Sunday, July 17, 2005

The Proposal - Part One I've decided to try to talk my current employers into letting me stay on as a part-time employee in one capacity or another. Truth is I'm a little worried about contracting myself out to non-profits.  It's unstable work, and it might not get money rolling in right away.  So I hit my supervisor with my proposal (Free tip #1:  always have a proposal!) on Friday.  The proposal was a multi-part proposal: I'll work from home twenty hours a week as a employee.  (Advantage:  I can still get half-time benefits and other benefits.  Plus, I'll be able to list these guys as an employer for a longer period of time.) I'll work from home twenty hours a week as a contract employee.  (Advantage:  I'd get paid more.  I have a time contract with dates, so I have a guaranteed job for a period of time.  Disadvantages:  I'm in charge of my own taxes.  No health care benefits.  I enter the wilderness known as self-employment.  Apparently, I'd even have to apply for a business license.) I'll help out part-time until you hire my replacement.  (This would only be for a month or two, but it'll help with income unti I can get more work contracting.) Surprise - she didn't freak out and run out of the room screaming.  She actually seemed to react positively to the idea.  I started listing the tasks that I could do from home, and she even started adding to the list.  She really warmed to it quickly. The biggest problem is that we're due to hire a couple of new employees soon, and they'd love to have the admin support for them when they come on board.  But so far, my administrative support for our first new employee has been pretty basic.  Order new computer and desk for him.  Make sure they arrive.  Make phone calls to get his DSL line set up.  I can do that from home.  If I'm working part-time, they'll probably need another admin person to be in the office 30 or 40 hours a week.  But their budget has just changed drastically, so I think they can afford to hire someone.  Besides, when they hired me to be the "admin assistant," they had just reposted the position with a pay hike of $6,000 a year.  We both knew that I was overqualified for an admin job.  If they cut my salary (and residual benefits) in half, change my job description, and hire someone at their original pay range, they won't be far off from my full-time salary.  Plus they'll gain money, because I'll be working specifically on fundraising and expanding their membership. My biggest advantage is that I've proven my worth to them.  I've helped the office run more smoothly.   I've helped clean up their databases, and thrown a bunch of good ideas.  I think that they'll be willing to work with me to keep me around.   After all, half-time me is better than nothing.  Right?  I feel like my supervisor was my biggest hurdle.  If I have her on my side, we can collectively get the executive director to agree.  But if she wasn't on my side, I was sunk.  So we'll see how it goes on Monday.   Wish me luck, folks.  I may be wrong, but I've got a feeling that this just might work.  5:36:39 PM     Speak up!  []