I quit my day job...now what?

In case some of my friends haven't heard, I quit my day job a few months ago.  Old colleagues, go look me up in Outlook or Lync and see that I don't exist anymore.  I found out in March that my group was dissolving due to consolidation and had the following options:

1. Move to the Arizona or Oregon campus to keep my current job, with paid relocation
2. Stay until the final dissolution of the group (providing additional months of income) then take a severance package, terms unknown for a few weeks
3. Find a new job at my current site before the group dissolved
4. Opt into the voluntary separation package (VSP) offered by the division, a cost-cutting measure and not related to the dissolution.  I could return to the company after six months and not have to pay back the severance. But the deadline for this option would occur before details of option 2 would be available.

Option 1 wasn't really an option because I didn't want to move.

I did consider option 2, since extending my employment a few more months would take me past my 21st work anniversary and qualify me for a full 8-week sabbatical versus 4-week.

In a way I was ready for option 3 as I had been perusing the internal job postings a couple of weeks prior.  I was getting a bit bored with my current position, and found a listing of high interest (though accompanied with higher stress).  However, when our manager broke the news to us, the company also initiated a hiring freeze (unrelated to the dissolution) and all job listings were removed.  So much for option 3.

Option 4 had been brewing on the back burner of my mind ever since it was offered in past years.  I never had a compelling reason to take VSP until now, since I was on career "cruise control".

My final decision...option 4, take the VSP.  Why?  I had no details yet on what the severance package would be, and I doubted that it'd be better than VSP.  There was no guarantee that the dissolution of the group would happen after my 21st work anniversary so I may not get the extra 4 week sabbatical anyway.  I figured that an extra four months or so of pay wasn't worth dealing with the stress of the unknown and the low morale of the group. A key deciding factor was that I could return to the company after six months at the earliest and not have to repay the VSP severance, which for my years of service, came out to be almost a year's worth of base pay.  I had friends who could recommend me for positions if I wanted to come back.  I was looking through job listings a month ago, already thinking of change.  Why not take a 6-month break and see what happens?  I was excited to find out.

I clicked my acceptance of VSP online the morning of the deadline.  It wasn't a sure thing though; human resources still had to tally all the volunteers and decide which to accept such that it wouldn't cause a gaping hole in any one team within the division.  I was concerned that HR would deny my request since there had been a recent campaign to increase hiring of technical females and they might not want to lose any.  But my fears did not come to pass; I received an acceptance email from HR.  It turned out that for my specific group, 4 volunteered and were accepted, and 3 of them were women. Maybe they thought we'd come back after six months.

I had 8 business days to take care of whatever I needed to do before termination. 8 days!  It was hardly enough time to pass off my work; it made me feel like my contributions were insignificant, even though I and another colleague (who also opted for VSP) were the only ones on the team performing these technical duties.  Our projects would have experienced delays had we not spent time doing a whirlwind of training or transferred and organized our data onto the shared server.  Though I know that even if we hadn't been so accommodating, the projects would eventually finish.  No one is irreplaceable.
 
My exit interview was on Friday, May 1; however, my 4-week sabbatical was scheduled by HR to start the next day, so I was technically an employee until June 1. When the following Monday rolled around, I didn't have to drive to work, climb the stairs to my floor and spend 8 hours staring unblinkingly into a monitor, typing and mousing in a drab gray cubicle under fluorescent lights. It was just like being on vacation/sabbatical, but the difference was that I didn't have to worry about projects I'd left behind or needing to return.

I did go in once during this time period to meet with friends who couldn't get off campus for lunch.  Even though I was still an employee, I felt like an undercover agent sneaking into an enemy compound.  My heart quickened a bit when I scanned my badge at the security station.  Would it work?  The badge reader beeped happily and glowed green, welcoming me back.  When I made my way to the cafeteria, an old colleague spotted me, gave me a puzzled look and started in a hushed voice, "I thought you were..." as if not to blow my cover.  I smiled. "Just here to meet with friends..."  When you get out of prison, the inmates don't want to see you return.

What about reactions from co-workers, friends and family?  When I told people I was going to be unemployed, responses ranged from "That's great, I'm happy for you!" to "Are you going to find another job?", but most seemed to shrug it off.  No fanfare or celebration, as everyone was thinking that this was just a break from work and not early retirement.

So how have I been spending my time?  It's now been over three months since I've received a steady paycheck. Considering that I spent almost 21 years at one company since leaving college, it felt a bit surreal not to go into the office after so many months, but I got used to it very quickly.  Though it still feels like I'm infiltrating a secure compound on the rare occasions when I drive into campus to pick up my husband for a lunch date. Income-wise, I'm still working as a travel agent, booking for friends and family.  I've also been doing odd jobs here and there for fun and variety.  But note that I don't do these things solely to collect income but because I enjoy and want to do it.

Speaking of travel, you'd think that I'd have more time to do so without the shackles of employment but since I've traveled a lot already (as journaled on my travel blog "Where in the world is Kat Kong?") and my husband is still working full-time, the urge hasn't been there.  Once in a while I see a great deal come along, but companions with few family or work obligations are hard to find (are YOU interested?), so I can't always take the opportunity.  I would prefer not to travel alone, though I have in the past, like my solo stay in Singapore.  Not to say that I haven't traveled at all since I left work - my husband and I went on a 7-night Alaskan cruise around Memorial Day (planned before events unfolded) and visited his family on the East Coast for an extended week.

I still go to Pilates weekly like I did when I was working full-time, but now I attend in the morning instead of evening.

I do miss my evening Pilates pals

I've been taking walks around the neighborhood for additional exercise and even shopping for groceries on foot, armed with reusable bags. (fortunately many major shopping areas are within a one-mile radius of my home)  I try to limit driving when I can.  I've even walked 35 minutes one-way to a doctor's appointment.

enjoying the view on my neighborhood walk

My to-do list is long but time flies. I don't know how I managed to work full-time and also support my travel agency, exercise, blog, read and do other hobbies. I thought I would be all caught up writing my travel blog (8 months behind at this moment), but you guessed it, time flies!  It doesn't take long for the day to pass, then suddenly it's after 5pm and my husband is home.

I learned how to knit, something on my to-do list for a long time. It's actually not that hard...only took me less than an hour using Nici Beason's DVD. 

attempting a complicated pattern for my first knitting project

Will I go back to work after a six-month-plus break?  I haven't missed the corporate life and I'm not bored at all.  The money is nice to have but is it worth the time spent?  I've run some calculations (which I'll discuss in another post) and we don't need the extra income.  So for now, I wouldn't bet on me returning for quite some time, even with the stock market falling in recent weeks. (Read "How about that stock market?" and not panic)  There are things to accomplish on my bucket list.  Don't worry, I am not exiting high-tech forever; some of the things I want to do involve using technology in innovative applications.  Exciting times ahead!