When I grow up

"The best way to predict your future is to create it."
- Peter Drucker

"Leap and the net will appear." - Zen saying

I've been thinking about my job a lot lately. I'm now back on the payroll - it seems our business has picked up - but that time off gave me a lot to think about.

Plus I found out the only other guy on the shop floor makes $3 more an hour than I do. Not cool. He is worth the money, no doubt, but I am too, so I need to chat with my boss soon.

Aside from that issue, I've been wondering if I want to stay in this business at all. Or, more specifically, do I want to continue to just be a cabinet maker? I'm not all that into the physical side of it anymore (not sure I ever really was - it was just a part of the job), and I'm not learning anything new. We used to have other employees who I could really learn from. Doug taught me a lot about install and customer service. Tracy taught me more about install. I can still learn from Chris, but not on the same scale that I used to learn - he and I are pretty much equal in our skills. So I'm a bit bored, very underpaid, and tired of lifting heavy objects.

One option is to get into project management. There is a General Contractor company that I've worked with a few times that sounds like it could be an option. I've already sent out my resume to them, but didn't mention in the cover letter that I would be interested in going the project management route. But I have the owner's name (given to me by a PM from that company who I recently worked with), and will get my shit together next week to call him.

There is another company I've recently seen that I also sent my resume to, but don't have any contacts there. I'll try to follow up with them soon too.

And then there is that friend of my mom's who is buying the condo she wants to renovate, with me as one of her main employees. That would give me first-hand experience in project managing, and be very flexible. However, I'm not real sure what part I would play in the whole process, so we'd have to work that out.

And one guy I did an information interview with while I was laid off called me back this week to see if I was still available. I said maybe - told him I was re-employed, but not sure how long it would last (and I'm not, which is a bone of contention for me at the moment) - so we should keep in touch. He said he didn't have a job offer right now, but had a few projects he thought were going to come in and then he would need to staff up quickly.

So there are some good options out there, I just need to decide which route I want to take. Once I make that decision, I'll take that leap...