Buckle up. We’re in for quite the ride.
You might recall, back in Aug. 2022, that I took a spontaneous (and secret) solo trip to Wisconsin. I’d applied for a job with the State of Wisconsin and was invited to interview. Because I lived 773 miles away, they gave me an option for a Microsoft Teams interview, but I decided to drive the 11 hours to meet them in person instead. I hoped they’d appreciate my initiative and enthusiasm.
I was actually sort of on the fence about the opportunity, unsure whether the position truly aligned with my career goals, but at the time, my biggest priority was to land a job in Wisconsin so we could get our asses out of South Dakota. As Harry Burns famously said in When Harry Met Sally, “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of you life to start as soon as possible.” In this case, “somebody” was Wisconsin. The pull of the Dairy State was strong! The interview went well, and after meeting with the team, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted the job. I’ll call them MadRock.
It ended up being a very productive 3.5-day visit. I had an in-person interview with another company and a phone interview with a third. And I drove to Janesville to check out the office of a company I’d interviewed with the previous week. You know them as TobacCo. While none of the interviews I had out here panned out – I don’t think we need a spoiler alert for that – it was not a waste of time. I came back 100% sure I wanted to live in Wisconsin, and 100% sure I did not want that home to be in Janesville.
One week after returning home, TobacCo offered me a job, and it was Go Time for Team MarTar! The next two weeks were a blur. We set a world record for fastest move ever, quitting our jobs, packing up all our possessions, selling our house, and finding an apartment in Fort Atkinson. All of this happened in 17 days. I still can’t believe we pulled it off.
In the midst of this whirlwind of craziness, MadRock requested references and a background check. I nearly declined since the TobacCo wheels were already in motion, but decided an opportunity to work for the state was too good to pass up. I submitted the info; if push came to shove, I’d simply tell TobacCo I had a change of heart. This felt like a dick move, but if I’ve learned one thing in my professional life, it’s that you’ve gotta look out for #1.
This turned out to be a moot point anyway. September rolled around, we arrived in Wisconsin, and I was two days away from starting my new job. I’d heard nothing but crickets from MadRock, so I reached out to the manager I’d interviewed with – code name: Marcie – for a status update. And while the news wasn’t what I’d hoped to hear, the rejection was the nicest I’ve ever received. Marcie assured me I’d been a strong contender, encouraged me to stay in touch and be on the lookout for future opportunities, and offered to meet up for coffee or lunch sometime to discuss my career goals.
We chatted back and forth a bit. She welcomed me to Wisconsin, asked about my new job, where we were living, yadda yadda. Marcie’s just a super nice person. We connected on LinkedIn and I truly meant to take her up on that coffee-and-career-chat offer, but life got in the way. You know how that goes.
TobacCo was never a dream job – SEO writing isn’t creatively stimulating and I kinda felt like the odd man out on my team – but the salary was good and it got us to Wisconsin. Truth is, those first few months out here, I was actively job-hunting. I landed a bunch of interviews, a couple of them State of Wisconsin jobs in different departments, but nothing ever materialized. Eventually, I stopped trying. I’d grown to like TobacCo quite a bit; I was learning a lot, and the flexibility and work-life balance were second to none. For the past 18 months, I have clocked out at noon on Fridays, essentially giving me 2.5-day weekends. Can’t beat that, huh? When my annual review rolled around in September, they sang my praises and gave me a decent raise. Everything was great!
But really, it wasn’t.
I’d never been able to bring myself to turn off my Indeed job alerts, which speaks to at least a subconscious level of dissatisfaction. Every day, Madison-area writing and editing jobs landed in my inbox, and I pored over each and every one of them. Try as I might – and I did try, because I hate job-hopping, and that’s something I’ve done far too often these past five years – I just couldn’t picture myself retiring from TobacCo. It always felt like a temporary gig, a stepping stone to bigger and better things. The people are great, especially the management team, and the variety of work was interesting…but as a small company, there are challenges. TobacCo would never be able to give me what I wanted long-term: stability and a path to retirement. Not their fault at all.
So, when my Indeed alert spit out a MadRock job posting for a Senior Communications Specialist in late January, I pounced. Emailed Marcie to let her know I was still alive and interested. Applied online. And soon had an interview lined up.
Driving to the same building I’d visited 20 months earlier, parking in the same spot, waiting in the same lobby, taking the same elevator up to the same floor and walking into the same conference room, all felt like déjà vu. And when Marcie shook my hand, that felt like déjà vu times two. I sat down and they slid a sheet of paper across the table with the interview questions, but I barely had a chance to glance at them before they began grilling me.
Actually, it was more of a gentle simmer, and I rocked it. I was in the zone, baby – relaxed and confident. I never once faltered or did that thing where they ask something tough, you say, “That’s a good question!” to buy yourself some time, and cock your head to the side, staring at the ceiling while desperately trying to come up with a cohesive answer. Man, I hate that thing. Instead, when they asked about my editing experience, I leaned back in my chair, crossed my arms, and said, “Let me tell you a little story about that!” with such a casual air I might have been at a dinner party chatting with friends. Who is this guy?! I wondered. This guy was me! Go, me!
(The story I recounted: when I told my boss at Ye Olde Publishing Company, I was leaving, he said, “You’re a great writer, Mark. But I’ll really miss your editing skills.” This was a perfect way to answer their question.)
When the interview wrapped up, I straight-up told the group, “I WANT THIS JOB. Here’s why you should hire me.” And listed a bunch of reasons why they should hire me. That is how you manifest, my friends.
I gathered my things and couldn’t help staring out the conference room window. It perfectly framed the capital building, and sunshine was glinting off the surface of Lake Mendota.
“Great view, huh?” Marcie said.
I agreed that it was, and we spent a couple of minutes chatting about beer and cheese, because this is Wisconsin. And just like that, I was on my way. I knew I’d had a great interview and impressed them – when you’ve spent as much time looking for jobs as I have, you develop an intuition – but I wasn’t ready to count my chickens quite yet. The memory of 2022 was still strong.
When they asked for references and had me sign off on a background check a week later, I knew it was a good sign. And when Marcie called me Tuesday evening at 6:05 p.m., I knew it was a real good sign. Employers never call to tell you you didn’t get the job, especially after hours. She said, “MadRock would love to have you join the team.” After doing cartwheels (mental ones, of course), I accepted on the spot.
HOLY SHIT! I’M A STATE EMPLOYEE! WISCONSIN IS MY BOSS!!
Or will be on April 8, my official start date. I don’t want to give away too many details – government work in forward-facing positions demands a certain degree of confidentiality – it’s for a department that everyone knows. Five minutes from downtown, which is great; I’ll be able to zip over there on my lunch break any ol’ time I please. It’s a little longer than my current commute, about 45 minutes vs. 30, but the position is hybrid. State employees are allowed to work up to 60% of their hours remote, so I’ll probably have the same schedule: two days in the office, three days at home. More money, better benefits. Much better benefits. And while I’m excited about those things, the best part of all? No time tracking or billable hours to worry about. Hallelujah!
The only thing left to do was notify TobacCo, and I wasted no time. Well, I wasted a little time – sorry, Wednesday! – because I had to draft a letter of resignation and decide on a plan of attack. I fired off an email to my supervisor and the marketing director first thing Thursday morning, and followed that up with a Slack to my supervisor.
I’m here if you want to talk, I wrote.
Puzzled, she replied, Talk about what? Followed a few seconds later by, Ohhh.
One never knows how companies will take the news. And TobacCo’s history dealing with employees who move on is, well…not great. But while sorry to see me go, both were extremely supportive. They’ll make a company-wide announcement on Monday. I told them March 27 will be my last day, and I think they’ll honor that. Those thumbprint cookie recipes aren’t going to write themselves!
You might notice an 11-day gap between my end date and new start date. That’s intentional. Usually when I’ve switched jobs in the past, I’d walk out the door of the old place on Friday, and start the new job on Monday. Moving out here in 2022, despite a frenetic, physically and mentally exhausting week, I dove right into the TobacCo job without a break. Tara, meanwhile, had a couple of months off. I never resented that, but I was plenty jealous!
I wasn’t about to make the same mistake this time. Since I’ll hopefully never switch jobs again, I built in a nice little stretch of time between the two. I plan to relax and explore, not necessarily in that order. I may head west for a solo trip. I might stay closer to home. Either way, I’ll have some time to recharge my batteries before I start yet another exciting chapter in my life.
Me, a government employee! Can you believe it? But I figure, if Mr. Smith can go to Washington and do okay, Mr. Petruska can go to Madison.
Mark My Words 
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