Now that I’ve spent a week and a half at my new position, I’m starting to settle in a bit more.
My office is starting to feel like I live there, with the addition of my fabulous Cotton Monster, my special little filing system and tunes from my iPod. At this point I feel comfortable enough with the other employees that I can chat with them without feeling like a total idiot. Oh, and I totally know where the nearby bathrooms are located, so that rocks.
Obviously this early in the process I can’t do a full apples-to-apples comparison of my old position vs. my new one, but I can very easily list my top 3 reasons why my new job is currently the winner:
1. Attainable Goals are Awesome
Starting a new position is scary, even more so when it’s a little bit different than previous jobs you’ve worked throughout your career. In every position I’ve ever held, I’ve pretty much been thrown into an ocean of crap and told to sink or swim with little or no direction. Imagine my surprise, when I actually received a copy of my job description, clear expectations and goals, and a project list of tasks to start on. So, not only do they tell me what is expected of me, but they give me a roadmap to follow? What a concept!
2. Convenient Food Options Hit the Spot
At my last office, I can’t tell you how many times I didn’t bring lunch and then had no time to run out and grab something. Usually my only options were to scrounge around in my desk drawers for anything left in my stash, or raid the snack machine. Neither option was a good one and usually just left me hungrier and angry (like a hormonal Hulk). Well, my new office wins again – there’s a little restaurant in my building! They have breakfast and lunch options, as well as various snacks available. And the best part is… there’s a Starbucks in there too!
3. They Like Me for Me
At no point during the last week and a half have I been told to: be a cheerleader, make my personality more like the last girl in the position, or try harder to make everyone like you. Believe me, there are many, many, many more inappropriate and awful things that were told to me about my personality over the last few years, but I truly just realized that I don’t have to hear it anymore. It’s like I’ve finally been released from years of incarceration and am reentering society – I’m afraid to make a wrong step or I’ll get shanked, but everyone is actually a lot nicer on the outside. Granted, it hasn’t been very long but everyone I’ve meet and worked with so far has been genuinely nice to me, without me having to jump through hoops to try and win them over.
So, as much as I wish I could have walked away from my last position on my own accord instead of being laid off, I truly do feel like I picked a winner.
Isn’t it funny how we can be so scared of change that we stay somewhere that isn’t a good fit? For years I was unhappy and ready to move on, but too nervous to actually take the leap and do it. Like an abusive relationship, the insanity started to feel normal to me.
But now, my eyes are opened to so many other opportunities that are out there. I absolutely loved doing freelance work and have kept on a couple of my clients to work for in my spare time. I’m really enjoying the fresh challenges of my new position.
Will I stay here forever? Will I leave and start up my own consulting firm in the next couple years? Is there something else that I haven’t even considered? I guess we’ll just have to see where this adventure takes us!