I finally got a job offer in Richmond! It's a software engineering position at a great firm that has offered to train me in the latest technologies (Java/.Net). I'll give more details as I get them. Not sure if I should advertise the place - I try to keep a separation between this blog and my career. Suffice to say, it's mostly a good deal (big raise, just lose some leave time - going from 20 days / year to 17).
UPDATE: I'm 95% sure I'm going to accept the position. The only thing I need to get clear on is the training issue. They are giving me a raise over what I'm making now, but they said that if I get certified in MS .NET or Sun Java they'll give me an additional $3k. I'm almost certain they will pay for the certification, but I need to make sure since it's not cheap. So probably what I'll do is give my future boss an answer next week sometime, then give my notice. I've even considered taking a week off between jobs and maybe going somewhere with Tasha - we'll see. I also need to make sure that I can get time off around the wedding - Matt has offered us a place at his family's beach house in Nags Head if we want to stay there the week after the wedding and before the Austin City Limits Music Festival (which will be our interim honeymoon).
I'm kind of curious how my current boss will react to my departure. On the one hand, he's given me pretty shitty raises and I'm dissatisfied with my work or the way the department is going. I used to have a friend here who got offered $10k to not leave - pretty much because she had nice boobs (open secret around the office: my boss has exerted questionable pressure on the fair ladies of the office). On the other hand, I'm the only person who vaguely knows what I'm doing with our main project/budget management software, and they really can't afford to lose me. But I'm surprised they haven't tried harder to keep me. Part of me says he won't care I'm leaving because I'm not a sexy female, but the other part says he'll offer me a huge raise. It would have to be pretty damn big, though - and it's not even about the money; it's about the training and new skills with which the position in Richmond would provide me. This doesn't even count the level of respect that they've extended me both in their offer (I get a cut of intellectual property profits I develop while I work there), extensive focus on growing smart not fast, and basically giving me a chance to prove myself based on my abilities and not on having the "latest skills". I'm grateful that my current job hired me without even having a degree yet, but I think I outgrew the position probably 1.5 - 2 years into it and it's high time I left. I'm just sick of the bureaucracy and complacency, and my career needs a kick in the ass.
I know it's bad form to comment about your job on blogs, but my boss is kind of an ass and I'll be glad to put him on the spot. The only person I hope I don't disappoint is my immediate supervisor, who is really sweet and whom I'm going to miss. But I'm sure she'll understand, since she's not selfish and realizes that I'm overqualified for the work I'm doing now.
Anyway, so we're talking about where in Richmond to move to - our friend Sara lives in an apartment that has lots of vacancies now and is pretty nice, so we might move there. It's close to where I will be working, too. That will give us a nice outpost to start the process of looking for a house.
As far as Tasha's career, she seems very willing to set up a studio where she can do a lot of work in the apartment, and go to Mathews a day or two a week to use the studio. It cuts down her driving immensely, so it should work out well for both of us. Once we get a house she can start the process of building her own studio and doing everything at home. Bottom line: this is a really good career move for us both.
Hats off to Matt, who encouraged me not to give up hope in my job search, and who pointed me to the job search engine that paid off! Thanks, buddy.
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