My Easy Choice

Around these parts most people apply for jobs quite quickly. Jobs are posted usually for about 2 weeks before they close and anyone interested on the 'inside' have declared their intentions within a day or 2 of the posting. The new job here in my area went the full 2 weeks before anyone inside made any type of move and thankfully they did because, in a union environment, it stops anyone 'outside' from getting the job.

Ask me 7 years ago how I felt about this and I'd tell you that it sucks and it's not fair to anyone on the outside not getting a chance for work. Ask me now and I'll tell you that I've spent 7 years working my ass off for the opportunity to move up to a better position so they damn well better look at me first. Why? I've earned it.

Not that it means much --trust me. I've been screwed around on a number of jobs and heard excuse-after-excuse when jobs that I'm qualified for and have the experience to apply myself fall by the wayside. It sucks. BIG TIME. But every once in a while something works in my favour.

The last department I was with before this latest one (where I've endured Co-Workers From Hell at every turn) was the usual process for an interview.

Or so I thought.

They actually didn't bother interviewing anyone else as I'd worked with them before and they'd liked the job I'd done. They were more than happy to have me come back. I kinda wished I hadn't gone through the torture of an interview (never want that again, really) just to find out later they didn't bother looking at anyone else. But it worked out for me.

Back in July, the new job in this department opened up. It's a new position. It takes a few responsibilities away from me (things I'm not supposed to be doing anyway) and takes all the responsibilities away from Drama Queen. Yep, she's out (I hope). Our goal was to make sure that DQ didn't even get the opportunity to get the job --and it seems to have worked. Goal #1 is set.

Goal #2 would be to get the job --but then nothing can be that easy can it?

Nope! I mentioned in an earlier posting that the annoying one known as Mary-Mary (Quite Contrary) was gone. Finito. Done. She had my old, old, old (aw man!) job which, embarrassingly, was only 2-and-a-half years ago. Time flies --and it hasn't exactly been fun.

Nope! the last time I can honestly say work was 'fun' was in that old, old, old job. We all got along and all had... well, FUN! And that job's now posted as well. It's les pay than the one over here, but this is the way I look at it:

1. This department has 5 people and no communication skills. Things are scheduled to happen and no one else knows about them. This, understandably, causes a great deal more stress than we need.
2. This department doesn't know how to handle working with any other department here. Which also causes stress.
3. This job is supposed to be a full-time 40-hour work week. Except I have in 14 months over 200 hours of overtime and have missed countless weekends with different projects. This has -yeah- caused stress, especially with my family and with any outside commitments I may have had.
4. This job comes with Co-Workers From Hell (CFH). While they may be good for countless hours of entertainment.... I have to work with them. More stress.
5. My boss is not an easy person to read. While he seems to show how he likes and appreciates me on one hand, the other is showing my CFH what he doesn't like about me. and could do something about it if he'd tell me what that is. A little bit of stress, but more emotional as I find myself withdrawn from some things around here.

And then there's the other job:

1. Yeah, there was stress --it's a job.
2. It's also a department with well over 30 people, all knowing what it is they're supposed to be doing and a doing a damn fine job of it. Period.
3. There may be times when things get dicey, but they know how to pull together and make it work.
4. There's no overtime. There's no demand for it.
5. The boss & I carpool semi-regularly. We get along and we're almost neighbors.
6. I've done the job before and they're all asking when I'm coming back --they didn't like they way I was forced to leave last time and I see them every week as it is.
7. They still invite me to birthday parties because I'm an 'honorary member' of the department.
8. I'm still on their pop/snack fund list. I used to be the king of the list.
9. These guys spend all day together. To the point that half the department plays volleyball together at lunch. 3 times a week.

Easy choice, huh? It may pay less, but the expense of one job over the other is insurmountable.