Employed!

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I got a job!  Of sorts.   As of about two weeks ago I am employed again, and I am very pleased to report that I just turned in my first invoice for a grand total of nine hours worked.  Wait, what was that?  Nine hours in two weeks you may wonder… what kind of a “job” is that??     

Through an alignment of the stars, an old client of mine needed some project support and reached out to me at the same time as I had reached out to them just to see how they were doing because, through the years, we had become friends.    It all happened very quickly.   My friend put me in touch with her boss and we had a twenty minute conversation about all of the upcoming projects they have, after which he said, “Okay.. well, I think the next step is for you to provide us with a Statement of Work, and we’ll see where we want to go from there.”  While I kept very cool and professional on the call, inside a hundred questions were going through my head…”A Statement of Work for what exactly?  What is it they want me to do? How do I present this to them? How much do I charge them? I hope I have a week to work on this…”   “Can you give it to me in the next two days?” he asked, “Sure! [crap]”.     

So, for the next two evenings, after the kids were in bed and I finally had time to think quietly I put on my old work hat and drafted out a Statement of Work (SOW).   This is something I had done for my previous employer, so it wasn’t completely foreign to me, but in all honesty, it was one of the functions of the job I liked the least. I searched on the ‘interwebs’ for a template and did a little research on a few type of things to include, and then I thought back to my interactions with this old client to reflect on what services I thought they had always needed – only then, they weren’t paying me directly.    In the end, I had a five page document and at the top was “Meghan Ingle, Independent Consultant”.   My feeling when I finished that document was one of pride.  “I can do this” I thought.  “I hope they think I can do this” I thought next.

I sent the SOW over to my contact and had a follow up meeting to discuss it.  I was worried he would think I quoted too long (through September), or he’d think I’d quoted to high (to remain a secret).   But, my fears were immediately squashed when he said that I had “exactly captured the spirit of what they were looking for” (Yes! Yes!) and “let’s target the end date to be Oct. 3, but if this works out, it could be a long term engagement for both of us…” (yes! Yes! Yes!)   I hadn’t even done anything yet, and he’s already imagining extending the contract out.   That was the shot in the arm of this job hunt that I needed.  He also didn’t blink at the price quoted (shoot, should I have aimed higher?).

From there things moved very rapidly.  In fact, I have never seen a SOW approved so quickly, and two weeks later I was attending my first meeting.   The only downside to this engagement is that it is not consistent hours.   I can’t be guaranteed a certain minimum each week as it’s solely depending upon the needs of the projects and the timing of activities there.  

And here’s the best part.  They are in Chicago.  But they know that I am in San Francisco and that I do not want to travel much, and they are okay with that.  That being said, I will not turn down a trip to Chicago, and am excited to go out there for a couple of days next week.

This company has already taken such good care of me and I’m so very grateful.   They have provided me a laptop in quick haste, their help desk support was immediate and they’ve been quick to respond to my queries.  Most importantly though, and I won’t feel ashamed to say this, I feel respected for my abilities.   When I was so unceremoniously escorted from the last company, and then it has been a bit rough with the job hunt, I started to doubt my abilities.   Had I just skated by?  Was my knowledge base too narrow to apply elsewhere?  Why won’t people let me in the door for an interview??   But these guys remember working with me fondly through the years, they know I can deliver and they believe in me.  They believe in ME.  Yesterday, I received the following email from one who works there “Have I told you lately how happy that I am that you are on board!”   To be honest, she had, once before, but you know what? I’ll take that compliment again and again.  Because that just makes me want to try harder to support them and make this work out for all of us.

“Independent Consultant”…that has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?