Some Me Time

It was a hard decision and there was a lot of flip flopping, but Beau and I both agreed that I go on maternity 6 weeks before my due date.

That may not seem like a big decision to many but for someone like me it is.  Because first I'm not good with being idle.  Second, taking maternity early means going back to work early equals less time with baby.  Third, that is 6 weeks of getting a full time pay check I'd be giving up.

But given my work load and the stress at work, we thought it would be best for baby and me to take some mommy time.  Example of how crazy it is at work, I'm a week away from leaving and I've just been given 2 new top priority projects on top of my ongoing projects.  We are getting 3 new hires to replace me, and only one of them started this week.  Another one will start next week.  The third one my boss is writing an offer for so I won't even be here when he starts.  I had to schedule water breaks so I don't get dehydrated (cause of my 3 last kidney stone attacks - kind of a funny story which I'd like to blog about when I have the free time :)

Also, I don't intend to be sitting around doing nothing during this mommy time.  First thing I will do (after I catch up on sleeping) is to plan my days and some projects.  Stay tuned

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PMP Certification Preparations

A month seems like a long time until you have an exam to prepare for.  I've been putting lots of hours of studying,, and as a little break I thought I would blog about my exam preparation and the cost of it.

I signed up for a Project Management Institute (PMI) membership, and it has saved me quite a bit of money and time in preparing for the exam.

First off, there is a different cost for the exam for members than non-members of PMI.  So I already made my PMI membership dues back in terms of discount for the exam.

Secondly, with the PMI membership I get a digital copy of the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge).  This saves me $40-$70 depending on where you buy the book from.  The great thing about it is that I can load it onto my iPad and read whenever I have a free moment.  And I can search/look up any topic quickly.

Thirdly, with the PMI membership I have access I have access to the E-reads and Reference section of the website, where there are great books I can use for free.  While I have lots of books marked for reading later, the ones most useful to me are the Exam Prep and Sample questions.

Something that I did 'splurge' on is Rita Mulcahy's PMP exam Prep book (~$100) and her FastTrack Program ($300).  But I have heard great things about it, and so far I find reading this book a lot easier than the PMBOK.  The PMBOK is more of the facts, where as this book is more of an explanation of why.  The FastTrack is just lots of exam questions, which I can take in a simulated exam format and then review each answer with explanations.

All in all preparation is not cheap, but it will be worth it in the end.  I'm going to save all the receipts and ask my accountant if there is anything I can write off for taxes.  I think the membership dues yes, but not sure about the others.  But it's good to save them now, rather than having to search for them next year.

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PMP Certification

Earlier in the year, I decided to take take the steps necessary to gain my Project Management Professional designation. Of course at the time I was not expecting this to coincide with having a baby.  Now I have until Jan 2015 to pass my exam or have to go through the whole application process all over again.  Since I think the first few months with baby will be hectic, the goal is write this exam before the baby comes.

I have already taken a PMP exam preparation class as my company pays for a continual education course every year.  But I have been procrastinating about signing up for the exam.

I just booked my exam for a month from now.  Now it's really time to hunker down and study!  I've heard how much time people put into studying so I'm a little apprehensive and hope the pregnancy brain's not going to slow me down :)

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Raise time

September is raise time for my company.  However, this year I call my raise the ‘non raise’.  After a glowing review, I was told that I got 0.1% higher than the average raise in my company and the raise is comparable to the cost of living increase.  I don’t  blame my manager because he has to work within the confines of what she is given.  From what I understood you get the average raise for your team.  If you want to give someone in your team a bigger raise you will have to take that from someone else in the team.

What I take away from this?  Very little part of my raise has to do with merit.  Also, working at my company will not make me rich.    Taking into account the small percentage and inflation on the cost of living, while the raise does increase my income, that larger income probably gets me less today than how much my last year’s salary can get me last year.

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In a Month time

It's hard to believe that it's been a month since I last blogged. Things have been hectic as usual.

To update on the coworker situation. Things are better now because of a few things. Firstly my boss talked to him. He couldn't avoid it since within a week this guy made several mistakes which other people caught.

Secondly, I learnt to let go. I've learnt that I can do my best to inform him, but if he chooses to ignore my advice it's his responsibility. I also started documenting what I tell him just in case. I noticed he's very concerned about arguing that things are not his fault.

Thirdly, he's taken to ask his questions to other people. This is fine. Since it's a waste of my time to answer when he doesn't listen anyway.

Things has been pretty good since our contact seem to be minimal.

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Friday goodness

Friday morning was so hard to get out of bed. I've had a couple of late nights, and it's just been a long week overall. It took me an hour to drag out of bed. When I got to work I said today better be worth coming to work for.

Well it was. I got a bonus and a raise. Of course due to the economy this year they were both small. Still I've been told it is above the average in my group. Yay! I'm going to put $100 into the Elsa Peretti Bean necklace as a reward.

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Happenings

I've been bad with posting this week, because I've been busy. Here are a couple of things of note this week.

My coworkers from my previous job who were schedule to be laid off this summer are going through their transition training right now. I did this in August and wrote about them here, here and here. There is a part where you ask people you worked with what they think your strengths and weaknesss are. It's a good way to assess what you are good at, and important to know if you are going to use that person as a reference. So I got asked to do a couple of those. I'd recommend anyone looking for a job to do it. You may learn something new about yourself. Also, you really need to know what your references will say about you before use them as references.

Then my Senior Project Manager from the job I was at for a couple of months before I switched to my current job sent me an e-mail. I think he was trying to see if I wanted to come back as a project manager. I briefly thought about it. Because it would mean a lot more money than what I am getting now. Also, I'd be a big fish in a small pond instead of a small fish in a big pond. Only briefly though. Because my current job is the first job where I didn't learn everything I need to know within the first 2 months and spend the rest of the time being bored out of my mind. It's really important to me that I enjoy my job.

Another thing to consider is that it's a very small company. Small companies usually have cash flow limitations and it's especially hard with the current economy to get credit. I don't think I'd feel as secure.

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You got a long ways to go babe

Sometimes when I am with one group of people for so long, I lose a little perspective. Here I was thinking things are great. I have the right attitude and skills for my job. I’m doing quite well. Then chance injects someone into my normal group of people for gauging my development and makes me realize:” You’ve got a long way to go, Esme.”

We were introducing a few new processes. Both Pete (he's my age too) and I had a training session planned this week. I did mine first. It went pretty well. My power points were good, the information was just right, and I fielded a bunch of questions.

Then Pete did his yesterday. In terms of presenting we are pretty on par with each other. But his powerpoints took professional to a different level. I guess that's the difference between our backgrounds. Anyway, now I've seen and will use some of his techniques for next time.

I’m not mad, jealous or anything like that. I’m glad that I didn’t get too full of myself and realize there is more room for improvement. How scary would it be to be at the top of my game in my 20s and not learning anything more for the next 40 years?

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Resignation

I resigned first thing this morning. It was not as bad as I thought. He asked me if it's a compensation or career move. I said it's a career move. He was hoping I could stay longer, however, I explained that the other side is also pushing on start date, so we settled on two weeks. He even said that if it doesn't work out, I should consider coming back. Of course I thanked him and told him that I really liked this company and the people I work with. It was a very hard decision but the new position is more aligned with my career development.

After we talked, I put an end date on the resignation letter and sent it off. Not everyone knows yet. I won't say anything until they make an announcement.

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Next?

I woke up this morning feeling a big weight has been lifted off me. Mainly because all this thinking on whether to take the offer and negotiating hurt my head. Now I have a plan. I'm going to call the hiring manager when I get a chance today to accept the job and arrange to drop off the signed offer tomorrow. Then I will talk to my current company about leaving. I'm not sure how they will take it. Technically because we are still in probationary period, no notice need to be given. However, I want to maintain a good relationship so I will defer to them. I've made a detailed list of things I'm working on, and all necessary information to complete them, if they want me out the door immediate after I tell them. Or I've asked for a start date which will accommodate staying on for two weeks.

It's going to be a hard conversation. I really like the people around me, and I've ramped up on my job quite well in the last couple of months.

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The Offer

Apparently meet the group means getting an offer barring someone recognizing me as a stripper or something other instant disqualifying fact like that. I got the offer.

Before going in, I did some thinking regarding salary. Because it seems like that is the hiccup both from talking to the manager and my friend. Basically I had some numbers in mind to gauge whether they are low balling me, or they have tried their best to balance between their budget limitations and my range. I’ve decided that they’ve done their best in terms of salary based on a couple of things.

First, my friend told me what he got two years ago (he doesn’t know my offer). If I account for salary keeping up with inflation (I assumed 5%), my starting is a bit higher than his two years ago.

Second, they did not expect negotiations, which lead me to believe they came with their best offer. Why do I think they didn’t expect negotiations? It’s a long twisted story but take my word for it, through bits and pieces I gathered from different sources I deducted they didn’t expect negotiations. Confirmation of my deductions? My friend told me they were surprised I didn’t sign on the dotted line right after they explained the compensation package. Who does that!? Someone did.

Now benefits are a little hard to describe. Health is the better (100% instead of 80%). However, RRSP is different. Basically as a newbie it sucks compared to what I’m getting now. However, the longer I stay the better it gets, and by my second year anniversary it will be way better than what I have now. I think it’s structured to reward loyalty, makes sense.

Overall, I will be taking a cut. However, I thought long and hard, and talked to my HR friend, my friend from the company, Sis, and Dad, and decided against negotiating. They gave me a very short time to think about the offer (end of Friday), therefore, hardly any time for negotiations. If I did, it would most likely move a couple thousand at most. For that I’d anticipate several conversations with career coach and the hiring manager within the next day, all the while trying to do my job. I guess it’s the inexperienced side of me showing. I’m a person who’s pretty straight forward. All this “discreetness” in the past weeks is draining.

I like the job, and most importantly the career path it puts me on. I like the atmosphere of the company. Also, I feel they’ve given me a fair offer. Taking all this into consideration I’m going to accept the offer.

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Waiting...

By midday today, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Because with all the urgency, I expected that the job offer has been made already. Then one of my references e-mailed me to say he had just been contacted for references. Now usually he is great for a reference which is why I use him. But he said he totally blanked out but hopes I get hired anyway. I said it's alright. I'd probably blank out on a Tuesday morning after a long weekend too.

Not promising for me though. Especially when it's suppose to be really close. Fingers crossed. Hopefully I'll find out later today or tomorrow.

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Friday end of day

It’s almost end of the working day. I haven’t heard from the hiring guy yet. Given that he told me he would make a decision today, and my friend told he has to make a decision today, I have a couple of possibilities.

He’s too busy and didn’t finish checking references. Or he hasn’t been able to reach all the references (mine were all available). Decision has been delayed.

Or he made a decision and it’s not me. Now he’s waiting for the other person to get back to him about the offer before he tells me definitely I didn’t get the job.

Well, I have a full weekend ahead of me. What comes on Tuesday, I will deal with next week.

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Insight

When I first started this job, it was with the understanding that I will move onto other areas in the company. On both sides we were very clear about this. Today, another guy was being given the tour of the company. What he’s being interviewed for? I didn’t know.

Then my buddy comes over and says “Hey! Do you know this guy that got the tour? He’s from your old company.” We got to talking. And he tells me this guy applied for position x, but they (same hiring people) are trying to hire him for position y telling him he can move into position x in the future. I know they want to fill position y quickly. I also know they just hired someone for position x starting next week. Chance of that group needing another person anytime soon? Low.

Another thing. Remember when I was hired he stressed the bonus part of my compensation. I didn’t count on that because I’m use to these things not always coming through. Well, it turns out that last couple of years there have been no bonuses.

A little insight and realistic expectations of some of the things I’ve been promised I guess.

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Third Round

This morning I got a call about the downtown job. It’s down to me and another candidate for the job. I have to send in references. I contacted my references to give them a heads up and sent along the information. As I was doing that, I got another call asking what am I currently making?

I told him I’m making above X, X being $5k lower than what he named as his top range. He said this might be a little hard. However, we will see. It will be my decision to make whether I want to take the position or not.

Hmmm…. I will ask my friend about this. I don’t know if this will hurt my chances. But one way or the other I will find out soon. If I do get to an offer, I will need to call my career coach (courtesy of previous job) on what to do next. I admit I will need a little help navigating this. In fact I wonder if I haven’t made any major faux pas already.

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Second Interview

This second interview went well. From what I gather they picked three people for the second round of interviews. If that’s the case, how many do they pick for the third round? And fourth round? Oh well.

I will find out this week or at the latest next Monday if I made it to the third round. One think I wish I did was prepare for the salary question. I asked my friend and he said they won’t ask until after the offer. Well he was wrong.

I was caught a little off guard. He named a range. Based on the top end I said it was about where I was expecting too. Now that I think on it, I did not specify that I was expecting the top of the range. He may think I’m expecting the lower of that range. Then we might not be on the same page.

The top end is only about $3K more than what I make now. Although I understand that I cannot negotiate based on what I’m making now because the jobs and responsibilities are different. However, it is also a gauge of what someone at my experience level should make.

Anyway, I won’t say anything until if I get an offer. Because the point is moot until an offer is made. However, if that is the case I will need to do some research on salaries. The easiest would be to ask my friend. But talking about money with friends can be a can of worms though.

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Got a call

I got a call back for a second interview. They want me to come in Monday. I guess they are making the decision pretty soon. Monday I’m going in to meet the director of the group. Since he’s the director, his schedule is more inflexible. Meaning? I’m meeting him at 1pm. Hmmm.

I asked my friend, how many more interviews there are. If I make it through second, there would be third, and fourth.

Yikes! Oh well. No point in getting stressed ahead of myself. Just concentrate on making it through the next one.

It's going to be a little nuts next week though. I need to prepare for Monday's Interview. Tuesday I have my first test in the business class I'm taking. Wednesday I have to prepare for a training session I'm giving for 12 people Thursday. Thursday night, I'm going shopping with my friends for something to wear for big birthday bash Saturday night. Friday, I have a BBQ to go to. Saturday I'm working morning shift at the cafe so I'll have plenty of time to get ready for Saturday night. Then I've traded shifts Sunday so I could sleep in. But this means I'll be working late and having to get up early on Monday morning.

Sorry. I just wanted to get it all out at once. I feel better now. It's totally doable.

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Interview

I had expected the interview to be with the manager. Actually he called in his whole senior team. So I was in a room with five people. They were all very nice, which is promising.

Then when I got back to work I got an e-mail from my friend. He said so far it looks good and he’ll find out more later today.

Timeframe for calling people in for second interviews is end of this week so I should know soon.

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Job Opportunity

I have an interview tomorrow morning with a big company downtown. It was an internal referral. A good friend of mine works in the same group and he thought I’d be a good fit. It is in an area I actually specialized in during University (although I can’t remember much of what I studied now). What an awesome position to be in, right?

No one said anything against it. It’s an opportunity that shouldn’t be wasted. Except for my Ex. When I told him, he said I was unprofessional since I’ve only been at current job a very short time. I should at least stick it out and make a go of it.

I guess this is where we differ in thinking. He believes in company loyalty, sticking with it through thick and thin. I am pragmatic. I am very loyal to my company in that I’m dedicated to doing my job well and doing everything I can to help it succeed. I also know that if it makes better sense for them to let me go tomorrow, they will let me go. So similarly, if there is a good opportunity elsewhere for me, I will pursue that opportunity.

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Need new clothes for work

I’ve been thinking on this for awhile now. In my last job I had become very lax about my appearance. Some days I’d go in wearing jeans and fleece. No one commented on it. However, I think it reflects on how seriously (or not) I take my job.

In my new job, the role is a little different. My scope is a bit wider. I’m excited because this means I can grow. I noticed that even though others are in jeans, my group and people I consider good mentors are business casual. Taking my cue from them, I want to do the same. Nothing too fancy because it might go the other way and show that I care more about my appearance than my work.

It’s going out and shop that is a problem. Previously (Before Personal Finance), I shopped regularly and filled my closet full of things I forget to wear. Now, I have purged to bare minimums. Also, I don’t shop much for myself anymore. By this I mean I help other shop, or when I was traveling to the States, Mexico, and China, I usually had a big list of things people want me to bring back.

The thought of going out there and spending time, energy, and money picking out a new wardrobe is a little overwhelming. What happened to the days when I can spend a day and power shop through to closing time? I want a personal shopper!

I think maybe if I take it a little at a time I would be better, like aiming to get one or two new items every month.

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