Apologies in advance for this post. It’s going to be a long and probably boring comparison of my former and current employers.
I’ve been in my current position (company 2 for the purpose of this post) for just about four months. I left my last position (company 1) after being there for three years. Why did I leave? Mostly for the money. Plain and simple.
Here’s a breakdown on some of the pros and cons:
Compensation: Company 1 paid a decent amount; nothing fabulous. Company 2 paid me quite a bit more. That’s the primary reason I left. To go back, I’m assuming I would be taking a pay cut. That’s a win for Company 2.
Advancement: After three years at Company 1, I learned how it all worked and that there wasn’t exactly a fast-track to advancement. But all companies need higher-ups, and for whatever track there was, I feel like I was on it. I was respected, valued, and successful. Advancement prospects at Company 2 seem a little more realistic or achievable. It’s a larger company with more places to grow within. Another win for Company 2. However, if I don’t like the work, do I really want to advance?
The Work: The work at company 1 wasn’t soul-fulfilling, but I didn’t mind it. It could be repetitious and sometimes boring, but it was never stressful. And in the last few months before I left, I was getting into more interesting projects. I never felt like I woke up in the morning and dreaded going into work. At company 2, the work is challenging (good and bad) but also not very fulfilling. It can also be downright frustrating because there is a huge learning curve. They told me coming in that it takes almost a year to learn everything, and I am quickly learning that this is true. However, it might take even more than a year. Everything there changes so much, that it’s almost impossible to keep current on it all. You can ask someone a question and get an answer, but ask the same question to someone else and you’ll get a different answer and no one is quite sure who is correct. And the people that do have the final say are hard to get a hold of. Totally frustrating for a new guy who just wants to learn the correct answer.
The Commute: Company 1 was 15 minutes from my house using back streets with no traffic. Company 2 is a solid hour each way in stop-n-go traffic. I have little confidence that the house will sell anytime soon, so that commute could be around for a long time. I realize other people have long commutes, but it’s just something I can’t stand. I hate it so much. A total waste of two hours of my day.
Office Morale: Company 1 has a laid back atmosphere. Dress is casual (jeans every day if I wanted). People complain about their jobs, but not in a bad way, just in a “I’m a normal person complaining about their job” kind of way. Teamwork is emphasized. Cube walls are low, every cube has a guest chair; collaboration is valued. It’s also in a huge building with long halls to wander and places to take little breaks. I really think this helps to improve everyone’s attitude; just to have a place to get out of your cube for a while. Company 2 is not like that. It’s in a small building. When you get to your cube, everyone pretty much stays there all day. Dress code is pretty dressy, which I don’t find very comfortable. We’re still organized in teams, but my team is based in Ohio. I’m the sole team member here. When I started I thought it might be nice to have a boss in another state because no one would be looking over my shoulder. What I’ve found is that it is nice not to have that, but it’s even more frustrating not being able to get a hold of her when I need her. Morale seems to be low around the whole office. The email from the CEO about layoffs probably didn’t help. But the worst thing is what I like to call the blame game atmosphere. When I work on a project, I get a grade from Quality. Literally, like a score from 0 to 100. It’s very 3rd grade-ish. The thing is, this score matters because your overall score affects your merit increases, bonuses, etc. But Quality also gets scored on their work, so they really want to find things wrong with my work. And so they can get picky. And so if I get a bad score and disagree with Quality, I have to argue my score with Quality or take it to my Team Lead and defend my work. All this is time wasted when I could have been working on something else. So it feels like people are always walking on eggshells around there. Basically, it’s a lot easier to be held personally responsible for miscues at Company 2. Company 1 was big on teamwork and the team taking the blame or better yet, blaming “the system”. And it’s true, we did use a computer system that was prone to malfunctions. Anyway, Company 2 is more stressful and I don’t see it getting any better as I will only get more difficult projects in the future.
Schedule: I worked 4 10-hour days at Company 1. I had every single Friday off. It was also easy to schedule vacation or just take off at a moment’s notice. Again, real laid back atmosphere. Company 2 told me during the interview process that they would consider my flexible schedule once I got the hang of the job. I’m starting to realize I may never get the hang of the job. And even if I do, it’s not the kind of work I could do for 10 hours at a time, not to mention I’d still be commuting for two hours. So that’s not very appealing. I TOTALLY MISS HAVING MY FRIDAYS OFF! This is probably the number one reason I am considering returning to Company 1. If they say I can come back but not work that schedule, I probably won’t do it.
The People: I never used to think so, but the people you work with can really make or break a job. I genuinely liked my coworkers at Company 1. I was put on a new team a few months before I left and I absolutely loved working with them. They were super fun and work never seemed like work. Even when we had to put in overtime, I didn’t mind because we were having a good time. And the department was huge, so I got to know more people. Currently, I work with about 20 people and while I’ve only been there four months, I’ve gotten to know them all and honestly, I only really connect with 2 or 3 of them.
There are many, many other little tiny things that have been considered, but this post is probably too long as it is. But let me just talk about one more thing. The Future. Or Dreams vs. Realities.
I have a dream of being my own boss some day. Hopefully, with an internet business. It’s a dream a lot of people have. But I’m serious about this, and I really want it to happen. Therefore, I’m taking steps. I got my first taste of business with my own used book business. Now I am trying to get into some other ventures.
When I left Company 1, I thought the extra money I was getting from Company 2 would enable me to take a few more risks and really go for my dreams. What I’ve found out is that I have the extra money but no time. With my Fridays off at Company 1 and the shorter commute, there’s a lot more time for side projects.
And if the dream takes off….then I don’t have to worry about career advancement at either company.
Out of all of this…I’ve learned some things. One of my friends mentioned the other night that one of the most valuable things I’ve learned is what I don’t want or what I don’t like in a position. I would agree with that. However, the most surprising thing for me was learning that I value my time more than money. Six months ago I never would have thought that.
Like I said, there are several more little things on the pros and cons list but I won’t bore you all with the details. And as always, stay tuned as my life plays out before your very eyes. I’ll keep you posted!
ps. Yes, this post is totally skewed towards Company 1 and I’m sure just like I have done with a few ex-girlfriends, I’m probably looking back on it as a little rosier than it really was. So I’m trying not to get my hopes up because there’s no real reason to think that they would let me come back, but if I’m honest with myself, my hopes are already way up and I will be disappointed if it doesn’t work out. But no matter what happens, life will go on and if I can’t go back…I will soldier on at Company 2 and do the very best job I can do.
*It’s also come to my attention that a 3rd option would be to look for a new job all together. That doesn’t sound too appealing to me at this point in time. So it’s not gonna happen.
As I’ve been thinking about when it’s worth it to spend a little extra money, I can’t help but think about one of my greatest frugality-fueled regrets. While I was studying abroad in England, I had the opportunity to attend a professional soccer (football) match. I really fell in love with English soccer while I was over there because it consumes the entire culture and they have such a passion for it. It’s very easy to get caught up in it all. Anyway, the opportunity came up to attend a match, but let me tell you, it was going to be expensive! I was already spending money like crazy because I was in Europe for four months and Europe isn’t cheap.
So I ended up passing on the chance. When my classmates returned from the game and reported back on the atmosphere and the crazy hooligans, I knew I had passed up a chance that might not come again anytime soon and really regretted it.
Fortunately, I don’t think my frugality has kept me from many great experiences in life. This one story just came back to me as I sat around this weekend and watched the Euro 2008 tournament and thought about when spending a little extra money is worth it. I’ve still never been to a professional European soccer game (though I did watch David Beckham play with the LA Galaxy here in MN).
Somewhere down the road, when I achieve the financial freedom I’m shooting for, I’d love to attend the World Cup in some far away land.
Has your frugality led to any regrets?
I took some of the goals off my sidebar when I transferred over from blogger. I’ve just been thinking a lot about priorities lately and I’m reevaluating my goals. Not a major deal, I tend to do this all the time, that is analyze and reanalyze, prioritize and then re-prioritize. It’s typical. So I’ll spend some time thinking about them and then I will repost new charts in the sidebar. The only goal I’m still certain of at this point is the fact that I want to max out my Roth IRA this year. So I’ve kept that goal in the sidebar. I’m still saving for a house and adding to my emergency fund, but I’m just not sure I’m ready to set a goal for them and make them a priority.
Both of my roommates were out of town this weekend, so I had the entire house to myself. And I loved it! It’s a rare occurrence for me to be home alone, so I took the opportunity to lay low and just chill out all weekend, enjoying the peace and quiet.
Which got me thinking about living alone. Well, I’ve been thinking about it ever since things went a little sour with my co-owner last fall, but now that the house is for sale, it feels like a little more of a real possibility. If the place does ever sell, I’m going to need somewhere to live, so it’s worth thinking about. I’ve never lived alone before and the primary reason is because it’s so much more expensive than sharing the bills with roommates.
But now, at this point in my life, I believe it’ll be worth the extra money. Although, I’m not 100% certain that’s what I’m going to do. I have a few options of other people I could live with, people that I would get along with, people that I’ve lived with before. But I’m very tempted to go it alone, and that’s the way I’m leaning. I have several friends that are now living on their own and they swear by it.
Lots of people around the PF blogosphere have written about experiences being worth spending more money on compared to things, and I completely agree. I think living on my own would count as an experience worth spending a little more on.
What is your living situation and how do you feel about? If you live on your own, is it everything it’s cracked up to be? Do you get lonely or do you just get a fish and start to talk to it?
My roommate, T, left for Sweden last night. I could have been sitting next to him on the plane, but instead I’m sitting here at my desk.
It was about six months ago, when he first asked me if I wanted to go with him. My first instinct was to say no because we all know trips to Europe aren’t cheap. T probably knew that my inclination was to say no, so he sweetened the deal by informing me that his cousin was living there and would be happy to provide a place to stay. It would still be expensive, but that was one major expense out of the way. Another swaying factor was that T didn’t have anyone else to go with.
It’s not like he gave me puppy-dog eyes, but I had heard that he didn’t have anyone else to go with. Here’s some background: T is Swedish, he took Swedish in college and he’s sort of all-around enamored with the place. (I don’t think he’d mind if he found a girl there, either). Anyway, I felt slightly obligated to participate in the trip because it seemed as if it might not happen if I didn’t. I’m not inclined to let my friends (or even my feelings) push me into spending a couple thousand dollars on a European vacation, but that wasn’t the only factor. I do like to travel, I do love Europe, I am part Swedish…all of these played a part in me saying: Yes, I’ll go with you. Because we have free lodging. Because I miss Europe. Because you have no one else to go with. I will create a travel fund and begin saving now.
One month after this talk, he asked if it would be OK if his sister came along; something had happened that she could now go (he had asked her before). I don’t know his sister very well, but I’m sure she’s very nice and we would have no trouble getting along. However, this instantly took away those feelings that I had to go with him so he wouldn’t be alone and it also made me feel as if I would be the third-wheel. I began to ride the fence and declared myself a maybe.
T is a free-spender as is his sister (granted, she can afford to be). I began to think that a trip planned by the three of us might start to be more expensive than I was willing to participate in. Even though we had free lodging (it turns out it was only for a couple of days), the plans for the rest of the trip were to stay in pretty nice hotels and eat at pretty nice restaurants. The overall trip wasn’t an expense I could justify at this point in my life. So I decided that I was out and he would go with his sister.
But cost wasn’t the only deciding factor. I’m not dying to go to Sweden. I’m sure it’s a lovely country and I will get to Scandinavia someday to explore my roots, but right now, it’s not at the top of my list. Thinking of where I would like to go has got me thinking of priorities and I’ve come to the conclusion that I have somewhat of a delayed travel plan.
Which leads to some deeper thoughts; please bare with me here. Sometimes I like to think that I’m holding off on my world travels until I find someone that I really want to travel with, i.e. my future wife. I know that traveling with friends or on my own is fun; I’ve done it plenty and will again. But I can’t help thinking that it would be a better (and what do I mean by better? I’m not sure) experience if I was traveling to a place I truly wanted to visit (not just cause my friends were going there) with someone I truly love (not that I don’t love my friends) and if I wasn’t that worried about the money.
Wouldn’t I rather save now and be able to take a really great trip someday rather than scrimping while on vacation because I didn’t have the money to do the trip justice in the first place? I remember the last time I was in Europe when I was a poor college student and I wasted the smallest amounts of my limited time in Europe by looking for the cheapest postcards I could find. How dare I spend 50 cents on a postcard when there might be one for 35 cents around the corner? What was I doing spending my time shopping for a postcard of a cathedral anyway, when the cathedral was just up the street? If I had it to do over again, I’d do that part differently.
All that to say, as savers, aren’t we a bit of risk-takers? Are we denying some instant gratification now to hopefully be gratified in the future? That’s the point, I suppose. But we’re not guaranteed that future - does that bother anyone else? It’s a risk, but a calculated one, I guess. Yes, the odds are with us that we will survive to retirement or whenever and then we will have the last laugh. They say youth is wasted on the young; are they right? Will I have the vitality to travel the world when I’m retired? How hard is it to even think about retirement when you’re in your twenties? Do you ever feel weird because you just got into the workforce and you’re already considering your exit plan while your friends are out spending their paychecks like there’s no tomorrow?
And further: if we’re savers now, won’t we always be? How will we know when we’ve saved enough? When will we start our spending? For me personally, I have no idea. That bothers me. I don’t like not knowing.
Does anyone else think about this stuff???
When another friend heard that I had backed out on Sweden, she asked T if she could go. I know basically how much she makes and how much she complains about not having any money so I was surprised that she could just up and consider a trip across the world. T basically asked her straight up how she could afford to go and this is what she said:
My philosophy is to take these chances when they come. When I get older, I’ll have a family and won’t have the opportunity or the money to take trips like this. I don’t have the money right now either, but I’ll worry about that later.
That’s pretty much exactly the opposite of my plan. I’m trying to save and invest as much as I can now and put my money to work so I can retire and have both the money and opportunity to travel wherever and whenever I want. All I have to do is make it to retirement…and hopefully, an early retirement at that. If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you know about compound interest and the idea that the earlier you save the better off you are. Do we take our financial knowledge for granted? Do you think this is an overall concept that people my age (20s) just don’t have a clue about? I think that might be the case with my friend. Or maybe she’s just completely different than me. Different strokes for different folks, right? I guess it all comes down to priorities.
Wow, this post is all over the place. All apologies. I’ve just been thinking about a lot today as T touches down in Sweden and I deposit money in my retirement account.
On a complete aside: I really, really like this song. A lot.
But I’m bummed their little snippet doesn’t have any words!
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