I think that a new job is a lot like a banana.
Well, maybe not just like a banana, but there are certain similarities.
When you first get a new job, everything looks great; just like a slightly underripe greeny-yellow banana that you've just brought home from the grocery store. You see nothing but its potential yumminess.
For the next few days, it sits and ripens into perfection. "My gosh!" you exclaim, "This is the best banana/job ever! I'm so glad I have it!"
Then, seemingly overnight, you notice a few telltale spots. A small blemish that you hadn't noticed before. But hey, its still pretty awesome, right? Maybe not as awesome as when you first got it, but hey, all banana/jobs go through this stage.
The speckles on the banana are natural. It's a process. So is the discovery of some speckles on a new job. The question is, "What are you going to do about it?"
Maybe your coworkers have now gotten so comfortable with having you around that they've dropped their "company" manners and gone right back to the incessant bickering they did before you arrived. Maybe the fact that your boss snorts when he laughs is getting on your nerves way faster than you thought it would. Either way, you have a decision to make.
Toss it or freeze it.
I prefer the latter option. Chill out and remember that freckled bananas make the best bread (and smoothies!). Keep your cool and remember that all jobs show their "spots" eventually. It's up to you to make the best of it. Don't be discouraged by the fact that your new job might have a few flaws. Make changes and adapt. Don't get sucked into the office politics blender! Stay positive and remember all the wonderful reasons why you took this job in the first place.
After all, we're all in this (banana) boat together!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Hidden Stress
I finished the first week of work at my new job. In the midst of all the excitement, happiness and sheer giddiness that I felt this week, I discovered something else. I was completely stressed out.
After losing my temper for the umpteenth time Thursday night, I acquiesced to my husband's request to take an evening stroll. He asked me how things were going at work and I confessed that although I was happy to be there, I was still very nervous about, well, everything.
He nodded. And then he told me that starting a new job is one of life's great stressers. I was shocked. How could this be? Getting something that I've wanted for months causes stress? Impossible! I was being paid twice what I made last year and had amazing benefits and a wonderful schedule. Why on earth should I have anything to be stressed about? And yet, there it was.
As we walked, I realized that I haven't acquired all those little safety valves that people develop when they've been on the job for a while. I don't have a secret stash of chocolate in my desk or a favorite after-work bar. I don't have a close co-worker to confide in or a "go-to" lunch place. I don't have any of those little habits and quirks that people use to cope with the day-to-day ups and downs of the workplace.
I don't have them yet. But on Friday, I did put a small box of chocolate in the back of my desk drawer. For emergencies.
After losing my temper for the umpteenth time Thursday night, I acquiesced to my husband's request to take an evening stroll. He asked me how things were going at work and I confessed that although I was happy to be there, I was still very nervous about, well, everything.
He nodded. And then he told me that starting a new job is one of life's great stressers. I was shocked. How could this be? Getting something that I've wanted for months causes stress? Impossible! I was being paid twice what I made last year and had amazing benefits and a wonderful schedule. Why on earth should I have anything to be stressed about? And yet, there it was.
As we walked, I realized that I haven't acquired all those little safety valves that people develop when they've been on the job for a while. I don't have a secret stash of chocolate in my desk or a favorite after-work bar. I don't have a close co-worker to confide in or a "go-to" lunch place. I don't have any of those little habits and quirks that people use to cope with the day-to-day ups and downs of the workplace.
I don't have them yet. But on Friday, I did put a small box of chocolate in the back of my desk drawer. For emergencies.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Bad News Leads To Good News
I got a jah-ahb...I got a jah-ahb...I got a jah-ahb!
Hooray for me! I got a job! A brand-spanking new job, too. Not some used-up old job that someone else had for maybe a year or two or ten. This, my friends, is a brand new position and has never been worked before by anyone else.
It's funny how life works. I've been looking for a full-time position since November and have sent out hundreds of resumes. No one even called me for an interview. I pulled all the strings I had and made endless phone calls to try and get the ball rolling. Nothing was working. Discouraged, I decided to sign up for the Covance medical study in May, figuring I could at least take advantage of some quick money.
As you all know from my earlier blog post, I did NOT get chosen for the study. Now I was doubly discouraged.
What you, dear reader, did not know was that immediately after I made my sad sack little blog post, I got on the phone and decided to make some job related follow-up calls. The first person I reached was a very nice lady named Wendy. We chatted about the job I had applied for while she pulled out my resume from the stack and decided to invite me in for an interview. Oh, YEAH!
A few days later I had my interview and a couple of weeks after that...I got THE CALL!
Except I wasn't home to get it live. So I heard the message on the answering machine asking me to call Wendy back. Of course, I played it over and over, trying desperately to read any nuance in her voice. Was she calling to offer me a job? Was she calling to tell me that she wanted me in for a second interview? Was she calling me to tell me that they had changed their minds on opening up the position? Aaarrrggghhhh! Fortunately, I had friends around me who said comforting things like, "Good news comes by phone. Bad news comes by e-mail."
So I called her back.
You know the rest of the story.
And it's all because I didn't get into the medical study. Go figure!
Hooray for me! I got a job! A brand-spanking new job, too. Not some used-up old job that someone else had for maybe a year or two or ten. This, my friends, is a brand new position and has never been worked before by anyone else.
It's funny how life works. I've been looking for a full-time position since November and have sent out hundreds of resumes. No one even called me for an interview. I pulled all the strings I had and made endless phone calls to try and get the ball rolling. Nothing was working. Discouraged, I decided to sign up for the Covance medical study in May, figuring I could at least take advantage of some quick money.
As you all know from my earlier blog post, I did NOT get chosen for the study. Now I was doubly discouraged.
What you, dear reader, did not know was that immediately after I made my sad sack little blog post, I got on the phone and decided to make some job related follow-up calls. The first person I reached was a very nice lady named Wendy. We chatted about the job I had applied for while she pulled out my resume from the stack and decided to invite me in for an interview. Oh, YEAH!
A few days later I had my interview and a couple of weeks after that...I got THE CALL!
Except I wasn't home to get it live. So I heard the message on the answering machine asking me to call Wendy back. Of course, I played it over and over, trying desperately to read any nuance in her voice. Was she calling to offer me a job? Was she calling to tell me that she wanted me in for a second interview? Was she calling me to tell me that they had changed their minds on opening up the position? Aaarrrggghhhh! Fortunately, I had friends around me who said comforting things like, "Good news comes by phone. Bad news comes by e-mail."
So I called her back.
You know the rest of the story.
And it's all because I didn't get into the medical study. Go figure!
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