Re: wisdom from freelancers

Subject: Re: wisdom from freelancers
From: voxwoman <voxwoman -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: nerfherder320 -at- comcast -dot- net
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:09:15 -0400

Take job A, still interview with Job B. Job B doesn't exist yet in reality,
and with a new administration, you don't know if that job will survive past
January. (the government is a last-in-first-out type of shop, and I am old
enough to remember both governmental layoffs and hiring freezes in other
economic times, fondly called "recessions")

I truly hope you can work out your marital difficulties - but as someone
who's been married 3 times, I just want to tell you that the healthcare
bennies will continue during the separation (make sure your lawyer is aware
of the situation), and you can try to make your spouse carry insurance for
your kids (if any) after the divorce, regardless of who they are living
with. If you don't have your own bank account, start one NOW. Also, I
strongly recommend separating credit card accounts NOW (espeically if you
think this marriage is going to tank).

The federal government has the absolute best healthcare plans around. My dad
was a fed employee for 40+ years.

One other thing to consider: 1-year contracts frequently get extended or
turned into permanent jobs.

Best of luck to you.
-Wendy

On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 7:49 PM, <nerfherder320 -at- comcast -dot- net> wrote:

> I welcome any insights on a decision I have to make very soon.
>
> My question: In this economy, facing a possible need to be
> completely self-sufficient, would you choose career-boosting,
> temporary Job A now? Or would you wait and hope to get
> an offer from boring, steady secure Job B?
>
> Details here:
>
> Job A: 1 year contract gig, expecting an offer this week,
> maybe tomorrow. I would start ASAP. It's an arm of a very large,
> successful company starting an operation locally. Lots of
> Project Management type responsibilities and exposure to new
> tools in the course of working on the IT docs, potential for long
> hours on occasion. The commute is 20 minutes
> longer than I'd like, all highway driving to a rather isolated spot.
> Due to the distance, they're willing to let me work from home
> after the initial ramp-up at least 2 days a week and I won't be
> expected to drive in terrible weather. The hourly rate will result
> in a good raise in pay compared to my salary prior to being laid off.
>
> Job B: Interviewing Thursday for a permanent job with an arm of
> the federal government. I'm pretty confident I'll get an offer,
> but it's early yet. It's typical SW TW with some user
> support thrown in. The commute is only 30 minutes, but I suspect
> I won't get any work-at-home arrangement for bad weather.
> The starting salary is pretty close to what I had made before and it
> tops out at what I'd make immediately in Job A. I've heard federal
> employees get lots of holidays.
>
> There is a personal factor that imposes stresses.
> Going through a REALLY rough patch in marriage, plan to go
> to counseling, could end up splitting ARGH! I basically have no
> emotional support at home and have all responsibilities for
> taking care of the household (whine whine, poor me)
> All healthcare and other benefits come from spouse's employer.
>
> O wise and experienced whirlers, is there anything else I need to
> consider to help me make a good decision? What questions do
> I need to ask of the universe?
>
> thank you!
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ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals.
http://www.doctohelp.com

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
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wisdom from freelancers: From: nerfherder320

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