Week No. 16: Job Change Edition - Highs, Lessons Learned, etcetera

Happy Friday, all!

Wow, so today is my last day with my job. I've worked for this company since March 2018, and it was my second job out of grad school. I had a lot of good experiences and a lot of difficult experiences with the company and the position. I'm going to use this post to kind of reflect on the previous job.

Starting on May 3, I'll be working in the same industry, but for a different company and in a different capacity.

Highs from My Job

• One of the best things about my job for the last three years is the group of friendly people who worked with me. It's a bit overwrought to say that your life is deeply influenced by your coworkers, but when you sit three feet away from a person for three years, that person can really affect you. So I'm very lucky to be able to say that my coworkers--with very few exceptions--were real winners. Coworkers who will chat with you but also not distract your whole day are great. Coworkers who carry their own weight are great so that you don't end up having to pick up their slack. And coworkers who are willing to weigh in on your work to give advice are wonderful.
• Learned some gravitas. This job required a lot of confidence and poise. I interacted with countless difficult people in my job. So learning to interact professionally with difficult people is valuable. And learning to deliver bad news truthfully and tactfully is valuable. 
• Developed relationships with others in the industry. I worked a lot with people in my specific office, many in different offices of my same company, and many in other companies who are in the same industry. There were naive attitudes I had when I began that people at 'competitors' were my own competition: that's just silly. People are just people, and for the most part, everyone just wants to figure things out!

Lessons Learned from My Job

• Difficult people are everywhere, but you don't need to let them live in your mind rent-free. I've learned to interact with difficult people, but the position I was in really encouraged people to be as difficult as possible. It is draining to deal with some folks. Developing boundaries is helpful but also challenging.
• Management makes a huge difference in a company's culture. I had good management. But some people in my company did not. And morale can really be hurt by management that is not clear, communicative, and fair.
• When you begin at a new job, ask more questions than you think you need to! And even when you've been there for a long time, you're still allowed to ask questions. I promise that asking questions makes you look smarter... not less.
• Ask for what you want and ask for what you need. I have worked remotely for many months based on a change in my life circumstance, and I did have the courage to ask my company for that accommodation, and they made the accommodation! Earlier in my employ there, I doubt they would have made the accommodation. But once I was known to be good enough at my job, they provided these kinds of accommodations. 

Today's Delights:

• My husband and I finally have all of our belongings in one place! Our home is a total mess, but it's so fun to officially only have one home.
• Last night, I made my favorite pizza again! It's basically fool-proof, and so good.
• My noom progress has been hurt, because I've been too busy to do the meal logging lately. But I'm at 166.4 lbs, which is still overall progress from where I was before!

Find something to delight in -

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