Look before you leap

So I am going to share a somewhat embarrassing story, which luckily ended well for me, but that hopefully you will learn from before making a similar mistake.

In 2008 I was living in DC and working at my fantastic consulting firm. But I was getting the itch to go out and get on a race. I told pretty much everyone who would listen that that was my goal. Everyone except my current employers.

Rather quickly, I was set up with a campaign and had an interview. After about a week I got a job offer. I hemmed and hawed for a few days and finally decided to take it and quit my job. Without asking around about the campaign, my career or anything.

HUGE mistake.

As it turned out, this was an awful race to work on in the first place. And, by my putting in my 2 weeks I was really burning some bridges at a job that was very important to me with people who I had worked with for a few years.

It wasn’t until after accepting the job and putting in my two weeks did I ask around and learn what a horrible mistake I had made.

Generously, one of my superiors said I could undo my quitting and she would help me get on another race (she had legit connections that I never even thought to ask about since I was afraid to bring up leaving my job with my employer).

So I called the campaign, pretty much the day before I was to start, and reneged on that job. How awful. That was also very tactless and stupid. But I had to do what I thought was right. Still, it set them back a few days. Not that it mattered in the end – they got creamed in the primary. But that’s not the issue. Everyone in campaigns knows never to bail on a race. And I did. I learned my lesson too.

So what happened was that my boss set me up with the DCCC and I found an incredible position with a great candidate and campaign team. So, so, so lucky.

So the moral of this story is to really consider all of your options and the repercussions of your actions before making a move like this. If you have a good relationship with your employer, which I had and almost lost, don’t be afraid to tell them what you are thinking. If they really are good they will support you and help you.

Plus, after the campaign ended I was able to get my position back at the firm. That would never have happened if I had gone through with my original plan.

When we are young we tend to make very rash and narrow-minded decisions. Take my advice, take a step back, think, ask around and then choose your path.