I Quit. Now What?

Early February, I put in my two week notice and quit my job with no job lined up and was fully ready to take 6 to 12 months to heal, take classes, and job search. The job I quit had a great mission and great teammates, but unfortunately it was not a great culture fit and I did not feel supported or set up for success in my role. Not to mention, it was a role that did not check even the majority of my career goal boxes and had begun to affect my mental health – hence the quitting.

The week of my last day, I had a total of 4 hours of interviews with two different companies. I was definitely blessed, but burnt out. It was a high of quitting my job, doing what was right for me and my family and my health – feeling super empowered – to a scramble of preparing for interviews, researching both companies, and being on my A game. I had hit the ground running and was already in the final rounds of interview for a third company.

Company A – which for our purposes will be the original company that I was in the final round of interviews with and gave me high hopes. It was the career I wanted, the field and industry I wanted and now it was a waiting game for the offer. 

Company B – was the most like my pre-COVID job – my DREAM, unicorn job and was really hopeful and looking forward to continuing with their process which included a homework assignment! 

Company C – I was skeptical at first because I didn’t know much about them or anyone who worked there. All three companies were the industry I wanted to be in and the career and/or title I wanted and believed I deserved. Side by side, at an initial glance, they were all great opportunities and very similar.

Company A would later share that I’d be on a team with two other peers which could mean great support, but it could also mean slower growth – especially since one of them has already been there for a year. On top of that, their offer was less than what I was expecting but not horrible. Company B – quasi unicorn job – would be very similar to the job I was already doing pre-COVID, if not the exact same, but I’d be the only events person which gives the open range of owning the event strategy and implementing processes all while being comfortable in that network. Company C is similar to B in the sense that the role would own event strategy and build it from the ground up – which, to me, means more opportunity for accelerated growth. Oh and the new CMO has had 3 successful exits at three other startups – talk about a great opportunity to learn!

Now, the drama – Company A gave me an offer and wanted an answer by the end of the week. I was in final rounds of interviews with Company B and wanting to hold out. Company C was in the second round interview so I wasn’t holding my breath for timing to work out for this one. I attempted to negotiate with Company A throughout the week and long story short, they didn’t budge so I asked for an extension for EOD the following Monday. Meanwhile, Company B didn’t extend an offer – super bummed, but the CEO did say it was a close race and was probably their wrong decision. Company C wanted to do final round interviews, but I needed to figure out how to extend or deal with Company A. 

I ended up accepting Company A and had a final interview with Company C the day after to keep my options open but also have a plan B. Company C ended up not extending an offer either – again a bummer. Similar to Company B in the sense that they loved me but the other candidate had more experience.

So after a two week emotional rollercoaster, I am happy and relieved to say that I have accepted Company A’s offer and am in a great mind space. Not only did I try my best but also came a long way from quitting a job that wasn’t fitting to being in the final interview stages with three companies and  nearly getting three offers. Although I only ended up with one offer, it gives me the opportunity to continue my career in the right direction  – industry ✔️, title ✔️, good boss ✔️, good company culture ✔️, It has been and will be a great learning experience and this new opportunity will ultimately give me more experience under my belt and we will just have to see where it takes me.

I am forever thankful, grateful, and blessed to have this job search journey behind me with time in between to relax and reset.