Thank you. I appreciate the kind words. Writing about something as personal as my career and my career choices has been an interesting experience so far.

Yes, in reality, I suppose any human would have been disappointed in those circumstances which may have been impossible to predict.

By the way, I think your site is superb – everything from structure, presentation, content and participants. The tone is really professional, much more so than any other site I’ve seen of this genre.

What you are saying is certainly true. I worked hard to do a good job. I considered it my job to give them what they asked for, what they did with it was their business. I concentrated on my work, not their business. Still, there is an emotional toll to be paid when you see your hard work get thrown out the window.

One way to avoid feeling that the effort was a waste (not that John necessarily did, but I know others who have) is to anticipate this sort of thing and figure out what value you want to get from the effort or process itself.

–Milan

If the company did everything that was in their own interest, that would actually seem logical to me. I may not like what they did, but there would be a guiding principal. For the most part though, companies tend to do many things that are completely contrary to their own interests. Companies are run by people, and the limitations of the people create the limitations of the company.

Of course, what the company considers logical according to its own frame of reference (read, “its own self-interest”) may not be the same thing the employee or contractor considers logical, appropriate, or fair.

Jeanne

If I have learned one thing in my many corporate years, it is that you can’t rely on companies to act with logic. I would have been open to negotiation, but I believe the manager was simply trying to keep his options open “just in case”.

It seems odd that the company didn’t negotiate your potential salary with you–rather than simply asking you to submit a salary request and then deciding whether to take it or leave it without discussion. And it was inconsiderate of them to string you along until the last minute when they likely knew what they intended to do long before you did–more so because you had specifically asked them to let you know right away so you could find another position.

Glad to hear, though, that after your initial–and justifiable–anger, you had a pleasant end to that chapter of your technical writing career.

Thanks, again, for an engaging series!
Jeanne