Going In Circles

[The Hated Consultant]

Or, am I just too old a dog to learn new tricks?

I've been at my present job for almost 7 years. Up until now, I've enjoyed my work. Like any job, it has its days where I scratch my head and say "Remind me again why I took up this profession", but overall, it's been a good job.

My company has been doing some restructuring over the past year or so, and it's finally trickled down to my level. I feel as if now we're being micromanaged, which I hate. I literally feel as if there is someone standing over my shoulder with a pad and pen keeping track of how much extra money I bring in for services billed above and beyond the contract.

In the past, I've had to travel a bit for my job, but it's been the occasional overnight stay, which was not a big problem. Now it's become more travel for several days to different states, which is a problem because of personal and health related concerns. I have aged parents--frankly, I'm waiting for my mother to go to sleep one night and not get up again. My dad has Alzheimer's. I'm in school. I have a pet I'm responsible for. And I have health concerns that make extended, on the go travel a challenge.

When I first came to this company, "occasional travel" was in the job description, and I have no problem with that. But with the changes that have been coming, we've received no new job description. I've listed my questions in an email to the head of my department; that was over a week ago, and I've received no response.

Maybe I'm paranoid, but they could hire someone else to take my place for less money and who could travel without complaint. It worries me, especially with the current job market.

I'm just frustrated (and paranoid, I guess) at the lack of response. I don't want to push overly much, but I want to be heard; I don't think it's cool to change expectations of someone without letting them know in advance. The only advance notice we got was literally "you'll still be doing what you're doing now, with a few changes".

Advice? Comments? Suggestions? I hope this came out OK; I get so frustrated every time I think of it.

[CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

It sounds like it might be time to plan your exit strategy - whether to switch employers & stay in your current field, or to change fields entirely.

Even if you don't pull the trigger & activate it, having given the subject some thought will really help at some future time if you NEED to quit your job (or are booted out the back door).

Three years before I quit my 22 year engineering career, I had decided that I wanted to go into nursing. Once that decision was made, it was then a matter of which program to attend, and when to start.