Time Is On My Side

With 230 days left on The Project clock it looks like I'm finally going to have more hours in the day. I recently attended two job interviews and have just heard that I've been offered both positions. They're both in the same geographic area, about a 30 minute commute (as opposed to my current 3 hour daily round trip)... to my surprise, both pay more than I'm currently getting... both hold the promise of more interesting work and the real possibility of progression. Over the next day or so I have to choose between the two roles. One of them will see me acting as an external consultant which means that I need to go through the contract with a fine-tooth comb to make sure I'm not signing up for less money (VAT considerations) or more liability than I expect. Ah, the joys of self-employment!

I had wondered what I'd do if the company I'm currently contracting for offered me the option of working from home. At this time I can't imagine them bringing it to the table, though. It's also a carrot they could offer now then withdraw a few weeks or months down the line, in which case I'd be right back at zero. Do I sound cynical? Nooooo... The more likely outcome of me announcing that I'm leaving is that they'll throw money at me to try and buy me off. It's worked for them in the past, but not this time.

Thinking objectively, I reckon I need to step outside my comfort zone and make a change. It'll help me personally, professionally AND The Project will benefit. Can't really argue with that!

Interview Update 2

Interesting times!

The company that interviewed me last week just let me know they can't afford to employ me as a staff member, which was their preference (so I'd be on a tighter leash)... Would I consider a contract position at marginally more than I'm getting now instead?

In the UK, the current tax laws mean that if you play your cards right it can be more profitable to be a self-employed contractor rather than an employee. When using temporary workers, the big companies don't have to provide benefits, pay corporation tax, national insurance, sick pay and so on. Because of the money saved, they tend to pay individual workers a better hourly rate. Times they are a-changin' and that may not be the situation for long if The Tax Man gets his way. For at least the 2008-2009 tax year, though, being a contractor is worthwhile.

Contracting isn't something I'd recommend to everyone. You're basically like a trapeze artist, swinging without a net. If work dries up, you're screwed. If you get sick for any length of time then you're screwed, which is why most contractors will go into the office even if they're close to death's door. There is no 'I've got a hangover so I'm going to call in sick'. You have to work the hours to make it pay. In fact, holidays like Christmas and vacations in general can become extremely stressful as you're constantly aware that while you're not working you're not earning money for the business... oh, and unlike regular employees, you also have to actually run a business at the same time as doing the 9 to 5.

The flip side is that you're not tied down and if a better offer comes along you can easily move around. As such, when the market's strong contract rates tend to be high. I've been contracting on and off for about two thirds of my working life. It's something I'm comfortable with.

So, would I consider another contract role, closer to home, for more money? Would I heck?!?

The only thing that stopped me from saying 'yes, when can I start' was that I have an interview lined up with another company, again in Central London, tomorrow morning. I don't like going through the interview process but I'm feeling much more comfortable about the one tomorrow knowing that I already have a decent offer in my back pocket.

As seems to be the way right now, The Project news is scant. Life stuff has been getting in the way. Right now I'm strongly drawn to the idea of going back to basics and writing a blues and a rock song. Most stuff I've been coming up with has been pop, which isn't where I want to be. I get such a kick out of playing Red loud and raw, though. That's where my heart lies.

What I don't want to be is derivative. That's kind of why I'm considering doing 8 bar blues stuff. In the odd half hour gap that I've been managing to grab for practice I've been playing over pre-fab backing tracks such as those on IG BLOG or Dolphin Street. Check them out. Some fun stuff in lots of different keys. Oh, and there's also some decent stuff on Riffeo.

Interview Upate

Got about 15 minutes into the interview and they offered me the job!!!! Apparently my 'rep' preceded me. We'll see how much they want to pay, I guess. Usually when they're that amenable it means that they're throwing peanuts at the monkey...

Afterwards, I shook the interviewer's hand and said I'd look forward to hearing their offer. 25 minutes later I was home. And that was including a stop to chat with one of the local shopkeepers!

Something tells me that my 3 hour commute is going to seem really long tomorrow.

Interview Day

So, as I mentioned in a previous entry I've been considering whether changing jobs would be a realistic way to create more time for myself, not just because of The Project, but to help reset my work-life balance. To that end I put some feelers out and lined up an interview for this afternoon. If I took the job, my commute would reduced by up to 2 hours a day.

As I arrived at work this morning, all my co-workers noted that I was wearing a shirt... and trousers. No, I don't work at a nudist colony! Normally I'm a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy, even though 'my look' falls waaaay short of the corporate minimum dress code. For whatever reason, The Man cuts me some slack and looks the other way. Hey, it's their fault for introducing Casual Fridays back in the 90's. Fridays bled into Mondays, then Tuesdays and before I knew it my office clothes were moth-fodder.

Any road up, I made an effort to dress nicely today. I even have a necktie in my bag, believe it or not! I'm not sure that I remember how to tie one, but I'll give it a go.

I'll admit that I'm not putting too much weight on the interview today. Yes, the location of the office is good but it'd most likely mean a significant pay cut and the work would be no different. In the back of my mind was the possibility that I could use another job offer as a bargaining chip with my current employer and finangle working from home one or two days a week. Once I had my foot in the door I could justify only commuting when strictly necessary. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?

Then came today's surprise! Out of the blue I got an email from an old friend. We go way back. We first worked together during my gap year, between school and university. I think it's safe to say we hold each other in high esteem.

So, I get this email from him, asking me whether I'd be interested in working at his company's new office, which is just round the corner from where I'm being interviewed today! I let him know what's going on and he strongly urged me not to make any rash decisions. He's going to see what he can do to set up a meeting with his firm as soon as possible.

Hey, it's nice to be wanted, eh? What's gonna happen? Dunno. Watch this space!

In Project news, I was going to take the weekend off, to celebrate the first sunshine of the year. The lure of strumming whilst catching some rays was too strong, though.

I took the basic chord structure from my current work-in-progress, "Your Own Time", and laid it right back, plucking and slapping the strings rather than strumming. I'd just recorded enough to loop and jam over when a) our neighbour started mowing her yard, rendering recording pointless and b) I got a video conference call from Oscar the cat! Okay, so it was actually from Tim, who had discovered our errant moggie attempting to lay claim to one of the local community gardens and decided I should see what he was up to. I imagine that in the cat world, 'Scar probably owns everything in a 5 mile radius by now.