am still not really sure if the interview was an excuse to visit the in-laws or visiting the in-laws was an excuse to go on a job interview. At any rate, it was the motivating factor behind planning the Best Western Adventures.
I feel like I should briefly explain some background. I moved down to Texas from Oregon when my husband was on military deployment. The idea was always to move back to Oregon. We've been talking about this for so long that our friends just don't believe us anymore. We were supposed to stay six months, we've been here six years.
Meanwhile, he was deployed again while in Texas. He has spent three of the nine years we've been married in a desert on the opposite side of the world. All conditions being the s
ame, he will leave again next summer for another year and a half deployment in Iraq.
He hates Texas, and is expecially miserable in Houston. The heat, humidity, hurricanes, and bugs just really get to him. He would be happier near the mountains, and so would I.
So this has always been there, and then I saw this job opening, and I just went for it. It's not Oregon, but it is close enough and has what we were looking for. We had never been to that town, nor did I know much about the company, but there was an opening for a job I am qualified for, though at a higher level and pay grade than I am now. I sent them my resume, figuring it would sit on someone's desk for a while and maybe they'd call, but they called within two hours. They were pressing to do a face to face interview.
We researched the town, and checked out the surrounding areas in Google Earth, and it just felt right. We were pretty convinced this was it.
Being up there in that part of the world, we were sold. We loved it there and Seattle felt right to us. The mountains were very appealing. So was the fact that if we move, there will be no Iraq deployment, at least as long as Washington or Oregon's guardsmen don't get called.
I had certain conditions for this job offer that I had decided would be the determining factor in whether I accepted it or not. I wanted 20% higher wage to make up for cost of living differences, and I wanted my relocation paid for.
Looking back, it seems kind of unrealistic. The job title I have is not one that would typically offer paid relocation. The wage I was asking is what I was told would be the salary range for the position I was interviewing for, but it also requiring a skill set that I could get to quickly, but wasn't quite at yet. Also, it would mean turning my back on the part of my job that I love the most, and in fact what I really spend the most time doing in my current job, and what I really want to do with my life. And then there is the issue with my paper I am trying to publish on my data, data that I won't have rights to if I leave, but which could make my name in my field.
So as we were traversing through the territory I described in the last two Best Western Adventures, I was on the phone negotiating with this company.
In the end, what they offered was very generous, but didn't fit my stipulations. We did not have the same needs. I needed time or money to move, and they didn't offer paid relocation and wanted me there in 45 days. They offered me a position in their company doing what it is I love, and I feel like they created that position for me, and they offered me a wage higher than the top end of the pay bracket for that type of position and a generous sign on bonus, but it wasn't enough for me to jump on.
In the end, I think I learned many things from going on that interview. I saw what was really important to me right now and in my career direction, and committed to what I wanted and understood more what I didn't want. It was a hard lesson for us, in that we very much wanted to move there, but saw that we just weren't ready. The cost of the vacation, including the price of four airplane tickets, the rental car, gas, food, etc, was a harsh wakeup call that we were just not financially prepared for that kind of move.
Now our plan is to GET READY, so that next time that offer is made, I can jump on it.
As long as they offer me 20% higher salary. :)
Some of you who read this regularly might be curious, then, about the job interview I was going to Washington for. I am still not really sure if the interview was an excuse to visit the in-laws or visiting the in-laws was an excuse to go on a job interview. At any rate, it was the motivating factor behind planning the Best Western Adventures.
I feel like I should briefly explain some background. I moved down to Texas from Oregon when my husband was on military deployment. The idea was always to move back to Oregon. We've been talking about this for so long that our friends just don't believe us anymore. We were supposed to stay six months, we've been here six years.
Meanwhile, he was deployed again while in Texas. He has spent three of the nine years we've been married in a desert on the opposite side of the world. All conditions being the s
ame, he will leave again next summer for another year and a half deployment in Iraq.He hates Texas, and is expecially miserable in Houston. The heat, humidity, hurricanes, and bugs just really get to him. He would be happier near the mountains, and so would I.
So this has always been there, and then I saw this job opening, and I just went for it. It's not Oregon, but it is close enough and has what we were looking for. We had never been to that town, nor did I know much about the company, but there was an opening for a job I am qualified for, though at a higher level and pay grade than I am now. I sent them my resume, figuring it would sit on someone's desk for a while and maybe they'd call, but they called within two hours. They were pressing to do a face to face interview.
We researched the town, and checked out the surrounding areas in Google Earth, and it just felt right. We were pretty convinced this was it.
Being up there in that part of the world, we were sold. We loved it there and Seattle felt right to us. The mountains were very appealing. So was the fact that if we move, there will be no Iraq deployment, at least as long as Washington or Oregon's guardsmen don't get called.
I had certain conditions for this job offer that I had decided would be the determining factor in whether I accepted it or not. I wanted 20% higher wage to make up for cost of living differences, and I wanted my relocation paid for.
Looking back, it seems kind of unrealistic. The job title I have is not one that would typically offer paid relocation. The wage I was asking is what I was told would be the salary range for the position I was interviewing for, but it also requiring a skill set that I could get to quickly, but wasn't quite at yet. Also, it would mean turning my back on the part of my job that I love the most, and in fact what I really spend the most time doing in my current job, and what I really want to do with my life. And then there is the issue with my paper I am trying to publish on my data, data that I won't have rights to if I leave, but which could make my name in my field.
So as we were traversing through the territory I described in the last two Best Western Adventures, I was on the phone negotiating with this company.
In the end, what they offered was very generous, but didn't fit my stipulations. We did not have the same needs. I needed time or money to move, and they didn't offer paid relocation and wanted me there in 45 days. They offered me a position in their company doing what it is I love, and I feel like they created that position for me, and they offered me a wage higher than the top end of the pay bracket for that type of position and a generous sign on bonus, but it wasn't enough for me to jump on.
In the end, I think I learned many things from going on that interview. I saw what was really important to me right now and in my career direction, and committed to what I wanted and understood more what I didn't want. It was a hard lesson for us, in that we very much wanted to move there, but saw that we just weren't ready. The cost of the vacation, including the price of four airplane tickets, the rental car, gas, food, etc, was a harsh wakeup call that we were just not financially prepared for that kind of move.
Now our plan is to GET READY, so that next time that offer is made, I can jump on it.
As long as they offer me 20% higher salary. :)
1 comment:
Hi,
Hard, but "good call" on the job thing and there is nothing like a joint project to get you through a deployment! We thought about moving South with all of the kids now down there, but since the desert, my husband has this thing about sand. Even the beach gets to him!
Anyway, at least now you both know where you want to go. All you need is to get a plan in place to take you there. Developing that can be fun in itself!
As to your comment on my blog, you'd be amazed at what's in your own backyard! I am!
Happy Wanderings!
The Writer...and her dog, Bear
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