First World Problem

I want to first start off by stating that as the title states, this post is a complete first world problem.  There are bigger things to gripe about.  And there are people out there that definately have more problems than me.  But I do have family and friends who read my blog and genuinely care for me and the best way I can explain everything is through writing.

So if you've got bigger fish to fry and don't care to hear about my story then stop right now and go onto something else.


Anyway, for those that care or are just plain curious, about two weeks ago, I had a phone interview for a position at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta.  In the end, I wasn't offered the position.  And looking back, I'm kind of relieved.  I mean the CDC houses like every single disease known to man...and then some.  There's some scary stuff there, and the job would've had me potentially working around that sh*t!  I had a feeling from the questions I was asked that I wasn't gonna get the job.  I can't remember the questions anymore but I do recall staring at the phone like, "What the eff are they talking about?  Is this Klingon?"  The questions had me clueless and I felt like the women interviewers were "judgy."  A little background:  interviews for federal positions usually involve a panel of interviewers who take turns asking the same set of questions for every interviewee.  Well, I had five people interviewing me, four women and one male.  The guy interviewer was awesome and I had him cracking up, but the ladies...nope.  Judgy.  I get that alot though from female leadership.   But that's another issue I'll save for another day.

So I didn't get the job and I'm still at the one at now.  So, in the end, nothing was lost.  In fact, the week before my interview, I got a promotion that I was actually due for a couple of weeks prior, but didn't get for some reason.  With the promotion now in place, the Atlanta job would've actually been a pay cut (even though it was a lateral position). 

But with that promotion, I'm now "capped out" in my current position.  More background:  with a federal job, you're hired into a certain job series and can go up to a certain level.  Some positions have only one level and some have up to several levels that can be reached with supervisor's approval after a year.  Well, with me, I've reached my highest level for my particular position.  I'll get monetary increases after every couple of years, but career wise, I'm peaked.  The only way to get anything different is to apply and compete for higher positions, which there are at my current place of work.  But those guys don't plan on leaving anytime soon.  So I'm stuck.  I applied for the CDC mainly out of curiosity.  But now, I don't have much incentive for staying where I am and as much I do genuinely like the job I have, I can't stay if I'm like this. 

Besides, I am ready to leave Maryland.  There are nice aspects of this place, but the few negatives are pretty heavy and piss me off...ie. the cost of living and the general agressiveness of everyone.  So, I'm keeping my eyes and ears open.