Every six months I set out on a mini job hunt. The purpose is to keep me informed of what employers are looking for, what their compensation, and benefits packages compare. Really, to re-affirm to myself just how good a job and employer I currently have.
My current benefits are not the best, but there are a few big perks that I get that I wouldn’t easily get if I made the leap to a different employer.
I GET to Work From Home
The #1 benefit that comes to mind is that I get to work from home. Full-time. We have an office that’s about 15 minute drive from me that I used to work out of. In the middle of the pandemic I was requested by the company to relinquish my cubicle space for a growing team on-site and I went permanently remote work and haven’t looked back. There is a bigger office a couple hours drive away that I must commute to periodically, but those visits have been far and few between during the pandemic. Only in recent months has the frequency of my visits increased as everyone returns to the office and travel restrictions lifted.
In days past, I used to have to travel for my role quite a bit. However, with the COVID-19 Pandemic, my travel has been minimal for the past three years and I do not miss it. I love not traveling for work! Living out of suitcases in hotels I do not miss. Of racking up unpaid hours traveling on airplanes! Even though I love to fly, I do not like flying in economy, or so called cattle section.
Fly Business Class or I Do Not Go
I still travel a lot, but it’s for personal leisure purposes. I have grown accustomed to flying First Class or Business Class at least on my personal International trips. My company has a policy that says only VP-level and above may fly Business class. Everyone else must fly economy.
As people travel more with the end of COVID-19, we will have to see how I respond if I’m requested to fly Internationally for a work project. Now that I’m used to flying business or better, I don’t want to go back to the cattle section of planes. My shoulders are far too wide for the seats which yes, have gotten physically smaller since I I remember when first flying as a kid in the early 90s.
I have issues with this policy. I feel that if it’s not worth it to the company to fly me in business class, then the travel does not sound like it’s worth my time to be there in-person.
Business class or bust I say! However, time will tell. If forced, I don’t know that I will hold my ground on that stance. Maybe. Depends on where that travel is to, why, and if I could get a few work-paid days for holiday out of the same ride.
The Devil I know
I recently celebrated my 10 year work anniversary with this employer. Things certainly are not perfect and there are certainly people that I hate working with because they are such 🤬 (bad word). But 10 years with the same employer has given me an incredible amount of insider knowledge. For example, I know:
- where to dig for the proverbial skeletons
- the people and players
- the power dynamics and who has the real power
- that the employer tries to do the right thing most of the time
That last bullet is big! I would rather work at an employer that tries to do the right thing most of the time and pays less than get paid fistfulls of money but is sketchy and immoral as you can find. It’s honest money for honest work.
Comfort & Awareness of What’s Out There
The trap in play here is that the grass looks greener on the other side. This is a hazard and not always reality.
I gains some small comfort to know that there are a multitude of project management jobs out there that I could jump to if I lose my job. I made an effort this year (2023) to sit for the PMP exam and I now hold PMI’s PMP Certification. This in addition to holding certifcations for Scrum Alliance’s Advanced Scrum Master (A-CSM) and Product Owner (CSPO) certificates.
My experience of 10 years with the same employer, increasingly make it hard to consider changing to another employer. Even if the work is the same, the culture and people–if that changes would feel sad and as though I had lost something. In short, I continue on as-is and reframe every day by changing out “I HAVE to . . .” to ” I GET to . . .”.
As my Net Worth grows dollar by dollar, the less likely I feel compelled to do this Mini-Job search. And as more time passes, the less I feel compelled of searching serious. My ultimate goal is complete Financial Independence!
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