
As most of you know I have been counting down the days until my current (dreaded) job ends. I have 18 more days until my program runs out of funding! After that, glorious freedom awaits. Or does it? My life is starting to feel like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel with each page turn yielding a new, potentially hazardous, unexpected event. I am not sure if this new development counts as something good or something bad. Let me explain. Today my coworker told me that she found a new job. She is our current grantwriter. Great girl. I will definitely be sad to see her go. After she informed our boss, I sat at my computer and a thought struck me. My boss will ask me to fill her position. I shoved it away. Not possible. I don't have the qualifications. The thought kept running through my head until my intercom beeped about a minute later and she asked me to come into her office. I knew that my premonition wasn't completely off at that point. She asked me what I would be doing in the coming months after being laid off. I told her that I wasn't sure yet. (stupid answer) She then said she had a "proposition" for me. Hmm. Do most good deals start this way? Then she explained that my coworker was leaving, which I already knew but I pretended like I didn't know. After that, with her flourescent pink nails drumming playfully across her day calendar, she asked me if I would be interested in filling the open position. I tried to look at her without the despair that I knew would come across in my eyes. I tried to remain neutral and tell her I would think about it. She launched into a flattering speech about my ability to learn quickly and adapt. She said it would be a "smooth transition." But she promised me nothing more than the same pay and half the hours I currently have. So why did I tell her I would consider it? I am not exactly sure. It seems to me that I have three options at the moment:
Plan A: Find a new job QUICK, as in, before this week ends so that I have a legitimate excuse to turn down the offer.
Plan B: Tell her that I accept the new job, but with the stipulation that I work from home two days out of three (because honestly, I don't know how much more of that office I can take).
Plan C: Outright refuse the offer.
Uhhhh... I am a little rattled right now. I really dislike it when I have it set in my mind that I will be done with something or leave someplace and I end up staying longer than I anticipated. When I am done I am done. Maybe there is something else I have yet to learn from this situation. Help!