Sabbatical Chronicles: What does one want?

Maybe I've been watching a little too much Lucifer. Maybe I'm just getting my head around being off work, or maybe, just maybe, after to weeks off, I feel like I could go back to work now.

In that first week, there was no way I was going near an office, let alone near a computer.

In the second week, I was beginning to feel a bit more normal.

Now, at the start of the third week of this sabbatical, I'm starting to get a plan in place to find work, or more to the point, get the right job.

And in the words of Lucifer - what is it I want? Isn't that half the battle when you're manifesting things - know what it is you actually desire?



So, it is time to think about what it is I actually want when it come to a job.

I will admit, for the last two jobs I've been at, I was approached for the roles, rather than applying for them. I'll admit to being very lucky on this score. Most of the time, a phone call leads to a job. I'm hoping this will happen again, but in the mean time, it's a matter of putting in applications, making phone calls and sending emails, going for coffees and putting myself out there.

The bulk of this will be done from 6 January.

But what do I want from a ob.

Sitting down at a bar on Swan Street with one of my old work husbands, beer in hand (trying to escape the 43 degree heat outside) we talked about this.

We've both been contracting for a long time. Nath is just back from three months abroad on the holiday of a lifetime. We know the score.

So it's time to think about this what I want.

So here's the laundry list. What do I desire from my next job?

• A longer term contract (at least 6 months)
• Preferably at a day rate to which I'm accustomed
• At a large / National / Multi national company (which is where most of my work comes from)
• In the city or the city fringes (must be within 45 minutes on public transport)
• Good team with a mix of men and women
• A role with some autonomy (no micro-managers please)
• Supportive management
• Preferably in the tech writing / instructional design / process analyst space
• Preferably a busy, but not manic 8 hour working day for the most part
• Some travel interstate would be good
• Maybe in the banking, finance, utilities or telco space - will entertain other sectors, but not mining, gambling or retail.
• Would look at a contracted week (do a full week over 4 days - sorta like this idea)
• Would like some working arrangement flexibility  - work from home.
• Prefer working in Agile environments
• A great team who like to have a laugh 

Well, that the list of requirements. Of course, there will be some compromise, but this is what I want.

So now I have to get manifesting. Get out the green candles. make the phone calls. Send the emails. Have the coffee dates. Talk to the network. Get on LinkedIn.

But for the moment, with most of corporate Australia on holidays, with the skeleton staff all annoyed that they're at work (or enjoying the quiet time) .

Which means the main hunt will start on 6 January, when everybody starts coming back. 

After three weeks off, I'm almost back to full strength - and this is a good thing.,

Now, as the temperature is back to something normal and not something stupid, 'spose I better go to bed, thinking of a White Christmas - where the cold streets are covered in snow, not one covered in ash as the case in Melbourne at the moment. 

Today's Song: A good summer song from the teenage annals