Choice

I think I have an offer.

I had my interview with Papa Murphy's this morning. I met with the boss' boss and his colleague. They seemed very nice. Then they brought me back to meet with the manager again and he was talking like I was in the role: "you'll want to meet with this person, you could do that, etc." It felt like I was it. Then they took me to HR. The woman cut to the chase. She said,

so the job was posted at this amount, but we want to know how much it would take to get you because we don't want to lose you. we don't want you to get an offer from another company in a year that's more money and end up losing you.

So, I put it on the table. I said how much I wanted - still less than my Nike salary by a good bit, but quite a bit more than Volunteers of America and who the hell knows what PSU is going to pay, but more than that.

Then I told her that I would like to work 9 hour days and have every other Friday off. I said that I realized that it's probably not realistic for the position, at least not at first, but that would be a big incentive for me.

So she said she was going to talk to everyone and get it sorted out and get back to me today.

She didn't.

That's OK, I figure I put her on the spot by asking for $15,000 more than what the job was posted for and the rest. But, if they want the honest truth, that's what it would take to get me at this point. They're not the only offer on the table.

One of my references told me that Volunteers of America called him yesterday and that PSU called him today. Another reference told me Volunteers of America called her today (which I knew because i accidentally gave them the wrong number and had to call with the right one!).

I'm trying to remember whether in all my years of hiring if I ever called more than one person's references. It almost always was just calling the person I was offering. I don't think it was ever between two people and so I called both references.

So, if that train of thinking is correct, I believe I should be getting offers from both.

Then, at 4:50pm I missed a call on my cell phone. I checked my phone at 5:30 (I had been playing dinosaur attack in the basement) and it was Volunteers of America saying she really wanted to talk to me. I could call her back in the next 10 minutes (which had passed) or call on Monday.

So, I am thinking Monday is going to be an interesting day.

I feel literally cramped about the whole situation. How do I choose. As I sat in the Papa Murphy's interview, I thought, hey, this would be kinda cool, I like this place, I like the people, it would be easy for me to make a huge impact immediately and then just grow and learn about marketing and communications. I could do this job and be happy.

But that's how I felt about PSU.

And I totally felt that with VOA.

So which do I choose?

VOA is the job that I would like the best. It would have writing in it, I would love the people, I would be proud of my work and love what I was doing. I would be challenged. I would be close enough to come home at lunch and put dinner in the crock pot.

But I don't know if we'd be able to pay all our bills. I would be paying almost $1000 a MONTH for insurance, which takes the already low salary down another $10K when you figure that in.

PSU is a job that would be fine. Not thrilling, not necessarily challenging once I learned it, just kind of crunching numbers, supervising a staff and dealing with the administrative side of a university department. They still have a christmas tree up in a lobby. But i realized if i looked past the tree and looked past the bare penitentiary-white walls, that the people were OK and the university setting was great. I had lunch downtown after the interview and was serenaded by a wandering musician - and he was great. I didn't have any cash, so I gave him a card for a free cup of coffee that had been long forgotten in my wallet. It was wonderful. And it would be amazing benefits. Amazing. And it's a state job which would open me up to all sorts of potential opportunities.

Then there's Papa Murphy's. I would like the job fine, but it's also the job I've been doing for the past ten years, just in a difference place. I would do fine with it, and quickly, once I got a handle on the group, I could branch out and get into other parts of the business. I could work my way up there quickly, i think.

Maybe the reason all the jobs sound appealing is because I am just ready for a job. I'm ready to contribute. But to what?

I guess I just have to hear what all the offers are and type them into my spreadsheet and then choose. It'll probably be like how I order something at a restaurant. i pick two or three things off the menu, not sure of what I want and then I don't think about it. When the waitress comes to take our order, whatever pops out of my mouth then is what i get, and it's usually the right choice. I am thinking it'll go something like that.