New job

I haven’t posted about this in the past, but I have been looking for a new job since about June.  No real serious looking (i.e., trolling on Monster, etc.), but just keeping my eyes open to opportunities.  Why was I looking?  Well, it had to do with the company I was working for had been looking into outsourcing the IT department, including App Dev.  Now, in August (or there about), it was announced that they wouldn’t outsource our group currently, but that the issue would be revisited within a year.  I had only been with the company about nine months at the time and hadn’t qualified for the nicer benefits (pension…more vacation ,etc).  I had gone to that employer when I left Avanade due to the amount of travel that was required at Avanade (who has bought out the company I had been working for four years).  Some other factors of why I was looking dealt with the types of projects I was looking at, potential to move “up” in the organization while remaining a developer, and serious lack of vacation time compared to what I was used to.  Thinking of leaving had NOTHING to do with the people there as I found all of them very friendly and good to work with.  I definitely had a lot of laughs there.

I left my previous employer last Friday (Nov. 5th) and started my new job on the following Monday.  I now work for a small consulting firm located in Dayton, OH.  I have already been assigned to a client and have been there for a week now.  Things are looking quite good and I’m enjoying being back in consulting.  The new job pays better, of course, and provides me a lot more freedom to have more time off.  It is a hourly job now, which I’m not used to.  So, it means more to me to make sure I get in my 40 hours (which was already a priority for me even when I was salary).  Also, vacation time, etc. is just not paid.  Technically I take off as much time as I can afford to take off.  Which is both cool and not cool.  Basically I’ll have to be more mindful of my budget, etc.  This is really close to what people do when they go independent.  As always, your vacation time is really dictated by your work load and client expectations.  My new company provides some mechanisms to ensure that a “Savings Account” is put in place to pay you for those days off, but it is just holding back money from your checks and using that money to cover when you are off so that you get a consistent check.

So!  I’m back in consulting after spending about a year in a corporate environment.  Things I miss already:

• More flexible hours and work patterns (which of course, depends on the corporate environment and I’ve had just as flexible clients in the past.  This is just compounded right now by my current client who has very specific hours available to contractors for security reasons).
• The people I worked with.

But, I really am looking forward to consulting again and am glad I have found the company I did.  I was given at least two offers from other companies that I turned down for various reasons.  I was happy to accept the offer from my new company and I will get to work with some good friends I’ve had the pleasure of working with in the past from my G.A. Sullivan days.

Well, now that I’m a consultant again, if you’d like to book my services, just use the “contact” link and shoot me a note.  At my new company even the consultants get some kick backs for bringing in new business. :)