New Job!

It's official.  I accepted a new job last night!  

Today, I will be putting my notice in at a company that I have worked at for over 12 years.

It's been a long process.  I've been on the hunt for over a year now.  This particular company has interviewed me 4 times before making me an offer.

There's 2 major negatives with my new position.  My commute will no longer only be 3 minutes long; now ranging anywhere between 25 minutes to an hour depending on which office I will have to go to that day.  And the health insurance is a lot more expensive + no dental coverage.

Positives: 

• Experience - Throughout this job hunting process, I interviewed with about 10 companies. It became obvious to me that the way my current company works has left some glaring holes in the experience that I need to further my career.  The company I currently work for is very poorly run with many inexperienced people running it.  In this new position, I'll be working with people that have tons of experience that have earned their positions through years of work instead of a just having the right last name. Plus the types of projects I'll be working on will be more varied so I'll have so many more opportunities to gain experience and knowledge.
• Money - The increase in pay more than makes up for the extra insurance cost and extra gas for the drive
• Hours - On the days that I work at the farther office, I work shorter hours to make up for the longer commute and to help avoid rush hour traffic.  So I will be getting paid for 1 hour of my driving time and getting home at about the same time as I would have, if not earlier, than when I work at the closer office.
• Vacation - I'm starting the new job with 3 weeks vacation time, same as what I have at my current position.

I'm really excited for this change.  Since I interviewed 4 times for this new position, I'm pretty confident I'll get along with my new coworkers.  It's a small company and I've interviewed with almost every person there.

And I'm super proud of myself for negotiating for a higher pay with this new company.  I was really nervous about asking for more after they made me my first offer and I almost didn't do it. I'm glad I did because they came back with a better offer!