the IT industry REEEEEAAAAALLLLLYYYY sucks!

[SkiDork]

I've been a consultant with this company for over 2 years now. It was supposed to be a try before you buy thing at first - then I got the shaft because a new CEO came in and cancelled all pending hires.

Then my group was insourced to the company we were administering their systems for, and because I was still a consulant at the old place they couldn't hire me full time at the new place.

In the mean time, Ty got laid off so now we're paying an additional $850 a month for COBRA insurance. Not to mention the fact that I haven't taken a single day off since last September due to the fact that it hurts us a lot financially (didn't hurt as much when Ty was working which was the situation when I was first hired). Also I work for free on the weekends (when I have to work, which is not too often) since they don't have a way of paying constultants for weekend work...

I've been trying to get hired full time by the company since December - always get told "It's in the pipe line but things take a long time... yadda yadda yadda..."

Now to add insult to injury, the company just called up the consulting firm I work for and want to decrease my pay - they say there are plenty of people in India who would work for a lot less....

JEEEEEZZZEEE!!!

I'd love to just chuck it all and move to VT or UT or something and do my own work, or buy a bed and breakfast etc. and quit this freakin rat race!!!

[XtremeJibber2001]

Sounds like industry norms to me, unfortunate still.

Start looking for other jobs. I just started working at my first 'real' job, but I'm still looking for jobs all the time and going to job fairs. I don't know where you work, where you live, or what your skills have, but I'm sure you're fully qualified and won't have too much of a problem finding a new job.

That's what I would do. SAP wanted me as a contractor/consultant, but your incident above is exaclty why I said 'no thank you'. Even though it paid nearly 20K more.

Good luck!

[Bubba]

I say chuck it and move to Vermont. You can sell your place on LI for a bundle, move into your place in VT, find IT or other work locally, and look for a house once you settle in with new employment up here. Your place here has also appreciated quite a bit so, when you sell it and combine the equity with your equity from the LI house, you'll do quite well in buying a new house here with plenty of land to go with it. Schools are good - and the life is a lot easier. Now's the time!

[MarieM]

I'd love to just chuck it all and move to VT or UT or something and do my own work, or buy a bed and breakfast etc. and quit this freakin rat race!!!

A bed and breakfast?? That'd be 24/7...I'm thinking that's not quite giving up the rat race.

[XtremeJibber2001]

A bed and breakfast?? That'd be 24/7...I'm thinking that's not quite giving up the rat race.

Most people in IT are already 24/7

[MarieM]

A bed and breakfast?? That'd be 24/7...I'm thinking that's not quite giving up the rat race.

Most people in IT are already 24/7

Not for nothin' would I discount that; but it's probably not quite the same 24/7 as some self-employed people.

[SkiDork]

I say chuck it and move to Vermont. You can sell your place on LI for a bundle, move into your place in VT, find IT or other work locally, and look for a house once you settle in with new employment up here. Your place here has also appreciated quite a bit so, when you sell it and combine the equity with your equity from the LI house, you'll do quite well in buying a new house here with plenty of land to go with it. Schools are good - and the life is a lot easier. Now's the time!

Ty prolly wouldn't go for it

[ski_adk]

I'd love to just chuck it all and move to VT or UT or something and do my own work, or buy a bed and breakfast etc. and quit this freakin rat race!!!

Why stay in the rat race? I've been wrestling with that question myself and you know what, it's not worth it. Why visit paradise when -- with a little material sacrifice -- you could live there? If you only had 20 years left to live, would you pull the trigger? 10 years? 5? 1? If you could go back in time and choose to live in VT or UT instead of where you are now, would you?

Figure out just why you are holding onto what you have now and whether its worth more than what you think you might want to have.

[herb1980]

SkiDork,
The guy who owns our ski house in Pittsfield did the same thing several years ago and hasn't looked back and he is married with kids. He left the whole 9-5 corporate world in NY (or was laid off) and opened the Swiss Farm Acres B&B in Pittsfield, VT on Rt. 100. He has also bought some homes in the area and rents them out for the winter season (like he did with our house in Pittsfield). Granted he works alot with running the B&B but he couldn't be happier and spends alot of his down time on his snowmobile and skis or mountain bikes in the summer. It is not as far-fetched as it seems.

[BigKahuna13]

I say chuck it and move to Vermont. You can sell your place on LI for a bundle, move into your place in VT, find IT or other work locally, and look for a house once you settle in with new employment up here. Your place here has also appreciated quite a bit so, when you sell it and combine the equity with your equity from the LI house, you'll do quite well in buying a new house here with plenty of land to go with it. Schools are good - and the life is a lot easier. Now's the time!

That would be the hard part, wouldn't it. It'd be great if you could score a gig working for a large firm from a virtual office at home (like someone I know) but I can't believe there's a huge call for IT professionals in Vermont.

[yeti]

>> Also I work for free on the weekends (when I have to work, which is not too often) since they don't have a way of paying constultants for weekend work...

Sure they have a way of paying you - it is called "direct deposit", or if they are behing the times, "cutting a check."

I have this rule: I work, they pay, no exceptions.

[Bubba]

I say chuck it and move to Vermont. You can sell your place on LI for a bundle, move into your place in VT, find IT or other work locally, and look for a house once you settle in with new employment up here. Your place here has also appreciated quite a bit so, when you sell it and combine the equity with your equity from the LI house, you'll do quite well in buying a new house here with plenty of land to go with it. Schools are good - and the life is a lot easier. Now's the time!

That would be the hard part, wouldn't it. It'd be great if you could score a gig working for a large firm from a virtual office at home (like someone I know) but I can't believe there's a huge call for IT professionals in Vermont.

There's a need for IT people but the pay sure isn't the same. On the other hand, the cost of living isn't the same either.

[Bubba]

I say chuck it and move to Vermont. You can sell your place on LI for a bundle, move into your place in VT, find IT or other work locally, and look for a house once you settle in with new employment up here. Your place here has also appreciated quite a bit so, when you sell it and combine the equity with your equity from the LI house, you'll do quite well in buying a new house here with plenty of land to go with it. Schools are good - and the life is a lot easier. Now's the time!

Ty prolly wouldn't go for it

The imminent onset of poverty could help change her attitude.

[Cityskier]

If you could go back in time and choose to live in VT or UT instead of where you are now, would you?

Figure out just why you are holding onto what you have now and whether its worth more than what you think you might want to have.

I constantly debate this. I'd never live in UT...the place is just too weird for me. But I do contemplate getting the flock out of here...almost daily.

[Dr. NO]

There is a motel for sale in Stockbridge. Needs work, but you could buy it under $100 K fix it up and have a go at it. Plus the White River is next to it for year round rents.