The MM Network

[Goodspeed]

Congrats Taylor!  Hope it all pans out and you get the hell outta log-your-pee-time & Co. 

LONG ASS POST BELOW.

So, long time reader, first time poster - I got a scenario for you guys.

I work as a business analyst/quasi scrum master for a gov contractor in the Dunn Loring/Vienna area.  I live just west of Fairfax proper (~25-30 min commute).  I've very much enjoyed my time at my company thus far (started in January) working on a contract from my company's home office (no on-site work or travel).  I have a great manager, wonderful coworkers (people are important) and the work is interesting enough.  

So, no real complaints - other than that my current contract is up for re-compete in the next 2-3 months and we're not 100% confident we'll win it again.  We do great work for the client and get consistently high marks in return, but word through the grapevine is we're starting to swim in the same lane as some big fish that could snatch it away from us.  So it goes - hopefully we get it, but we might not - and I'd either move with the contract to another company, move to other work within my company, or lose my job.

However.

Recently I was approached to consider signing onto a new contract for a different entity of the feds - being a similar BA/SM but with more of a PM bent on an implementation team for a new software dev/process mgmt platform.  The job would be in downtown DC, and would carry more "weight" - in terms of responsibility, and visibility representing both my company and the platform's company.  I've talked with a VP at my company about the role, and further talks are to come.

Now, it's tricky because as the pieces fall into place, I'd only just be fully informed of all the details before the bus leaves to jump into the role.  However, I like what I've heard so far - I'd miss my team, but growth is good and I think it'd be a solid career move.  I want to hone my skills and resume enough to eventually land a role far, far away from the DC region before I fall too far down the rabbit hole of gov-centric work, and I think this would look good in that regard in a general BA/SM/PM sense.  Buuuut - I'm work-to-live, not live-to-work, have never worked in DC, and have some quality of life questions to address:

#1 - Where to live.  

I have the opportunity to move this summer, right around the time this DC job could be a reality.  I had been doing my homework prior to anything job-related landing in my lap as I was ready for a change.  Two very different places came to mind:

A) Potomac Falls/Ashburn area.  Even for me (more on that later), this was inconceivable a few short years ago - I can't stand cookie-cutter suburbia.  But, I like riding my bike and running on trails, being ~20 mins from Great Falls is cool, and I found a beautiful spot tucked right up against a park on the Potomac north of Rt. 7 on the edge of what you'd call Ashburn.  I can deal with that - and 1000 sq. ft. for 1/2 the cost of a comparable place in Arlington/Alexandria.  Which leads me to:

B) Arlington/Alexandria.  I've been in this area since college (9 years -_-) and have never lived more closely to DC than Vienna.  I've visited both a bunch, of course, but I never did the boozy Arlington 20's lifestyle thing that seems to be a rite of passage in this area and I'm starting to wonder if that's something I would regret.  I'm 31 now so I don't think I'd be hopelessly out of touch if I moved there to see if the city (night) life is anything I would've otherwise missed.  I'd pay well more than Ashburn to sleep in a storage closet in the sky and I might tire of the go-go-go atmosphere before long, but maybe I'd enjoy it?  

I'm looking at the living situation from two perspectives:

A) Commute.  

Some of you may be typing out your response now that I'd be insane to consider working in DC and living in/near Ashburn, and you may be right, but - every source I've read says the Loudoun County commuter buses take 1 hr to get to DC if you leave early enough (~6:30), and then it's a 25 minute walk or 13 minute metro ride from Metro Center to my proposed client site.  Is this a terrible idea?  It's lengthy based on time, but a breeze in that it'd be a carefree commute where I'd just sit back and listen to a podcast or read a book.  Maybe that makes it moot, I have no idea - I do know it'd cost ~$5k annually in public transport costs, but that'd be countered with less paid for gas, wear and tear, and lower insurance cost hopefully on my own vehicle.  If anyone has done this, I'm all ears.

Obviously, Arlington/Alexandria would be a quicker commute.

One thing to note - I can't have a dog where I currently live, and I'm tired of not having a dog.  I want one wherever I move, but I want to make 110% sure I'm being fair to the animal and giving it a good life.  Ashburn -> DC and back sounds tough for a dog, but the area sounds so much better than Arlington for a dog.  My current thinking is the apartment cost savings for being in Ashburn could go towards mid-day dog walkers.  Legit, vetted ones.

B) Dating scene.

So here's the deal.  I've been pretty aloof on this front lately, as I've not been wanting to get tied down to this area from a relationship standpoint, and I'm in peak season for getting tied down if I'm not careful.  But, I'm not a monk.  It's not lost on me that this area has some of the most diverse, smart, and successful women in the entire country.  So, I kinda struggle with my decisions on this.  I'm casually dating a girl that lives in Crystal City right now (remember, I live in Fairfax) and we somehow have kind of made that work, but it's also not lost on me that DC and immediate surrounding areas are where all the single lades (all the single ladies) are.  Is Ashburn a dating desert?  Is it only divorcee meat markets and flight attendants passing through?  I'm kinda worried I'd be on a lonely island out there.

I don't really do stuff socially after work - I go to the gym or go home and make dinner/relax.  Friday and Saturday nights I'm willing to do stuff, but I'm not really into the whole bar/club scene either.  I just don't want to totally cut myself off from women around my age by being too far away.

#2 - Salary.

I've never truly negotiated for a salary/salary increase, outside of an initial job interview, in my life.  The managers/VP I've spoken to are fully aware of the fact that moving my job from Vienna to DC would bring with it some form of increased compensation, that hasn't been shot down out of the gate.  It's up to me to lay down a number that ultimately would take the sting off of A) having a long, possibly quality-of-life-affecting commute, or B)having to pay astronomically more for a roof over my head.  

I've looked up what my position (and the position they'd basically put me in) in DC would/should cost them, and it's tens of thousands of dollars more than I currently make.  I'm talking like - a 20-30 + % raise.  Those I've spoken with were praising me as someone who was hand picked for this opportunity, and through the myriad discussions of how gov contracts work, it was impressed upon me how I wouldn't just be a warm body signing my name to make a contract go through - how they have to put their best people forward to represent the manpower behind the solution they'd provide the client.  Flattery aside, unless you suggest otherwise and I'm mistaken, I'm not seeing a reason to not ask for those dollars as compensation for what (and where) they're asking me to do.  And, this is government contracting, so they can just add it to their bill, no?

I'm curious to hear your thoughts & strategies.  I'm pretty sure I've lowballed myself for much of my career and it's time to stop that, but this seems perhaps overly simplistic to me.  Then again, maybe not.  Should I just walk in there and hold firm at a number I would've choked on my juice-box straw over not 6 months ago?

Thank you in advance for your assistance!