Wish me luck guys. I'm meeting with a headhunter after work tonight.

I've decided that my wife has sacrificed enough with me working at non-profits and governmental jobs - it's time to get back to making some decent money.

How did the meeting go (Just saw the post!) they can open some doors for you that you may not be able to on your own.

Hey John - was just getting ready to post an update. Thanks for asking.

Meeting went well. The company is not just a headhunter, they are also a consulting/contracting company. They are interested in me as a consultant working as their employee.

I've done a lot of consulting work over the years, so am pretty interested in this.

I'm still waiting on some material from them, like the cost of their benefits package, but they agreed to my asking price (about $20K more/year than I'm getting now). Did I mention that I'm slightly underpaid v. the market rate right now?

I do have to take a proficiency exam (for a programming language), so I'll need a little prep for that.

This sounds fantastic. good luck to you and keep us updated.

Here's an update:

I took the exam last night. It covered a programming language (VB.Net) that I feel pretty comfortable with, and had listed as having "advanced" knowledge of on my resume. I am very proud of the fact that I've never lied or even exaggerated my skills on my resume. I have always felt that I know what I know.

Last night after the test I questioned whether I should have claimed advanced proficiency. I thought I did very poor on it. But this morning I got the results from the recruiter - 3.95/4.0, with a rating of "Advanced (Master)". Guess it wasn't so bad after all.

So we'll see what happens next.

Another update:

Going to meet with the client this afternoon. It's a major (very major) aerospace manufacturer.

Looks pretty good right now. I'm looking at a 50% pay hike (which beats my previous ship-jumping record of 23%).

Sounds great. Were you able to get a good handle on the cost of living comparison? This is a link to spelling's cost comparison website.

http://www.bestplaces.net/col/

Actually Pecos, I'll be living where I currently live, so cost of living won't be a factor. The commute is a bit farther - about 20 minutes or so.

The interview went well (I thought so anyway), and I should hear back shortly.

LKS- I hope you get the offer! Let us know.

You will probably need the pay raise just to cover the cost of gas!