Home is where my bed is

Last week, I had to make a really difficult decision: I withdrew from an interview process where I was very close to getting a job in Torino... I am OK with my decision now but couldn't really write about it until later. Having a job in Italy has always seemed like an unattainable dream and now I turned down this chance... Anyway, career wise it would have been a very bad choice and I am not at a point in my career where I could afford it. (It was a fixed-term position, 1-2 years, with no chance of extending, so it wasn't like I could totally settle down there.) So while I believe I made the right choice, it still hurts! I guess it is always really difficult to turn down something good - but I believe I did the right thing. Even though that is a little hard to say since I never thought I would turn down a chance to work in Italy! Oh well. Definitely no more Torino google searches for a while...

I had applied for the job, so it wasn't like it was a complete shock when the employer showed interest, but I didn't expect everything to happen so fast: I applied shortly before the Tuesday deadline, and on Friday I was contacted about an interview! I did a phone interview the following Wednesday, and after a one hour interview they called me back (literally two minutes after we hung up) to ask if I could come to Italy for an interview in less than two weeks. And they wanted an answer ASAP! I told them I needed the day to find out whether I could take time off. I didn't really know what to do so I spoke to some senior people in my organization and got some really good advice. By the end of the day I knew the right thing to do would be to withdraw - even though I was very excited about the prospect of a free trip to Italy! Then again, that would not leave a nice impression if I had no intentions of taking the job... Now, two weeks later, I feel better and while I was sad the day it happened, I am glad to say I have moved on. Maybe some time in the future I will have the chance to apply for something in Italy again.

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