Friday, March 13, 2009

I quit my job this past Monday


Really. Except my next job, is the same as the old job. Didn't The Who sing about that?
Here's the short story, ten years in the making.
1998, I'd been working for a gas pipeline company for thirteen years. They get bought out and will be shut down, jobs sent to Houston. I take a contracting job down the street for Mobil oil. Things go great for the next 2.5 years. I have all benefits and a great hourly rate. That is the downside of contract work, you are paid by the hour. Then, Exxon showed up and here I go again. They actually paid me a bonus to stick around! I stayed with the same contracting company, with benefits, at the next assignment. One of the worst places I ever worked. It only lasted a year and then I hit unemployment for a few months. By then, the world was in a tail spin, post 9/11, etc. I wind up contracting at a huge consumer products company, but zero benefits and less pay. But, hey, a job when a lot of people I know, didn't have one, were changing careers and such. Six YEARS later, I'm still here. My team started with four of us. One shifted to a new technology. One retired and the other contractor quit. They did bring in a great guy into the one employee position, leaving just the two of us. This last fall, the place actually laid people off. However, they approached me, and nine others doing what I do, and offered us full time employment! I was very happy to take them up. Everyone has been. Paid vacation, paid sick time, some match on 401K, retirement, training in other technologies.....
I even stay at the same desk.
So, after six years, I resigned from my contract company. They are happy for me, even though it means a drop in revenue for them.
One more week as a contractor. 10 years ago, I never thought I'd be contracting this long.

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