The First Day of the Rest of My Life

The first day of the rest of my life started one evening while I was surfing Craigslist. I was not looking for anything particular, but I found it anyway: The job ad was rather spartan, but conservation of words intrigues me. Over the next week I made searches about the company on Google and then responded with a similarly terse email.

I heard nothing for about one month, then I was invited to phone interview for the position. The principal of the company and I talked for about 20 minutes while my kids were practicing sanchin-ryu. He told me what the company did and that they were looking at starting a new division that focused on my area of experience. The company is located out of my state, but he was considering expanding. Overall, it was a pleasant conversation.

Several weeks later, I received a phone call indicating that the principal was going to be in my area and asking for a meeting. We met and discussed the state of the industry, in general. He did not appear to be very knowledgeable about the industry, even to the extent of being surprised when I explained the processes we follow. He also asked about some items with which I am very familiar, but his questions were not of a technical nature. As I left this meeting, I could not tell if it went well or poorly. Finally, I decided that it went well because it was a long conversation.

After a few weeks passed, I received an offer letter in my email. The job appeared to be as we discussed and the salary was great, but the offer was in an other town and state. My wife and I discussed the offer and agreed that we did not want to relocate. I called him and explained that while the offer was generous, I would not be able to accept a relocation for more than a year. He said that a one year relocation did not make sense, and that we could open a local branch of the company. I was stunned, but at the same time, I was excited and flattered that he thought I was the right guy to do that. I agreed when he asked if he should have his people start drafting a contract.

We negotiated items on the contract for several weeks and I made more detailed checks into the company. I would be leaving a company that I liked and had worked at for many years, so I wanted to make sure of the decision. To that end, I asked a close CPA friend of my late father to review the financial statements of the corporation. He said they indicated there was plenty of revenue to pay me, the wage expenses were very low for the number of engineers I estimated he had working, and also that purchased services was somewhat high. My attorney reviewed the employment and non-compete/-disclosure agreements and indicated some areas that he wanted cleaned up to protect me and we made those changes.

I visited the headquarters of the company and met with the principal and the local staff. We had lunch and the principal paid, but his credit card was initially denied. The office was smaller than I had expected. We participated in a web conference with colleagues in another location and he also introduced me to one of the people who provided services for his company.

I signed the employment agreement and gave notice of resignation from my job. I completed my final two weeks and was excited to start the new chapter of my career. As I was leaving the former employer, I learned about the importance of asking questions about start up periods for retirement plans and health insurance. At my former employer, there was no waiting period for either. At the new employer, each had a substantial waiting period.

Day one: My first order of business was to find an office, which I did within a week. In addition to arranging telecom, furniture, etc, I was preparing marketing material for the new division. A substantial part of my responsibilities was to include developing new products, but the principal tended to ask more questions about past products than new ones.

My employment agreement provided for a car but, I did not receive one. When I brought it up to the principal, I was told that it was someone elses responsibility. Likewise, when I mentioned the need for a corporate computer, I was eventually directed to Craigslist, which again was not expected. Neither of these issues was resolved.

After two weeks on the new job, I received a note from a friend and former colleague saying that they had been advised to have no contact with me. After some sleepless nights, I learned the details: my new employer was unfriendly to my industry because of his testimony as an expert witness for plaintiffs in product liability cases. This caused me concern because part of my new job was to sell products and provide services to that industry. My most likely first contacts were being advised not to talk to me. I brought my conflict of interest concerns to the attention of my new boss, and he stated that it was his intention to keep the divisions separate. I felt this was dishonest and did not want any further part of it, so I resigned immediately.

Reality strikes:
While I was working, I felt like what I did had value and therefore, I had value. During the job search, I did not feel like I had value. I was depressed.

Mornings were bad because I no longer had a routine or responsibilities but, for some reason, evening time was the worst. After a couple weeks, I could feel my anxiety rising in the late afternoon. During the nights I would think, "I am intelligent. I am a hard-worker. And I would be employed if I hadn't made such an awful decision!" Many times I would lie awake in bed terrified about what was going to happen to my wife, my children, my home, my future. Fortunately for me, my wife was and is stable and steady. She said that she knew we could get through this because we are a family. That helped me more than she may ever know. She also pointed out that I could not change the decisions that had already been made - a powerful reminder not to dwell on things that I could not change.

Searching for a job in the current market (2009Q1) was a real eye-opener. Sending out resumes on jobs for which I am well qualified and receiving NOTHING or REJECTIONS is painful, to say the least. It was also emotionally painful when my oldest daughter asked me if I had a job. She asked this while I drove her to school one morning. After I answered her truthfully, she asked if I was looking for a job, what kind of job I was looking for, and if there were any jobs like that around here. Of course, all children are above average in the eyes of their parents, but that morning, the tears in my eyes, which started out being caused by my embarrassment about being unemployed, were from my pride in her problem solving skills.

A large portion of jobs are filled without being advertised, and it is likely that many of the jobs that are advertised are not actually available at all. Of course, I have no proof of the later, but the former is how I learned of the availability my current position. My former boss alerted me that a customer was looking for staff and offered a recommendation.

The time off allowed me to enjoy a lot more time with my family and I was able to make progress on some home improvement projects. Occupying my mind with projects was a good way to take a break from the situation. It also made me feel I had value.

Unfinished business:
I had spent many years progressing through the ranks at my company and I was satisfied with my career path, but while looking for a new job, I learned that I had not spent nearly enough time thinking about career development. I admire people who have a five-year (or longer) plan for their career, but I don't have one. I need to change that.