First Days

Well, I have now been at my new job for three days, and boy, it has kept me super busy. Monday consisted of meeting new people, sitting down with my bos (who LOVES to talk), and trying to get everything organized and settled in. I had to work on some scheduling for the upcoming first quarter training classes, as well as preparing materials for the classes being held this week. Tuesday and Wednesday I had to sit through my boss’s training classes – yesterday was “Coaching and Counseling Employees”, and today was “Interviewing to Hire Superior Performers”. Today’s class was more interesting and insightful than yesterday’s class; it’s designed to train managers how to be sneaky and thorough in their interviews. So now I can see all the BS us poor employees have to deal with…I had to do some grunt work, but nothing too major yet. I can already see what my crap work will have to be – all my “other duties as assigned”, which for most jobs usually suck.

People on my new floor/office have been super friendly and supportive. I haven’t been able to spend a whole lot of time upstairs in my office, but when I have been there, I have had friendly smiles and conversation. They have even gone out of their way to make sure I am included in Friday’s Christmas party, which is very nice. I missed out on secret santas, but they drew names before I came to the office. That’s not a big deal though, and if that’s the worst that happens, then I can deal. The office environment is pretty good too, except that 1) I have no window, and it drives me crazy!!!!, 2) there is no break room on my floor, and 3) my radio doesn’t work on my desk anymore, thanks to where I am located in my building. That isn’t too bad of a problem though, because my computer has Internet access, speakers, ITunes, and Winamp (which I did not have at my last job), so I can bring my own music and keep MP3s on there. That will definitely save me.

The last few days of my old job were very hard. I worked my ass off to make sure that I did as much as I could to fix problems and clean up. That’s just the type of person I am, I wasn’t about to leave a lousy last impression. Thursday, my office had a pizza party for me (local Circle City greasy pizza) and they got me a cake (chocolate!), AND a gift card to New York and Company!! I was so shocked, I never thought they would do that! I was crying quite a bit the last two days, especially when I had some of my department contacts and thank me for a job well done. There were hugs and even more tears from my office staff as well.

It’s kinda sad how it took me leaving the Accounts Payable position to get any sort of recognition or approval. But even when my new boss has talked about me being his new assistant, he tells me that he hears glowing reviews about my job performance. He even tells me of one Dept. of Metropolitan Development gentleman who said that he turned to me when he needed something done since he knew I was on it. It made me feel so appreciated! I can tell I will be missed, because I worked hard and made my contacts work hard, so stuff got done. That, and having the praise of my AP boss is wonderful, since I know she doesn’t give it too freely.

Today was the first time I got to go back and visit since I left, and it made it so much harder on me. I feel like I’m on the outside loop now;’ yes, people are still friendly with me, but life goes on, and jokes go on that I am no longer a part of. It’s amazing how when I first started working there, I couldn’t wait to leave, and now that I am gone, it has struck me this hard, even harder than when I left my clothing job down in Miami. The people in AP were more “real” and a lot more friendly. Plus we had a lot more fun in AP, something that so far is seriously lacking from my new job.

But, we will see. I will be in more training tomorrow, but finally on Friday I will have a break. The mayor is hosting a holiday breakfast, and then the HR party I spoke about. First weeks are always notoriously stressful, so I won’t worry for a while.