Right now, you may be thinking how inappropriate it is for me to be writing about my new puppy on my Johnson School blog, but she's actually the reason for some of the biggest career decisions I've made, well, ever... Last week, sleep-deprived and overwhelmed with the fact that my family had just increased in size by 50%, I started to think long and hard about the decision at hand.
I think I've written in the past about my summer experience at Dun & Bradstreet in New Jersey, or at least alluded to it. Well, I was lucky enough to 1) have a great summer there, getting experience in everything from HR to marketing to Internet strategy and new product development, and 2) be extended an offer for full-time employment.
I was very happy about the offer, but the lure of the West Coast was calling me. I even traveled to San Francisco the other week to interview with D&B's recent acquisition, AllBusiness.com. It seemed a natural to be placed at a small media company on the West Coast; I already knew I liked D&B and I could satisfy my wanderlust for a little while longer. Unfortunately, the financial crisis prompted a quasi-hiring freeze for all of D&B, so there's just no position for me in SF at this stage.
When I heard the news, I thought I'd definitely look elsewhere and say thanks but no thanks to D&B's incredibly generous offer. Then came the puppy. I started thinking like a family man. Did I really want to start an entirely new job search, eschewing the company that I already knew and loved? More and more, the answer shifted to no.
A week later, I feel the distinct feeling in my gut that I've done the right thing, for me and my family. It just goes to show how quickly things change, and how different life can be on the other end of business school than it was at the beginning.
