I Quit My Job... And Started a New One!

On Tuesday, February 11th, I formally submitted my resignation as Director for Student Systems with Boise State University. My two weeks' notice put my last day at February 24th. Then, on February 26th, I started in my new role at BSU - Special Projects Analyst.

It has been no secret that I wanted to stay at home when I had a baby. I have been very open with this to my friends and coworkers for many years (even before I met Matt!). When we brought Tyler home from the hospital, I felt even more strongly about staying home as I got a glimpse of what my days would be like. At the same time, I loved my job, I loved Boise State, and I was a little anxious about not getting a paycheck. I had put together a budget and had gone over the numbers many times. I knew that we would be okay on Matt's paycheck alone, but it would be a little tight for a couple years until he reached his max salary with Ada County (there is a set pay increase for the first several years of employment). As much as I just wanted to be able to sit on the couch and cuddle my baby all day and make dinner and keep a clean house, I was having a hard time thinking I would no longer financially contribute to our family.

Part way through my maternity leave, I approached my boss with an idea. I asked if he would consider keeping me on as a temporary, part-time, hourly, non-benefit eligible employee to work on special projects (project management, business analysis, etc) mostly from home. His response? That he thought that's what I had wanted to talk to him about! He had already run the idea past his boss (the VP of IT) and told me they would love to work with me and keep me on board. He said they couldn't just hire someone off the street with my knowledge and skill set and he told me to think about how many hours a week I would want to work (so he would know the size of projects to give me). He indicated there was never a shortage of work and that he would have 2-3 projects in the queue for me at all times. In fact, he already had some ideas of what he wanted me to start working on! Wow! That wasn't what I was expecting, but I was thrilled and flattered. I got back to him a couple days later telling him I'd like to start off around 10 hours a week, but I might be able to increase that a bit once Kylee started school and Tyler got on more of a schedule.

So that brings us to today! I'm in my third week of work in my new role - I'm wrapping up project management in the eAdvising project that I started last spring, and am picking back up project management for the document imaging upgrade that we started planning last fall. Things are working out well so far. I feel like I'm doing a decent job of balancing everything. My main focus is my family, but I'm also able to give my projects at work the attention they need to be successful. Of course it can be a little stressful sometimes (like the time last week that Tyler started freaking out while I was on a conference call), but I'm learning how to manage and am making adjustments (like passing Tyler off to Matt or dropping him off at my mom's if I have an important call). So cheers to a great boss and a flexible, family-friendly job!