Browsing For A New Job

Posted on: July 24, 2009 by Matt

Originally uploaded by Kristin

Over the past couple of weeks I have been pondering and finally decided to act upon throwing my hat back into the job hunting ring. I am currently gainfully employed but have been suffering a bit from the stress of the job as well as the isolation that I live in while at work. Since I work remotely for a company nearly 2,000 miles away I sit in an office and work via email and phone all day. Some days it is nice and I enjoy the quiet but others I kind of miss having an actual office environment.

Overall I have enjoyed working for my company for the past three years or so but some events as of late have transpired that prompted me to start browsing around again. I suppose that if I was to sum up the reasons I have for wanting to move on I would say:

The stress is getting to me: My job is pretty stressful and the effects of having to deal with the stress are rubbing off on my family. I come home tired and grumpy at the end of the day. I want to enjoy the time with my family.
I am a bit burnt out: I suppose this goes along with the stress but I just feel burnt out with this job. I have not got much left to offer and need a rest or a change.
I do not have a clear job description: I am at a loss to know exactly what is expected from me or how my performance is being monitored. I have raised this issue with my boss and was told that a job description did exist – which he could not produce.
Extra responsibilities, less money: Need I say more? I am being assigned more tasks on a regular basis and being told that I am now “in charge of X” and actually end up making less money! I also get frustrated as “X” changes on a weekly basis at least.
Broken commitments: It seems my boss blows me off a lot. My requests are not responded to and when he does respond the result is normally problematic. The requests that I do make are generally fairly simple requests for the benefits I was told I am entitled to. Examples include: Health insurance – it took me a long time to get this started up, my HSA account still is not working properly despite having set it up two months ago, requests for information on the company simple IRA plan have gone unanswered, business cards were never printed despite asking several times (clients had requested I provide a card).
A lack of proactive HR: As I just noted – getting benefits is like pulling teeth. I am not sure if everyone else had this much trouble or had to ask 52 times to get health insurance working but it is tiring. Other companies I have worked for actually had a procedure and would provide you all the forms on the day you were eligible for a benefit.

I think the real awakening came on my last full day in Denver during my last business trip out. I was having lunch with another manager I work with and he said something to the tune of “What we really should do is hire a few junior guys, pay them between $XX,XXX and $YY,YYY a year and just run them all around to handle the reactive work. You know – like make them our run around guys“. It really sounded like a great idea when he said it but then I realized that I make $YY,YYY per year! Not to sound petty but if we are talking about bringing “junior technicians” in and paying them basically what I make then something sounds off to me. I have a proven track record with the company and am frequently turned to when other (some more senior) people either need relief, to hand something off or are unable to resolve an issue on their own. So the casual conversation with a coworker lead me to believe that not only am I stressed and burnt out but I am probably under paid for it as well.

So I have decied to move forward with seeing what else is out there. What I am hoping to find is a position that will provide a good compnay culture, some structure, to know my job definition, recieve the promised benefits without a fight and to make at least as much as I currently make now (and have my salary tied to my level of responsibility level somehow). I suppose it may sound like a lot but at this point in time I am really wanting to simplify my life, reduce stress and spend better quality time with my family. I suppose we will see where it goes from here.

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