Career Planning

I've been nervous to post anything work-related out of fear of my boss reading it (I was in the Chicago Tribune last year and he knows I blog). I'm just going to have to get over that fear and write anyways.

This past month my highest-paid co-worker put in his 2 week notice. He was the project manager for the design department. He decided that now that his wife has had a job for a few months (nurse) that he wanted to try to start his own web design company. He's planning on staying small, just enough to cover his personal expenses. We were all shocked in the office to say the least. He did sign a non-compete agreement, but it limits it to 30 miles from our office, so he is going to try to find work outside of that area. The one item that it did prepare me for if/when I leave is to make sure I have used all my vacation time before I give my notice.

Before he had done that, I was working on some career planning of my own. I know the next few years I want to stay in web development, so I have been looking at job postings to see their requirements. I have spotted 2 certification tests that I need to take in order to apply for some of those positions and I have started studying for 1 of them. It has been rough going at the studying the past month though because I've been a bit busier at work and I get home tired. I'm not actively looking to go somewhere else, I'm looking to protect my family in case my current employer starts cutting people. I'm also looking at showing my current employer that I am staying current within the industry.

On that subject, the owner (my boss) recently took 4 months of no pay in order to keep everyone on staff and reduce the losses. With my 1 co-worker out of the picture, he is going to start taking a paycheck again. I look though at the amount of work we have in the pipeline and it doesn't make me feel too comfortable. I do have some projects that are keeping me busy until September, but after that I'll be really slow.