[skimmy]

I had a very clear example of logic vs. intuition happen to me these past couple of months.

I started a temp assignment late October of 2007, and I was told this assignment would involve heavy payroll assistance, which perked my ears since I wanted to get into accounting. Once I got there, I was told I would be the operations administrative assistant, and I felt the first *plunk* in my gut. Another admin job?? I had enough of those. Well, I decided to make the best of it and do the job they hired me for. After a week, I started getting into it, and found it did involved a lot of payroll duties, so I was satisfied for the time being.

Then the girl who I was temping for came back, but instead of ending my assignment, they told me to stay around because they loved my work and "in case she left for another job." *Plunk* number two. They were working on creating a position for me, which logically should make anyone excited, but I wasn't really jumping for joy. They told me about a project they wanted me to head up, which they said would involve some accounts payable work but to me it sounded more like cleaning up someone else's mess, so that was another *plunk*. I started looking for another temp assignment. A couple of weeks later, I got a phone call from a different temp agency and they said they had a company that wanted me to start the following monday, working directly for the accounting department, and starting at a higher pay rate. I got excited, and told her I'd get back to her.

I wanted to compare my options, so I went to talk to the Director of Finance about my future at the company. I told her about the other company's offer, and she tried to talk me out of it. She gave some compelling logic for staying.

"What if I told you that tomorrow, you'll report to me and be considered part of the accounting department?" Logically appealing.

I told her the project they wanted me to work on wasn't that appealing because of the "cleaning up" part.

"What if I got in a file clerk to organize those files, then all you'd have to do is see how the process flows now and make your recommendations for better efficiency?" Again, logically appealing.

Other logically appealing details she told me was that under her, I'd get a broad range of accounting experience and she also has connections in the CPA licensing world and she could sort of "mentor" me in my accounting goals. All very appealing. Logically.

But when I got home, I couldn't shake the feeling in my gut that I needed to get out of that company. I spent an entire 24 hours thinking and mulling this over. I weighed the pros and cons of staying vs. leaving, and for all the logical reasons I could come up with to stay, my gut kept sinking at the thought of staying. I just could not work up any excitement at the prospect of going back to that company. All I got was a feeling of dread. So, I told them I decided to accept the other offer. They understood and wished me the best of luck.

Fast forward to Monday at my new temp assignment: Already I was being given multiple accounting tasks that were completely new to me, and I felt that I was growing and learning already. The first week I had already learned enough to add a half page to my resume. I'm very happy here and I can already see potential for more learning and growth. I'm convinced I made the right decision, and that was based just on a gut feeling.