Job news.

I got a new job! Starting on December 12th, I will be a Staff Training Specialist for the City!

Late Friday afternoon – and I mean so late, my computer was off, my coat was on, and I was leaving the cubicle. My phone rang with an inside call and for some reason I picked it up. It was the gentleman I had interviewed with (John), saying he had an answer for me and to meet him down in the Purchasing conference room.

So I go downstairs and meet with him. He sits down and gives me this little speech about good employees, how hard they are to come by, compensation, etc., and then he says that he would officially like to offer me the job. Then he explains the reason why HR was taking time to give me an answer – they had to go through all these levels of approval to see how much they would be compensating me, including going through the Controller’s office where I work. Then he hands me a page with my “Personnel Request” that shows how much I will be paid – and I am stunned into silence. I am getting a raise that is equal to 30% of what I am making now!!! John explained that this is a rare thing, for someone to get more than 12% when they move to a new job, but that despite the budget crunch the City is in, they felt I deserved it. I was so excited, I wasn’t sure what to say! All I know is that it is an answer to prayer. I just put Travis on my insurance and that was going to take a massive hit on my income, but this makes up for it, and then some!

So Monday was a bit bittersweet as I had to give the news to my current coworkers that I am leaving. Even though there are many things I do not like about the job, and even though there has been some tension the last (almost) 2 years, I have come to like most of the people in my immediate office (6 out of 8, haha) – including my boss. When I told my boss I got the impression that she was lobbying for me to get the higher pay and the new position, always a good sign. Because of the way the City splits up its biweekly pays, and because of the short holiday week, I will finish up tomorrow and then the official two weeks will start. It’s on paper too – I turned that in yesterday as well.

I know I’m going to miss a lot of the inside jokes and banter that goes on in the office – that’s what makes it bearable. I also feel bad that I am one of the few employees that will be making more money next year, since the raise freezes are still in place, and unless you move like I just did, you don’t make any more. And I know there are some really qualified people I work with that can definitely use the money. But to be fair, they can also apply different places, but for whatever reasons, they choose not to. That said, I was thinking that some would be a bit upset with me for leaving, especially at the critical year end time, but I have had nothing but supportive comments and congratulations. I even had someone from the front office that was involved in getting me approved to move come an congratulate me and say that they were glad to see me move up.

Meanwhile, I am just glad that someone has recognized that I can handle a bigger challenge. I know this job will keep me busy, as I will be conducting training classes for Microsoft Office products, general computing, new employee orientations, possibly teach some Spanish classes, business writing skills classes, and other projects as well (don’t we all love the “other duties as assigned?!). All other benefits will stay the same, including my benefit time, since that’s the same city-wide for biweekly employees. I even get business cards for this job, something I’ve never had!

As for my current job, I am trying to do all I can to help make year-ends easier for everyone else by doing as much work as I can. That makes me a busy, busy bee. There are a ton of loose ends that need to be cleaned up, and more turn up all the time.

I’ll be missing the Christmastime with my office, which was so much fun last year. That’s the one thing that has me most apprehensive about my new job – I think that even though I get more public contact, I don’t get too many co-workers on a day to day basis. I have come to thrive on this camaderie since they are the few friends I have in Indy. But I’m trying to hard to push it out of my head and not worry about it until the 12th comes.

That’s all for tonight. A lot of this is sinking in still, and all I can really think about is the transition and buying more professional-type clothes! Just like with so many other things, I need to relax and just let it happen.