So Here We Go…

I quit my job on Monday.

Renee was sad, but she knew something was coming. It was hard to tell her. I cried. But telling her about the opportunity I had, she said that I would be crazy not to take it.

Everyone has been really kind so far. Even Alex, my favorite doc, told me this morning he was grateful for all I had done and would miss me, but how could he be upset because it was such a good gig for me.

It just reminds me that I really do work with wonderful people, and I am blessed to have been there for so long. But it’s still time to move on.

My recruiter, Jess, has been calling me non-stop! People are incredibly interested in having me work for them. This is a relief, as it means I won’t be without work in the contract world for very long.

I know I made the right choice in going with K instead of P. I spoke with a woman at P who told me I was being offered the job on Monday. She was totally snippy when I said I had another offer and asked point-blank "Is it more money?" I said yes, but there were other considerations.

They sent me an "offer" letter telling me my start date was November 21st. They also slipped in an increased salary without actually speaking to me about it (one dollar more an hour). I immediately replied and said I didn’t want the job; I would be pursuing other opportunities. This was on Monday again, because after I talked to the woman all of my other misgivings about the attitude of the others I had spoken to and my concerns about the job being offered just hit home for me.

I finally heard back today, not even from the people I sent messages to. The email is marked as high importance and includes the following:

"but then I found out from ____ today that the same day we spoke, you did take the position with K that paid a bit better.  I was sorry to hear that; I was under the impression that the salary I was offering was acceptable to you since our position was going to be on an outsourced, permanent account with abstracting-only duties and no worries about “bench time.”

 I understand if you had a minimum salary you needed to make and do wish you well in your future endeavors and I’m sorry we didn’t get the chance to work together.  I will continue my search for a CTR for my opening…"

It just struck a chord with me, and not a good one.

I know I should reply, but I don’t know if I can be nice. There are actually quite a few inconsistencies I’d like to correct (I didn’t accept the position from K the same day we spoke; I have no idea why she’s trying to make it sound like I did something underhanded by interviewing with her. An interview is not a promise), but it’s truly not worth the aggravation. I should be professional and wish her well, but I don’t know if responding is the right course of action.

I may take the high road and let this e-mail slide. They ignored me for two days; I don’t owe them a darn thing. But I do value my reputation. I’ll give myself a bit of time and cool off.

It’s amazing to me how good of a reputation I have, and how hard I’ve worked for it. I’ve earned every bit of this…and the fact that my boss and co-workers are happy for me just makes it even better. I will miss them all terribly.