Ch-ch-ch-changes

A lot has been going on the last week or so.

The most notable being that I got a new job!  I have been looking for a few months(actually more like 6 months but only aggressively for the last three).

I went on a lot of interviews.  I was only offerred one of those jobs and it didn't have medical benefits so I couldn't accept the position.  Other than that I had a lot of interest in the form of interviews, but no actual offers.  It was disappointing.

There was one particular job that I interviewed for that I really, really wanted.  The pay was better than my current job but what really made the job stand out was their benefit package.

At my current job, when I started working there 4 years ago (almost exactly four years ago-can you believe it?)  we had benefits.  One week of vacation pay, paid holidays, health insurance and retirement.  As the economy took a down turn, our benefits were slowly taken away.  First our vacation pay went.  Then the paid holidays. Next we had to pay for half our health insurance. Finally the retirement plan was halted.  While I understood the need for some of these things, as business had slowed considerably, it  sucked.  Big time.  Coming from my last job where I worked for a very large company with an excellent benefits package, this was hard for me to swallow.  I began to feel bitter about it and I felt a general negativity towards the job in general.  I made a pact with myself that I was going to find a job that offerred up some of the benefits that my current job used to offer.


So, back to this job.  I went in for an interview and met with the office manager and the financial person.  That interview went for 2 and a half hours!  I have ever been on an interview that long and it felt promising.  Then they asked me to come back and do a "working interview".  So the next day I went and worked 3 and a half hours in the office.  I loved it there.  The office is beautiful  and I felt like clicked with the girls.  I was very aggressive about pursuing this job. I sent thank you notes to everyone in the office that I had come into contact with(which I would have done anyway). I called to follow up, not once, not twice, but three times.  It is not like me to be so aggressive.  But I have a really great group of women that I get advice from and they suggested I really let them know that I was interested in the position and that I was the one they should hire.

Well I didn't get the job.  The financial person said he admired my confidence ( I told him he would be sorry if he didn't hire me), and that they were still interviewing and that he would call me either way.

He never called. Why do they do that?  Why do they say they will call either way and then they don't?  It's rude.

 I was so bummed.

I went on with life and put that job out of my mind, determined to find another job with similar benefits.

No luck.

Then one day, out of the blue a week and  half ago I get this message on my cell phone from the office manager at that office.

The message went like this:

 "This is so-and-so from so-and-so's office, I don't know it you remember me (Ummmm...of course I remember you.  I worked there for half a day...LOL), and anyway, it came down to you and one other person for the position we had open and we hired the other person.  Well she didn't work out, and would you be interested in meeting with me again?  If you already found another job, or you don't want to I understand.  But when the position became open again your name was the first to pop into my head, because I liked you very much and I think you would be a good fit for this job."

I have to admit for a minute I was like "Ha!  See?  you should have hired me in the first place, and why would I want to come meet with you again, after you gave me the run around the first time?"

And then the logical side of my brain overtook the emotional side and I called her back and said

"Yes, I would LOVE to come and meet with you again and I am still interested in the position."


Insert one very long, emotional week while they did background checks(not that I was worried about that), and reference checks and a bunch of administrative mumbo jumbo until finally on Wednesday they called and offerred me the position.



Was I second choice?  (Or as my co-worker put it "Their sloppy seconds".  Nice).

Yes I was.  Does it matter?  Nope.  In the end I got the job and that's all that matters to me.


I started on Friday.

If I could do any part of it differently, the only thing I would change is how things ended with my current employer.   I wasn't able to give any notice, and I regret that.  This position needed someone to start immediately.


My current job knew I had been looking for some time.  At one point I was told that I wouldn't be replaced right away(although that was before our busy spell that occurs in late summer).  My leaving is creating a lot more work for everyone that is left behind, especially my co-worker.  I regret that.

If I had been able to give more (well, any) notice I would have.  I simply couldn't pass up this opportunity.  I had to do what was right for me and I did.

Unfortunately there were hurt feelings and resentments between me and my co-worker.  I could have handled a few things differently.  But when I left my current office on my last day I got a cursory goodbye from my co-worker and my last paycheck and a pat on the back from my boss, and that was it.

Thankfully my other co-workers were very forthcoming in their sadness to see me go, which made me feel somewhat better.

But I worked there four years and it would have been nice to have had a pleasant send off and some  "sorry to see you go, but good luck" sentiments.

Oh well.  It is what it is and I need to look forward now.

Thus begins my first full week of work at my new job.  Wish me luck!


P.S., as for benefits, they almost equal the benefits I had at my last job.

3 weeks paid time off
9 paid holidays
Medical insurance completely covered, with the option to add a spouse or family member.
401 K retirement plan


Plus it's a completely different type of office (dermatology), so I am excited about learning some new things.

AND, the drug reps cater lunches for the staff twice a week!  How cool is that?

I feel good about this new chapter in my life and I am excited to see where this job takes me!