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23,457 Posts
I don't quite know what to do.
I got a call on Saturday from my old boss - the company previous to the one I was just laid off from. I had worked for this environemental consulting firm from 1992 to 2002, when I was laid off with no notice, no warning, nothing. It was a complete shock. I had formed friendships there and have maintained them, mainly through emails. Once a year I drop in and visit.
Seems the admin (that I trained) that they kept on when they let me go is pregnant and due in September. They want to bring someone in part-time for part of the summer, then to cover full-time while Lori is off for at least two months. There is a *slight* chance this could turn into a permanent, full-time position if they get the work they think is coming. We all know how that goes. It's a huge IF.
Cons:
1) It's 40 miles each way on I-275 and I-696, two of the busiest and craziest highways in Michigan. On a good day, I can make the drive there in less than an hour. Barely. Typical drive-home time is 90 minutes plus. I've been rear-ended twice on that drive, and gotten two speeding tickets.
2) It is a very stressful job. The company tests and cleans soil and groundwater, their product is the actual reports, documents, articles, etc. generated by the testing and cleaning of a site. I would be responsible for proofreading, editing, formatting, copying, and binding these reports, etc., including large spreadsheets of data. There is usually a drop-dead deadline for them to be delivered and I would often have less than two days. They are written by engineers, PhDs, and project managers that are prima donnas and do not like 'their work' changed and they NEVER make mistakes.
3) They also tend to drop last-minute deadlines on your desk that have to get out that day - and they go home to their families while you stay and work on their project. They like to demand that you stop what you are doing to work on their project. All of this I did for ten years, stroking egos and still standing firm that nothing goes out without a review and edit process. N-o-t-h-i-n-g.
4) There is a new office in Canada, set up for a certain client that has to have all reports done in a specific format. This would be totally new to me. I would have to learn their idiosyncracies and conform to them.
5) They have already let me go once.
6) I don't know what this would do to my unemployment. If they can't pay me more than I would make by staying home, plus cover my gas, then there isn't even a question.
Pros:
1) I like (most of) the people there.
2) It is mostly a known system, albeit I am almost 7 years rusty. Not as big a learning curve as a new job would be, and the environment is familiar and comfortable.
Thoughts, suggestions? I am going to call the unemployment office to find out how much I can earn before I lose my benefits. Tried today but the lines were too busy.
I got a call on Saturday from my old boss - the company previous to the one I was just laid off from. I had worked for this environemental consulting firm from 1992 to 2002, when I was laid off with no notice, no warning, nothing. It was a complete shock. I had formed friendships there and have maintained them, mainly through emails. Once a year I drop in and visit.
Seems the admin (that I trained) that they kept on when they let me go is pregnant and due in September. They want to bring someone in part-time for part of the summer, then to cover full-time while Lori is off for at least two months. There is a *slight* chance this could turn into a permanent, full-time position if they get the work they think is coming. We all know how that goes. It's a huge IF.
Cons:
1) It's 40 miles each way on I-275 and I-696, two of the busiest and craziest highways in Michigan. On a good day, I can make the drive there in less than an hour. Barely. Typical drive-home time is 90 minutes plus. I've been rear-ended twice on that drive, and gotten two speeding tickets.
2) It is a very stressful job. The company tests and cleans soil and groundwater, their product is the actual reports, documents, articles, etc. generated by the testing and cleaning of a site. I would be responsible for proofreading, editing, formatting, copying, and binding these reports, etc., including large spreadsheets of data. There is usually a drop-dead deadline for them to be delivered and I would often have less than two days. They are written by engineers, PhDs, and project managers that are prima donnas and do not like 'their work' changed and they NEVER make mistakes.
3) They also tend to drop last-minute deadlines on your desk that have to get out that day - and they go home to their families while you stay and work on their project. They like to demand that you stop what you are doing to work on their project. All of this I did for ten years, stroking egos and still standing firm that nothing goes out without a review and edit process. N-o-t-h-i-n-g.
4) There is a new office in Canada, set up for a certain client that has to have all reports done in a specific format. This would be totally new to me. I would have to learn their idiosyncracies and conform to them.
5) They have already let me go once.
6) I don't know what this would do to my unemployment. If they can't pay me more than I would make by staying home, plus cover my gas, then there isn't even a question.
Pros:
1) I like (most of) the people there.
2) It is mostly a known system, albeit I am almost 7 years rusty. Not as big a learning curve as a new job would be, and the environment is familiar and comfortable.
Thoughts, suggestions? I am going to call the unemployment office to find out how much I can earn before I lose my benefits. Tried today but the lines were too busy.