Entering Year 10

 


Nine years ago (officially tomorrow)  I started a new job.  As I begin year 10, I still have the same job title, but so many things have changed!

When I found this position, I was working for a company that I liked.  I liked the people. (I am still in touch with several people there; as a matter of fact my former boss and I share a birthday!) I liked the commute.  The pay wasn't that great, which is why started looking at other opportunities.

It was a small(ish) corporation with several small companies/brands under its umbrella.  I met with the president of the company that I would work for and like him.  He was bold and brash, but I could tell he would be fair.  (I was proved right time and again.)  A week or so later I met the head of HR.  I liked her too.  I thought that was it, but then I was asked to meet the VP of Sales and Marketing.  He was a little more challenging and I thought at the time that if I didn't get offered the position, he would be the reason why.  But I did and on June 28, 2016 (yes it was a Tuesday), I got my start.

The office suite was in a building in the southern portion of Bergen County.  I had a large cubicle with a huge window that allowed me to see NYC in the distance, whereas if I looked directly down I could see marshland, brimming with all sorts of birds. I could go for a walk or run errands on lunch.  Most of the people I worked with, including my boss (the president) were off site.  (Several people that I worked with and still work with today I have never met face to face!) There were two other people in the office who fell under the company's umbrella, an admin to the sales department and a marketing manager. (Although I'm not sure exactly what he did.  He was rather strange and I believe he was day trading on the side.  He was let go several months after I started working there and I was told that if he ever tried to come back into the building to call HR immediately...thankfully he never did.)  The others in the office suite were corporate HR, IT, editorial staff for publications the corporation ran and some others from other companies that I didn't know much about.  (One was eventually sold off.) We had summer Fridays from Memorial Day through Labor Day where we worked and extra hour Monday through Thursday and then left around noon on Friday.   It wasn't perfect (what is?), but it was pretty good.

In late 2019, the corporation was acquired by another company (which in turn was part of even a bigger corporation).  Everything was to remain the same, until it didn't. (We all knew that would happen.)  In December, my boss told me that I would no longer be reporting to him (he would eventually move into a sales position), but to a Sr. Director who worked out of one of the NYC offices.  I was assured that I would not be working in NYC, but I did end up going there twice for meetings in early 2020.  (If you know me you know I am NOT a fan of cities.)

You know what happened next, right?  March 2020 arrived and everything shut down.  We all worked from home.  The office suite lease was not renewed and I, along with my co-workers (in shifts) went it to take what we wanted and needed.   (Why did we keep all the "stuff" we didn't need? ) I kept working from home until the corporation decided to open an office in Newark.  By this time I was no longer working directly for the Sr. Director, but reporting to a Director who reported to the Sr. Director who reported to the VP of the division.  (Easy enough to follow right?).  And in addition to the company that I was originally hired to work for, I was working for another one that fell under that umbrella.

In the ensuing years, my work station has been moved three times.  (From row 16 to row 20 and now in row 18.) I've been assigned and reassigned to a variety of companies or perhaps I should say lines of business.  I still cover a portion of business for the original company I was hired for as well as three others.  I'm also back up for two other lines of business that I once covered but have since been reassigned to other co-workers.  It’s been an unexpected whirlwind!

In a nutshell, where I am nine years later, is very different than where I started or what I even expected.  (Did I even know what I was expecting?)   Things have changed.  Some things are better (weekly team lunches, division lunch and learns, meeting and working with some incredible people) and some are not (the commute, being the "old lady" in the division, no more summer Fridays), but as Steven Sondheim wrote, "I'm still here." (I hope that didn't jinx it!  Only time will tell, but keep those fingers crossed. I may be "old" but I'm too young to retire...and I'm not sure if retiring will ever be on the boards for me!)

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