There’s this strange, liminal space that happens while looking for a new job. And I’m deep in it now. Offers are finally starting to come in. But so are replies to opportunities that I got excited about in the early stages of my search. Obviously, these are good — and privileged — problems to have, but I’m finding that I don’t really know how to approach finding the right decision. The idiom “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” keeps popping into my mind, and I feel like that logic is weighing heavily into my decision. And I just don’t know what to do.
Part of this decision paralysis is on account of my fear of making mistakes. But what really qualifies as a mistake in this instance? Let’s say I pick the “wrong” job. What does that even mean? Knowing that I’m really the only one making the judgment, I’m at a loss for how I’m even grading myself. I can compare pros and cons, but as the impending deadline of no more paychecks looms, isn’t the “right” choice the first offer you get? Again, I know what a luxury it is to have multiple offers, but that deadline also means that there were questions which went unasked during the interview process. And not knowing those answers may lead to regretting my decision. Which, I guess, then means I made the wrong one. Right?
I would love to be able to quiz my potential new managers more about how they think about career development and learn more about their management styles. All I hear in my head, however, is that ticking clock, counting down the seconds until I’m officially without income. I’ve been lucky to pursue new opportunities without this pressure in the past. But the job searches I remember most are the ones which came right down to the wire, and I had to balance my ability to negotiate with my need for a more immediate start date. If I look back at the summer of 2015 as an example, I had two offers to lead content strategy teams in hand when I finally got an offer from Twitter. It was the one I really wanted, but I know it stunted my career growth. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of almost every piece of work I was part of there, but content strategy at Twitter was not a real discipline yet. There was no career ladder. No appreciation for the craft from other teams. No real understanding of what we did and how we could help. The three of us, at the time, helped establish all those things. And more. Those factors led to being years and years away from a promotion, however. And now, I think, I’m paying for that.
There are a ton more nuances to that situation, and a pretty long story about the first job I took right after leaving Twitter where I only stayed for 29 days. For now, though, I have a lot of thinking to do. And options to consider. And, also, bills to pay. With less than ten of these posts left scheduled to be published, I assume I’ll have a decision before these end. At least I hope so.
Twin Tower
24 March 2023
Trying to make heads or tails of it.
There’s this strange, liminal space that happens while looking for a new job. And I’m deep in it now. Offers are finally starting to come in. But so are replies to opportunities that I got excited about in the early stages of my search. Obviously, these are good — and privileged — problems to have, but I’m finding that I don’t really know how to approach finding the right decision. The idiom “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” keeps popping into my mind, and I feel like that logic is weighing heavily into my decision. And I just don’t know what to do.
Part of this decision paralysis is on account of my fear of making mistakes. But what really qualifies as a mistake in this instance? Let’s say I pick the “wrong” job. What does that even mean? Knowing that I’m really the only one making the judgment, I’m at a loss for how I’m even grading myself. I can compare pros and cons, but as the impending deadline of no more paychecks looms, isn’t the “right” choice the first offer you get? Again, I know what a luxury it is to have multiple offers, but that deadline also means that there were questions which went unasked during the interview process. And not knowing those answers may lead to regretting my decision. Which, I guess, then means I made the wrong one. Right?
I would love to be able to quiz my potential new managers more about how they think about career development and learn more about their management styles. All I hear in my head, however, is that ticking clock, counting down the seconds until I’m officially without income. I’ve been lucky to pursue new opportunities without this pressure in the past. But the job searches I remember most are the ones which came right down to the wire, and I had to balance my ability to negotiate with my need for a more immediate start date. If I look back at the summer of 2015 as an example, I had two offers to lead content strategy teams in hand when I finally got an offer from Twitter. It was the one I really wanted, but I know it stunted my career growth. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of almost every piece of work I was part of there, but content strategy at Twitter was not a real discipline yet. There was no career ladder. No appreciation for the craft from other teams. No real understanding of what we did and how we could help. The three of us, at the time, helped establish all those things. And more. Those factors led to being years and years away from a promotion, however. And now, I think, I’m paying for that.
There are a ton more nuances to that situation, and a pretty long story about the first job I took right after leaving Twitter where I only stayed for 29 days. For now, though, I have a lot of thinking to do. And options to consider. And, also, bills to pay. With less than ten of these posts left scheduled to be published, I assume I’ll have a decision before these end. At least I hope so.
See you tomorrow?