Please note, this post was originally published on February 7, 2015 on my old blog Meghan Cantwell. Writer. on Wordpress. I want to talk about choices. In November 2014 I sat down with the president of the company I currently work for as an intern. I asked him, basically, where this internship was leading. I knew that (a) I loved my current job and all of my coworkers and (b) that I had made a positive impact on the business. So I asked a few questions along the lines of: Is the company interested in hiring me on full time? Do we even need a full time professional writer? When, if ever, could I expect to be offered a full time position here? The president acknowledged my contributions and recognized their value, and told me that answers to my questions were not something he could provide at that time. I told him that I was eager to have those answers but that I did not necessarily expect a full time position to be created, essentially for me. So I also informed him that I intended to start a job search come January or February of 2015. He was very supportive of me doing what I needed to do to advance my career, though he expressed doubt that the question of whether the company could create a full time writing position would be anywhere close to answered by that time. As much as I love this company and as grateful as I am for the training and experience all of my supervisors and coworkers have given me, I could not wait any longer for full time employment. So in January I applied to several job opening that fit my criteria. These criteria were (1) small to medium sized business; (2) full time, permanent, salaried position; (3) a proposal writing or technical writing position that would have the ability to impact the company significantly and in a positive way. Well, as of Friday, January 23, 2015 I had gone through five interviews with three different companies and had been made a formal offer by one of them (Option 1) and another informal offer (Option 2) with an official offer pending my decision on Option 1’s offer. I struggled to make a decision over the weekend. Both positions had comparable tasks and duties:
Here were the key differences between Option 1 (the formal offer) and Option 2 (the informal offer): Option 1 had a 90 day training period in place and a firm plan for giving me the guidance I needed to learn about proposal writing in general and about writing proposals specifically tailored to this company. In that 90 period I would be expected to edit, review, and polish proposals written by other members of the proposal shop; then write my own sections; then around the one year mark be the primary author on one or more whole proposals. This structure appealed to me because it meant I could make mistakes and there would be people in place poised to correct them. It also meant that I had pretty firm expectations that I could exceed by leaps and bounds. The metrics for success would be readily available to me and therefore manageable. The work environment and challenges that this company faces are very similar to Option 2’s. The opportunity for growth here was evident. I met several people who had been with the company for 5 years or less and who had experienced promotions based on their merit and were very happy with the opportunities afforded them with this company. One person I met had been with the company for five years and was already a senior vice president. Option 2 was more of a start-up. While the company itself was several years old, the proposal shop would be brand new. And I would be the only member for the better part of a year, if not for longer. The CEO made it very clear that he was open to providing me with the training I would need through another company that has very strong relations with his company. The expectations for me would be to set my own pace (to a certain extent) and perform all of the critical steps to prepare this company for cranking out winning proposals within the first few months of my employment. Once the company won several proposals, I would be able to build my proposal shop up and my input in who was selected to join the team would be significant. This method would involve a lot of trial and error before I figured out (1) a proposal shop structure that works and (2) the type of team I would need to keep it working like a well-oiled machine. The work environment and challenges that this company faces are very similar to Option 1’s. The benefits of my being a one-woman proposal shop are directly linked to the opportunity for growth with this company. I would be solely responsible for the proposals this company submits and thus the success of these proposals would be attributed directly to me. The impact of my performance as the sole member of the proposal shop would be undeniably clear and I would recognized for my contributions and promoted or otherwise rewarded appropriately. The CEO keeps people he really likes on for many years and they reap huge benefits from staying with his companies as they move from $0M per year to over $100M per year. This would be an utterly satisfying experience unlike anything else. Again, the decision was an incredibly difficult one to make, but it ultimately came down to which job would suit my personality the best and thus which job would make me happier on a constant basis. After I had made my Pro’s and Con’s list for both options, I had to stop thinking about the choice in such linear terms. I laid down on my couch, popped a piece of chewing gum in my mouth, and meditated on what I imagined my daily experiences at work would be like during the first 3 months, the first 6 months, the first year, and the second year of working with each of these companies. I already know myself pretty well, but I am still young (24) and I know some of my future goals will change. But one goal I know will not change is my 5-10 year career plan. In 5-10 years from now I want to be a proposal manager and this timeline for my goal contributed to my decision. I am a really good leader and I am, and always have been, a creative person. So right now, at the age of 24, I would make a good independent proposal writer. At 25 or 26 I would be a good proposal team lead…But I don’t want to be good. I want to be great, I want to thrive. I thrive with structure. When there are outside factors motivating me to succeed, such as meeting deadlines imposed on me by professors or supervisors, I am an unstoppable train of productivity. The more structure there is to begin with, the better I perform, because I have something against which to compare my expectations when it comes to draft completion deadlines, quality assurance deadlines, and final review and submission deadlines. And if there is too much structure I work incredibly hard to alter the limitations in place so that I can be as productive as super-humanly possible. I am great with structure. So I chose Option 1 because it is the best option for me at this time. As I mature I know my leadership skills and my ability to set my pace at the optimal speed for (1) productivity and (2) results will be spot on, making me the perfect fit for Option 2. Right now, I am confident that I would bite off more than I could chew, which would result in sub-par proposals. I am also positive that these “sub-par” proposals would still be excellent and have a great chance at winning contracts, but I would be unhappy with them nonetheless because I would know that I could do better and my attempts at getting better would be a slow and painful process for me. So, to sum up this already lengthy blog post I will say that my decision, like stand-up comedy, boiled down to the timing. I am confident that with my work ethic I will surpass even my expectations in the coming year, which will build my confidence and along with it my ambition. I am really looking forward to growing with the company I have chosen and I may choose to continue to grow with them since they have made it perfectly clear that they try to create a workplace which fosters long-term commitments. However it is comforting and exciting at the same time to know that after this year I will have so many other doors open to me and so many chances to make a big impact on the world. Sorry, my idealist showed a bit there. More posts to come about my research on The Return of the Soldier.
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AuthorI use this blog to record my thoughts on my life in Kanagawa, Japan, continuing creative projects, and career as a professional writer. ArchivesCategories© Meghan Tompkins and Meghan Tompkins.Writer., 2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Meghan Tompkins and Meghan Tompkins.Writer. with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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