And the Hunt Begins

I applied for 5 jobs today and it's exhausting already. All the time spent building my resume and cover letters. Getting my profiles set up on LinkedIn and Monster. Combing the job boards and Craigslist. Daily. For multiple keyword searches. Saving job postings and rereading them later. Then tailoring each cover letter to the specific job.

Very thankful that we had dinner out with a friend tonight and I didn't have to plan dinner and cook tonight.

Scoob's early retirement window closes tomorrow and we've been arguing. You see, he has the option to rescind his application until the close of business tomorrow, and he's second guessing himself. The fact that this program is voluntary kind of sucks—it makes it feel like he's laying himself off, but he wouldn't even be considering it if he didn't feel backed into a corner with these lay offs, yet no one can give him any assurances.

His current boss told him he should look into it, which as far as I'm concerned is code for "Buddy, a storm's a brewin' and you better take advantage of this." And his previous boss is telling him she thinks she can get him transferred back to her team. But the previous boss said this yesterday, and he only has until the end of the day Friday to rescind—I'm very doubtful that she can get the requisition order she would need on such short notice. And even if she could, she doesn't have the budget to pay him what he's been making. But then again there's no guarantee he will find another job around here at that salary, either.

Everything just got stressful real fast.

I had asked him a few days ago, before the previous boss reached out to him, what he wanted to do—what did his gut or heart tell him he should do? And he said "Take the early retirement." Then this evening he brings up the option the previous boss has proposed and now he's back to debating all the options. Again.

Folks, this is way worse than deciding which vacuum cleaner to buy. (In case you don't remember, that debate/process took about a year.)

Anyhow, I've been doing my best to help him look at his options from different perspectives. I thought I was helping; turns out all I've done is stress him out and add to his confusion. And because I've been playing devil's advocate with regards to each option, he's convinced I will be unhappy with whatever he does.

All I want is for him to choose the option that will make him most happy (or, as he puts it, least miserable) and commit to it. If he decides to ride it out with his current boss and gets laid off 6 months from now, I don't want him to kick himself for not taking the early retirement. If he switches teams to go back to work for his old boss and gets laid off, or ends up working for a lower salary, I want him to be okay with that. If he takes the early retirement, I don't want him to be constantly undermining himself with "what if."

I just want him to consider his options, make a decision, accept his decision, and move forward. And know that I will stand beside him, support him, and be happy with him. No matter what.

Well, unless he invests in some hair-brained pyramid scam. Then we're going to have words!