I'm officially leaving!

I had the conversation with my boss, today. I told him I decided to leave grad school, told him my reason for wanting to do so being that I feel there's another job out there that will utilize more skills that I have and less that I don't with the end result being that I feel satisfied and energized by my work. He was totally cool about it. He's really probably the coolest boss I'll ever have. He said that it sounds like I've given it lots of thought and that he thinks I'm being reasonable. It is quite a relief to have him know. I actually didn't get too nervous before the meeting, mainly because I didn't let myself think about it.

But then we started talking about logistics. Honestly, I'd like ending grad school to be like ending most jobs: I say I'm leaving, I wrap things up, and I move on. But, there's this additional step of qualifying that I have to do. I have to prove that I'm smart enough for the Master's degree. And while I have no doubt that I can do it, I'm not looking forward to it. So, that's the logistical problem: when do I qualify and what do I do between now and then? The options are complicated, but here is the summary: I will qualify sometime between November and February (the date is mainly up to me) and I will stop getting paid sometime between right now and February (mainly up to my boss). Once I stop getting paid, though, even if I haven't qualified, I can get a job somewhere else. I'm meeting with my boss again tomorrow to discuss specifics. He's hopefully going to have talked to the main administrative assistant in our department so that he'll know what the payment landscape is. Once he tells me his plan for when he'll stop paying me, I can plan out how the next couple months will go down.

I'll probably have to advance on lining up a job while I'm between jobs. My initial plan was that if I didn't have a real job lined up in December, I'd start also hunting for an interim sort of job, one that is easier to get, is a bit unexpected but that I can use to build on old skills or get new ones. A good example is being a substitute teacher. You don't need any teaching certificate to substitute teach in Chicago, and I'd be getting paid to practice public speaking and general communication skills. But, since I may stop getting paid this very instant, I'm starting to look for different sorts of options in this realm. I'm going to refer to these jobs as "sabbatical". This word is used in the job-hunting world to mean something you do when you have six months between jobs, but it implies leaving the country, doing some volunteer work, and doing other, more selfish things. I'd like my sabbatical to be different: I'll stay in Chicago, get some paying work, volunteer somewhere, and work on things at home that are important to me.

Finally, some networking news: Rita and I have a friend from college whose dad started a design firm in California many years ago. They focus on engineering and human interaction. We are going to try to get me an internship with them. That may also be considered a sabbatical. I'm not sure how much time an internship takes up, but if it isn't a lot, then I can work on other things on the side with the intention of building an awesome repertoire of skills for whatever career I decide is the best for me.

Have an informational interview with another design firm tomorrow morning. Over the weekend, sent resumes to about 8 interesting companies that will be at the career fair on Thursday. Going to an info session for an interesting company tomorrow night. Lots to do. I don't want to lose focus on finding a job I'll love. But right now I'm a little lost in the details.