Diary of a Job Hopper: The Search is On

In recent weeks I've gone from being content with a safe-but-boring job to wanting something new.  I'm going to take this post to think out loud about it.

The backstory is here...out of nowhere a Hot Startup contacted me on LinkedIn about a job and then the next week a former coworker recommended me for a position at her new company, a "less hot" startup that I'm calling Player 2.  At the same time, my current work situation went from safe-but-boring to "OMG get me out of here".

Where Things Stand Since We Last Talked

Hot Startup: Left me hanging for over a week before telling me that they went with another candidate.

Player 2: I had a decent conversation with a Big Cheese Manager.  They finally asked what my compensation expectations are and I gave them my dream number and didn't get a no.  They've scheduled another interview for next week.

• The Big Red Flag about Player 2 is that 96% of their employees are in office and as the Big Cheese put it "we just want to be That Company that has an in office presence.  By the way, are you open to relocating?"  I gave her a firm thumbs down but said that I would be happy to make the occasional trip out there if needed.  I also mentioned how great the communication is in my current job where the rest of my team is in another country and in person is not an option. 
• In recent days employees have posted negative reviews on Glassdoor.
  
• So far there is nothing about Player 2 that is really flipping my skirt up but I'll keep talking to them.  The anti-remote thing really sticks in my craw.
  

My current job: 

• Good: I had a quarterly review and got a thumbs up.  As I've mentioned previously, I really like my boss and my boss's boss.  The work life balance and the benefits are excellent.
  
• Bad (but funny): Remember the HR Bigwig who had a meltdown on me?  Since then her boss did the same thing on a larger scale.  On the one hand it wasn't directed at me, and it was so ridiculous that it was all that I could do not to burst out laughing, but...this is not normal.  
• Also Bad: in general our employees are not happy.  I mean if HR is disgruntled what does that say about the rest of the company?  I know that turnover is high everywhere but holy cannoli some days I feel like all I do is process terminations and it's not a large company.
  
• My Plan A for this job was to stay a year to make me look like less of a job hopper and to become  eligible for company stock.  But it seems like I'm getting interviews just fine with my short tenure and the stock alone isn't enough of a reason.
  

What's Happening Now

 

It's all very fine and well that two companies came to me with job opportunities at the same time that my current job is unraveling and/or getting super boring.  Hot Startup looked promising and it's possible that something will come out of Player 2...but the better course of action is clearly for me to get off my butt and start doing this for myself.  Yep, the job search is on and resumes have been sent out.

 

The kind of work that I do is very niche so there aren't a million opportunities, but there are enough.  It may take a few months or it may take a year to find what I'm looking for, but rest assured that you'll be hearing all of the juicy details here on the ol' blog.  And more importantly, I need to write all of this out to keep myself honest that my next move is a good one and not a compromise to get out of my current situation.

What Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up?

 

I don't want to move into just another jobby job.  If I did I might just as well stay where I am.  All along I've had some ideas floating in my head about what my next job would look like and I took the time to write it out:

• Same title, doing exactly what I do now
• My dream number for base salary.  I make close to the dream number now if you add up my base, bonus, and stock options...I just want it upfront on each paycheck, and it's normal in my industry to get bonus/stock options on top of that.  I learned during my job search last year that it's possible to make 50% less than I do now all the way up to $20k more than my dream number.  And yes, I did get one offer last year for the dream number so I know it can happen.
  
• Unlimited PTO
  
• Best Place to Work (BPTW) mentality.  My last company had that and I really miss it.
  
• Remote friendly (ideally located out of state)
  
• Work life balance: work hours are compatible with my time zone and no expectation of working more than a 40 hour week
  
• What the company does needs to be exciting.  Hot Startup fit the bill, my current company and Player 2 do not.  No weird industries (specifically crypto and weed are out)
  
• Awesome supervisor
• Awesome coworkers
  

Let's chart it out...here is how my previous job (back when I loved it before corporate turned the company into garbage), my current job, and the two contenders stack up:

Wait Haven't You Done This Before?

Why yes I have.  Here are my job search stats from March to August of last year, not counting the oopsie job that I took last July. 

Jobs applied to: over 300 (this number will be much lower this time around since I'm being pickier about what I will apply to)

Companies interviewed with: 12

Job offers: 3 (I rejected two and accepted one.)

Companies that I fell in love with that met all of my criteria (neither of which I got an offer from): 2

 

My stats so far for 2022

 

Jobs applied to: 8 (clarification: I've applied to 6 and 2 came to me)

Companies interviewed with: 2

Job offers: 0 

Companies that I fell in love with that met all of my criteria: technically 0 but Hot Startup came pretty dang close.

Alright friends, that's the scoop.  I am keeping my head down and embracing the good parts of my job while applying to new jobs as they come up.  I'll keep you posted on how this turns out.

Give me the dirt: what's on the list for your ideal job?  Any good job hunting stories to share???