Thursday, October 31, 2013

Why I Like 2013 Again - Part 1

Wow.  It's almost November and this is my first post of the year.  Let me get you up to speed.
 
Got laid off in January.  Spent most of my days working on the house and searching the web for jobs.  It was nice having the time off, but the no $$ part suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked.  I had no job, but it wasn't for lack of trying.  I sent out hundreds of resumes, went on dozens of interviews - nuthin'.  Nada.  I felt like such a loser.
 
Then in July, I got an email from a former boss asking if I was available to do some freelance work. I asked how soon and he said "at once".  So the next day I was working again.  Part time - just a few days a week, but it was $$.  He also set me up with a few days a week at another division of the company.  I also got some other freelance work at a few different companies, so I was able to keep up a steady five day work week for about a month and a half. 
 
Then I got an offer for a temp-to-perm freelance assignment.  It was a great company, nice people to work with, but every week when it came time to make me an offer, they'd say they needed another week.  Finally, they fessed up that they had no intention of hiring someone permanently and that it would be freelance only.  And since I needed the $$, I continued working there with the understanding that if I received a full time offer from another company I was free to go.
 
A few weeks later I was nearing that offer.  I had a great interview with a company that wanted to hire me, but they knew the owner of the company where I was freelancing and didn't want to step on any toes, so they just wanted to call the other owner.  When I finally got the phone call that I thought would be the offer, instead I heard "We were going to offer you the job, but I called Company A and they said they were going to make you an offer." Wait, WHAT??  The same company where I've worked for weeks and heard repeatedly that they were most certainly NOT making me an offer? I suddenly felt like the toy on the playground that just sat there and nobody played with it.  Until the first kid picked it up.  Then immediately, there was another kid  yelling "MINE!"
 
And then came the rest of the kids.  While I was trying to straighten out the mess between the first two jobs, I got an email from my former boss  (the same one who set me up with the initial freelance work) telling me he appreciated the freelance work I did over the summer and wanted to know if I'd be interested in working there full time.  Well, at least if the two companies who were arguing over me both dropped their offers, I'd have something.
 
So the nexy day, I was freelancing at the other division of former boss's company when I got a call from HR.  I thought it was going to be the offer from former boss, but instead it was about an offer in yet another division of the same company.
 
And thenn I got a call from another company.  With another offer.  For a total of five.
 
So, long story less long (well, it's beyond short now, isn't it?), The offer I really wanted came through, I told the other four "thanks, but no thanks" and I started my new full time job.
 
 It was so exciting!  Great company, great products, great people to work with.  And then I got an email from an agent who had placed me at Former Boss's company nine years ago.  She said she had sent my resume to a company and they wanted to meet me.  I replied thankyou, but I jad already started my new job.  When she replied with how much the job paid, I decided it was a good idea to keep my options open.  "I'll be there tomorrow" I said.
 
I went in thinking they wouldn't be interested in me.  They were nice and the company was great, but I didn't think they'd call me back.
 
They called me back.  I went for a second interview.  I was sitting in the interview thinking "Don't offer me the job.  I don't want to have a difficult decision."  They offered me the job.
 
I thought about it all weekend before I made a decision to take the offer.  I loved the company where I was working, although I hsad only been there a week.  But the $$ was a lot more, and I would be doing more patternmaking- something I love, but haven't done in years.
 
I was sad to leave those nice people, but I had to do what was best for me.  I'm almost finished with my first two weeks at the new place and I love it!  I'm picking up the pattermaking software very quickly.  The people I work with are really nice - and I'm usually out the door by 5:15 - something extremely rare in the fashion industry.  And the woman running the department right now is great - she does her best to make everyone's time at work a fun experience,
 
So, all those times this year I thought woe is me and my life sucks, I now see were things I had to do to get where I am.  And I'm grateful for the learning experience.