A fresh start

Seaxwyn

Thanks everyone. I spoke to my friend today and while it sounds really promising, this is a medium to long term project with nothing immediate. So I am very uncertain what to do about my job. I feel certain that my future is not there. There seems to be a lot of potential freelance work around, so I am tempted just to resign and trust in luck.

There is an immediate decision to be made about whether I cancel a work trip to Brussels this week - it's all booked and paid for but now I have a council meeting on local traffic management issues on Thursday night. I know it is crazy to prioritise unpaid council work over the thing that pays my mortgage, but I also feel that the meeting is far more important to my future. The appalling mismanagement of traffic was one of the things I won the election on, and the Tory councillors, some of whom are pretty hostile, will make a big deal of me missing my first ever meeting.

I am inclined to say that I can't go to Brussels, and this will lead into a discussion about my lack of commitment to the job which will lead to me feeling honourably bound to resign.

I need a minimum of about £2,700 income per month to survive and make minimum payments on the debt. I get £242 child benefit, so I guess earnings of about £2500, or about £3200 before tax. Or about 16 days freelance work.

Sea78

can you not go to brussels til Thursday and come back in the afternoon?
xx

Seaxwyn

Not really - the Brussels trip is for all of Thursday and Friday.

Wordsmith

Is it possible for someone from work to go in your place? And if so, would this cost work extra (changing travel tickets etc.)?

Is the meeting lots of people coming together, or you meeting with one person/organisation?

Seaxwyn

Not really possible for anyone else to go. There are only 9 staff and it's a busy time. It's attending the AGM of our European counterpart, I agreed to go just to build relationships (OK because I fancied a trip on Eurostar and two nights in a hotel). It wouldn't be a priority for anyone else. I don't know if we can get any of the money back. I'll talk to my boss tomorrow. The bad thing is that it was only on Thursday that I confirmed I would go, so they paid the registration fee then. Stupid of me.

Wordsmith

If it's not essential that someone goes, could you tell your boss how important it is that you attend the council meeting (and you had no idea that there would be a meeting so soon ... although the council meeting was presumably planned some time ago?) and offer to pay back what they have paid out on the trip - I know that's not very good for your budgets, but it would show that you are not taking the decision to cancel lightly.

It's an awkward one as I know how important it is to you to give the council your full attention, but as an outsider my feeling is that you do owe it to your employer to be committed to arrangements for them, unless you can find a way of "neutralising" the situation.

Is it possible for you to get someone to deputise for you at the council meeting? As it's the first one and so soon after you've been elected it wouldn't be unreasonable for you to have had a prior commitment. I know that you want to be there, but I would say that your responsibility is to your employer.

That's only initial thoughts, and I don't know how supportive of your council duties your employer is likely to be in the longer term and how supportive they have been up to now, so that will obviously have a bearing on it.

I do hope you can sort something out to keep everyone happy.

Re the freelance work, it seems to be the way to go, but perhaps a bit dodgy to jump into it. Can you ring round your past clients to get a good handle on the current situation and whether they would give you work if you were availabe? How do you know there is potential freelance work about? And how likely is it that you will get it rather than someone else?

I think you would love to go in tomorrow morning and hand your notice in. I can empathise with that totally. But try not to do anything that is going to have you stressing about how you are going to manage in six weeks' time. You finances seem on an even keel at the moment and it would be a shame to rush into something and tip the balance back the other way.

Good luck with whatever you decide is best for you.

Seaxwyn

Thanks Wordsmith for wise advice. Everything you say is sensible and true.

I will have a frank conversation with my boss tomorrow about both things. He is a sympathetic man and I will fill him in. If I have to go to Brussels I have to go.

Re work vs freelance, I have had several good offers recently. I have been invited to join a group of specialist writer/editors who are held in high regard in their sector and that is really promising. All the years I was freelancing I never had a problem of shortage of work, it was just that I was unable to get it done quickly. BUT giving up a regular salary seems irresponsible for someone in my position.

I need time for the council work, and my own sanity, as well as to test the freelancing waters so another option is to go part-time at my current employer, which my boss has agreed to anyway. But I feel that if I really want to leave (which I do) I shouldn't do it in stages, as that will leave them with recruitment problems.

Seaxwyn

Boss has agreed to me cancelling Brussels trip - and happy to write-off the payment. Phew!

Have not broached the subject of going part-time/leaving/whatever as too uncertain what to ask for.

Wordsmith

Excellent result! Well done. What a lovely boss.

taxi73

second what wordsmith said x