A past decision you’re thankful for.

Changing jobs.

In 2010, I was moderately unhappy in my job. Moreover, I was overworked and underpaid. The backstory… I had come back from maternity leave and told my job had been given to my replacement. Instead, I was being promoted! Better money and I’d be doing the I had been doing (managing projects) at all four of our sites. Project Coordinator, with the possibility of earning my designation of Project Management Professional. I started back and SLAM. A raise, but much, much, much less than I was promised. Considerably more stress, I was traveling site to site, and the hours were long. Almost as long as before my mat leave and now I had a little boy at home who was more important than some job – even in my chosen field.

So, I started to look for a different job – more as a bargaining chip than to actually move. Something came up at the local University in the Facilities department. While it was a different department, the job one of my good friend’s had done so I picked her brain about it.

On a whim, I decided to apply. It was a junior position, but it was a foot in the door and since I wasn’t really looking, it was my bargaining chip. The starting salary was $13K above what I was making in my “senior” position, benefits were comparable but I’d lose a week’s holiday. I got an interview (which I thought I’d completely tanked). Imagine my surprise when they offered me the job!

In the meantime, I’d learned my replacement – and my junior – was making more money then I was! He was a man – when I took it to my union, I was told “The employer can pay whatever they chose.” This was the final straw. I accepted the position.

When I tendered my resignation, my manager was dumbstruck. He wanted to know why! I explained my reasoning and he said he would have human resources go back out to market and reevaluate my position. They had two weeks – we would see what they could come up with.

I couldn’t believe I was going to leave. I liked my job, I really did. There were aspects of it I didn’t like, of course. I was also terrified – what was I getting into?

My work place came back with a very lucrative offer. They had short changed me, a mistake had been made, they told me. Now they were offering $20K above what the new position paid. What to do, what to do?!

I chose to leave, and for a time, I believed it to be an immense mistake. The new job was awful. Boring, unchallenging, and I fell into a depression. But I stuck with it and less than a year in, an opening came up for a project coordinator! By then, I’d made contacts in other departments and with my previous experience, I was an easy fit.

Change is hard and making that decision to move was a difficult one. That first year, there were days I questioned myself and the decision. But when I got in to the new position, I knew I had make the right choice!

Post inspired by 30 Days of Gratitude by Ordinary & Happy