In Other News
After taking on additional responsibilities for work back in October that were previously the workload of a Senior Accountant, I finally got my annual review (due back in March) and a promotion to Senior Accountant.
Since the company I'm with is in financial straights, Robert Half agreed to make the new contract rate effective 30days later, although it was more like 30+ because they couldn't start it in the middle of a week for some reason regarding how their payroll systems are set up.
In the meantime, I was backdated a regular pay increase that didn't account for the promotion increase and given a "referral bonus" to offset my pay to make up for the promotion increase. The referral bonus is paid quarterly, and although it was also backdated to March, it didn't go into effect until Q3, so I don't receive a penny of it until Q4.
I also agreed to stick with this contract at a lower billable rate with the bonus continuing to make up the difference, again because RH is trying to not bill too much to the struggling company. However, if at any time I wish, they say they could easily deploy me to another contract at my official pay rate asking amount, which would mean not having to wait for a pesky quarterly bonus check. It would also mean going onto a new contract, probably working in an office again (I'm STILL working from home 100% since March 2020), which in turn would require driving in traffic, dressing up, meeting new people, learning all new systems. The new systems learning would be great, but even when I took the job to be a contractor for RH, I was hesitant about the idea of always having to learn a new company and culture.
Now, an opportunity has come up to go back into the plumbing and construction industry to work with setting up, maintaining, and growing a new company from scratch (again, and using systems I'm already familiar with). They are willing to pay my asking amount, gas, and tolls, and set up a contract for accounting for the growth of the company over the next 5 years from just plumbing into remodeling, new construction, and finally commercial construction, and I would quickly have accounting staff under me that I would manage as the company grew. The catch is that the location is within walking distance of Fair Park, which is both an amazing trek for me and a horrific location/parking in general, let alone when the State Fair opens again (which will probably happen in 2021, despite the Delta variant, et. al.).
Ugh, this Monday, Aug 9, 2021, was the first day of my official new contract with Struggling Company, and my "handlers" from Robert Half were even kind enough to send me Tiff's Treats as a thank you for sticking with them and helping to represent them and the SPS program. Struggling Company also originally placed an offer of hire on the table back in October, then never came up with a prospective pay rate for me, then put it off until after the end of the year, and then never brought it up again. Considering I know they are struggling, even if they gave me an offer, I'm not really sure if it would be something I would want to take.
So now I have essentially a 3-way bidding war. My current official employer RH, who dragged their feet, but ultimately have done right by me and keeps options on the table, Struggling Company that really doesn't want to lose me after a year and a half on this contract with the workload and knowledge I now bring to the table, and New Company that wants me so badly they are willing to have the lawyer draw up an OFFICIAL contract for hire, and my asking amount was the bare minimum to get me to consider, so I'll see what they might offer to entice me further.
I'm still working with New Company for the moment (I only met them yesterday) as a contractor to help get them started. In the meantime, I've got some thinking to do.
Since the company I'm with is in financial straights, Robert Half agreed to make the new contract rate effective 30days later, although it was more like 30+ because they couldn't start it in the middle of a week for some reason regarding how their payroll systems are set up.
In the meantime, I was backdated a regular pay increase that didn't account for the promotion increase and given a "referral bonus" to offset my pay to make up for the promotion increase. The referral bonus is paid quarterly, and although it was also backdated to March, it didn't go into effect until Q3, so I don't receive a penny of it until Q4.
I also agreed to stick with this contract at a lower billable rate with the bonus continuing to make up the difference, again because RH is trying to not bill too much to the struggling company. However, if at any time I wish, they say they could easily deploy me to another contract at my official pay rate asking amount, which would mean not having to wait for a pesky quarterly bonus check. It would also mean going onto a new contract, probably working in an office again (I'm STILL working from home 100% since March 2020), which in turn would require driving in traffic, dressing up, meeting new people, learning all new systems. The new systems learning would be great, but even when I took the job to be a contractor for RH, I was hesitant about the idea of always having to learn a new company and culture.
Now, an opportunity has come up to go back into the plumbing and construction industry to work with setting up, maintaining, and growing a new company from scratch (again, and using systems I'm already familiar with). They are willing to pay my asking amount, gas, and tolls, and set up a contract for accounting for the growth of the company over the next 5 years from just plumbing into remodeling, new construction, and finally commercial construction, and I would quickly have accounting staff under me that I would manage as the company grew. The catch is that the location is within walking distance of Fair Park, which is both an amazing trek for me and a horrific location/parking in general, let alone when the State Fair opens again (which will probably happen in 2021, despite the Delta variant, et. al.).
Ugh, this Monday, Aug 9, 2021, was the first day of my official new contract with Struggling Company, and my "handlers" from Robert Half were even kind enough to send me Tiff's Treats as a thank you for sticking with them and helping to represent them and the SPS program. Struggling Company also originally placed an offer of hire on the table back in October, then never came up with a prospective pay rate for me, then put it off until after the end of the year, and then never brought it up again. Considering I know they are struggling, even if they gave me an offer, I'm not really sure if it would be something I would want to take.
So now I have essentially a 3-way bidding war. My current official employer RH, who dragged their feet, but ultimately have done right by me and keeps options on the table, Struggling Company that really doesn't want to lose me after a year and a half on this contract with the workload and knowledge I now bring to the table, and New Company that wants me so badly they are willing to have the lawyer draw up an OFFICIAL contract for hire, and my asking amount was the bare minimum to get me to consider, so I'll see what they might offer to entice me further.
I'm still working with New Company for the moment (I only met them yesterday) as a contractor to help get them started. In the meantime, I've got some thinking to do.