Forced (And Realization of What I Want)

I found it very strange to be forced into a position where I don't think I should be forced.

Not that I'm willing to just accept certain things, but its really more of the other way around. It wasn't even time to be forced to do something - To accept something that hasn't even been offered yet!

What's this all about? Its about looking around for a job. I've recently been looking about to verify my current market value, and so I've been asking around and applying for potential openings... see what I'm worth, after 4 years of being an Oracle DBA.

I encountered a specific job opening through an agent. After much interviewing, I received a call from the agent asking if I'm willing to commit to the job. I asked if there were any offers proposed by the company already, but he didn't really answer my question. In fact, he even asked me if I was interviewed by the IT department... giving me the impression that he wasn't really offered anything (otherwise, if he did talk to the employing company, he'd know that I was already interviewed and they found me satisfactory or not) but he was just getting my commitment.

Since this was the first job interview that I've done, I was a bit hesistant to give me commitment as I was still interested in scouring around for other possible opportunities. Lets face it, I do still have a job at the moment, and I would like to know more about the current job market, and I've only been to one direct company interview.

If anything though, there's a lot to be learned about this bit of job opening. I finally realized a few important things about what I want, in order:

1. A IT manager/supervisor that I respect and look up to.
2. A setting where I'd feel like being in a team.
3. Professionalism.
4. A good culture that I can thrive and have a niche in.
5. A company that will evaluate its employees worth in a periodic basis
6. A company that would actually take care of its employees and listen to their opinions.

I probably have a lot to ask for, but I don't think I really require all these point to be satisfied, but at least I'd like it to be most of them. Well, despite being forced into making a decision, I suppose I should also be thankful; it made me think and consider the things that I really DO want.

Needless to say, I turned this job down, even if there wasn't even any offer yet. Being forced to do something I'm completely not comfortable with isn't really the way to go about as a job agent. Nuff said.