Since leaving Salesforce in 2023 I’ve been working in a contractor role for a health insurance company where I worked full-time from 2011 to 2015. Being a contractor allows me to have a much higher base pay in lieu of things like PTO, benefits, and an employer’s 401(k) match. I’m fortunate to work for a software firm that offers paid vacation (two weeks per year) and has a 401(k), though there’s no employer match. My wife has incredible benefits through her employer, and since we would likely use those anyhow, it’s well worth it to me to stay in a contractor role as opposed to look for a full-time position.

Unfortunately, this also adds to the risk of being laid off again.

I’ve been in a role for the past two years that has been primarily project management, with some account/relationship management responsibilities. I don’t usually enjoy project management roles as they can be painful, but the programs I’ve been on for the past year or so have been a lot of fun and I love working with the people I interact with on a daily basis.

We’ve had some reductions in our organization over the past six months or so and the client made the decision to move me into a Scrum Master role to safeguard me from being impacted. While I was searching for new jobs after the tech layoffs, I noticed that most of the Scrum Master roles I was seeing wanted to SAFe certifications, which focus on a framework for scaling agile delivery methods in an organization. I don’t have this certification and I have limited experience with it to fall back on.

So, I took a certification course last month and passed my SAFe Scrum Master certification exam, adding that to my Certified Scrum Master and Certified Scrum Product Owner certifications.

I love the new role, and until the client starts to hire full time positions again, I’m perfectly happy coaching teams toward better productivity levels.