True Hunting is Over, No Herds to Follow

Three more days. I can't believe it. I read somewhere once that there are few things scarier than a realized dream. I can attest to that sentiment from this experience and others, but I'm not scared per se. I'm just really nervous. This new job is something that I've never done before. What if I completely suck at it? I'm not the kind of guy who can accept personal mediocrity. Basically, I fear the learning curve. I am not accustomed to failure at work. I like being able to perform well at what I do. I don't want to not do well, even if it is just for a little bit. I don't want to let myself or my new fellow co-workers down.

On the other hand, I have been craving change for a long time now. This is what I wanted. This is what I need. I am super excited for the potential that this new job may bring. On paper it is a slam-dunk career move. This could be a serious turning point in my life and professional career. Why live life passively just sitting back waiting for something to happen? Seek out what you want and get it, right?

So, I'm not scared of the change. I say bring it on. But I'm still excitedly nervous for it. I guess that's normal, right? I mean, who wouldn't be? I just keep telling myself that I've felt the same way before every job I've ever had and things pretty much always come out right. When I started one past job I totally freaked out. I thought that there was no way I would make it past the first week. I told myself that I had to hang on for at least a month. That job was horrible, but I lasted almost three years. I figure if I made it at that place anything else has to be a piece of cake by comparison.

The winding down of the job here has been pretty anti-climactic so far. I was in Misery, um, I mean Missouri last week to help train in a couple of my soon-to-be-former co-workers on some of the things only I know how to do, like the receivables website. The person I will be training in is pretty capable, so I think she'll do ok. It is a whole heck of a lot to learn, though, so I hope she is up for the challenge. The Big Boss Lady wanted me to drop everything and fly to St. Louis on short notice to do this, but when I got there the BBL wasn't even there. She was traveling to Philadelphia. Oh well. She is going to be here in Denver, though, for the next three days. Why? I have no idea. She has never done a three-day stay before, not even for any of my reviews or anything like that. Perhaps she wants to make sure that I am going to show up or that I'm not going to steal my stapler or something. The Mrs. thinks that the BBL is freaking out that I am going to leave and no one is going to know what is going on because I am the only one in a company of 8,000+ people who knows how to do a lot of stuff. Quite possibly. Hey, I gave them fair warning and a chance to retain me. They chose not to. I feel no guilt regarding the repercussions they brought upon themselves. However, I will exit gracefully and make sure that I am giving my best up until the very end. I still have friends here that I don't want to screw over, like my sales rep friend in California who agreed to be a reference for me. I owe her at least a smooth transition to the next financial rep she will have to deal with for helping me out. Plus, that's the kind of guy I am, and maybe when it is all said and done they will feel a tinge of regret for just watching me go. Trust me, though; there won't be any regret on my part. I'll be walkin' out that door with smile on my face. Guaranteed.

Left a Good Job in the City, Workin' for the Man Every Night and Day

Ok everyone, I have exciting news to share. I got the job!!! Pretty cool, huh? I'm pretty excited myself.

I felt the good vibe walking away from my interview, but I knew there were at least 9 other candidates and I've made it farther than that before and not got the job so I didn't want to get my hopes up. The Big Boss Lady came in town the next day for my review. We went out for lunch and she brought back up the issues we had discussed during her last visit, such as my low pay, long commute, and no hope ever for promotion. She tried to say a few things to get me to stay, but all of them were wrong. Like "lots of people stay in the same position their whole careers." Yeah, but I'm not one of those people and if I have no hope of promotion or major salary increases for the next 26 years or so, what motivation do I have? I am the kind of person who has to work towards some sort of goal or achievement. I have to push myself and set my sights on an obtainable accomplishment. I can't just float through my job (and my life) passively. I need to control my own destiny. And get paid more doing it.

But I didn't say any of that then because I hadn't heard anything back yet. No, I just sat there and smiled knowing that one way or another sooner or later I would finally escape from all of this BS. We finished lunch, went back to the office, and then left for the day.

The BBL was still in town for the next morning. We were discussing some account or another when my cell phone rang. It was my prospective employer calling. I cut the discussion with the BBL short and ran into the warehouse to take the call. They wanted to let me know that they were on the "second round of the hiring process" and that they were going to do a background check on me and call my references. They wanted to let me know so I could give my references a head's up. Sweet! I was totally pumped. Just one problem... the BBL was one of my references...

So, I told the Big Boss Lady that I had something to tell her and we escaped to the privacy of the conference room. There I told her that I had been interviewing and that she should be expecting a call soon for a reference check. Although I had given her (and her boss, Herr Direktor) fair warning two months ago, she seemed taken aback like she doubted that I would actually leave the company and that it was all just a bluff. I told her that I felt no animosity or anger towards her or the company, but that it was completely a career decision. I had to go somewhere where I had a future, I could seek out new opportunities, etc. She said that she understood, but that she was disappointed. That was on Wednesday. On Friday around noon they called.

First they asked me if I was still interested in the position. Absolutely!!!! Well, then, they would like to offer the position to me. Whoooohoooo!!!! I was totally pumped. Then she wanted to talk about salary. She put out a pretty good number, but with my current bonus it was pretty close to what I could make staying here if we had another good year (then again if we didn't...). I told her that it seemed like a pretty fair amount but that to be honest I had another figure in mind. She said that we were just having a "discussion" and that this wasn't set in stone. So, I asked for the amount I had in mind and she gave it to me. So, all told I will be earning 23% more than my current base salary. Even if I stayed with my current (soon to be ex) employer and they had a phenomenal year resulting in a maximum bonus, I would still be making more in my new position. Add in the good benefits package, the much much much shorter commute, and all of those government holidays off and it all seems too good to be true.

Now I just have to like the job. I'm kinda nervous because this will be doing something completely different than what I have ever done before. I'm not scared, mind you, just nervous. I'm not the kind of guy who accepts (or doesn't care about) not doing my job well. I have pride in my work. I am nervous about the learning curve and the challenge ahead of learning something new. But this is a challenge that I invited. I craved it. I wanted it so badly to be here. And now it is here. Crazy.

Thanks everyone for putting out the good vibe for me. I appreciate it. This new job will no doubt affect a change in this blog, but change is good. Yes it is. Change is indeed very good.