Opportunity Lost

I haven't blogged much lately. But it has been an interesting few weeks. About three weeks ago we were planning on a trip to UT. The day before the trip I went to a Chinese restaurant with a good friend of mine and got a fortune. It said, "A new career opportunity will present itself." That night we headed off to UT to enjoy a great time with family and friends. The next day, while in UT, I received an email from an old colleague who mentioned a job opportunity it UT that he thought I might be interested in. I called them that weekend and that started a process which eventually led to an interview in UT last week.

The opportunity looked wonderful and fun. Though we haven't often thought about moving to Utah, the idea of living close to family there and friends seemed like a great change and fun. I put a lot of positive energy into it and did a lot of praying. The entire process seemed positive. The company was very interested and every conversation I had with them went well. This week I was supposed to hear from them and fully expected an offer. But the days went by and all I heard was silence. In the end, on Friday, I finally did hear from them. They called with bad news that due to the economy they were on a hiring freeze and this position was no longer being filled. Their company had laid off 50 people or more that week and therefore would not be hiring anybody for some time. This was disappointing as we had imagined a fun change in our lives. Maybe in a few months the economy will pick up and the opportunity will present itself again. It all happened so quickly that our emotions were pulled and pushed so often. I think I finally had conceded that we could leave Phoenix even though there is so much I love here. From a professional standpoint, I am ready to move on as there is not much for me at my current company any more. Their change in strategy and direction (not to mention their deterioration in market share and profitability) have limited the use of my global skills and experience. I am ready to move on and go to a company where I can make a difference. I will now be working with a headhunter, but given the market conditions and my lack of desire to move most places outside of Phoenix or Utah or the west, I believe we will most likely remain here in PHX for the next few months.

Maybe I'll get laid off and we can then move up to UT and get a house to share with Jake and Cari. So, unfortunately, we won't be moving close to the Jake's and our friends in UT anytime soon. SOMEBODY must not have been praying hard enough! =) Maybe in the near future. In reality, it probably would have been a bad time to move.

For now I am anxiously awaiting our trip to Hawaii!