Seventeen Again

When this post goes live, I will probably just have finished breakfast and get ready for a final swim in the hotel pool before checking out from my hotel in Umag, Croatia, and head back to Klagenfurt after a lovely mini break. With my parents. With whom I actually also shared a room, for the first time since our last family (camping) holiday when I was 17. Since then, I have often been on vacation with just my Mum, but never with both my parents. Sharing a room was not the original plan, but they booked short notice and this was the only option with a sea view for all of us. I did not mind at all and it was very harmonious (not mentioning that my parents kindly treated me to the whole mini vacation - the perks of being a spoilt only child...), but it was funny to hear some friends' comments when I told them about my plans. These were mainly along the lines of "over my dead body" and "don't forget to pack ear plugs, I'm sure at least one of them snores - mine do!" Well, one of them DID snore - an almost sweet sound compared to the merciless blast of live music from a nearby music festival -  but I would do it again in a heartbeat and I feel privileged that unlike several of my friends my age both my parents are still alive and we get to relive our family holidays of my childhood days.

@Home

Spending time in Vienna on weekdays without having to work is still quite a novelty for me. Even in the summer of 2015 when I was on my 3-months sabbatical, I did not spend that much time in town, mainly due to the fact that the weather was particularly hot (which I loved!) and the lake in my hometown was beckoning when I was not abroad anyway. Last week, I decided to check out the recently beautified Copa Kagrana "beach" area by the Danube (pretty run-down and horrible in the past years) and found it a lovely place to read in deck chairs by the river. Thanks to strong wind which almost had you believe you were by the sea and potted palm trees, it really was a lovely spot to switch off and chill, a mere 5 subway stops from Stephansplatz. I am planning to go there more often, and also to discover other easily accessible and completely free of charge holiday-in-the-city spots.

Hearsay

Above is my horoscope on my last day of (actual) work in my current job. Now that I have signed my contract for the new one, it seems that every other person knows someone who is either working there, or used to work there. It's the type of company that really is a household name (therefore this shall be its new name here, too - Household Name, HN for short). I find it quit amusing, having heard comments from both ends of the spectrum. Here are a few snippets:
- Oh, I could introduce you to X if you want - she used to work there. She left because she was kind of bullied by her colleagues. 
- My neighbour worked there all his life and does not stop raving about how he loved it.
- A friend worked there and told me it was really bitchy and competitive. You know, a lot of women in leadership positions, do I need to say more...
- They're going to force you to join a union!
- You'll have to work long hours there, just be prepared.
- OMG, you'll find it so laid-back and slow. I heard that nobody is there on Fridays past lunchtime.
- I worked next door and ate in their canteen - really amazing food for canteen stuff.
- This will be tough for you, having to eat what they serve in that canteen there.
and on and on
I am determined to find out whether I like my colleagues, the food, the work-life balance, you name it myself.

Don't Listen

I know, I know, that last post was very short and pretty cryptic - sorry about that. This one is going to be a long, rambly one, so fasten your seatbelts if you are in for the ride.

So, the news, in a nutshell: I landed myself a new job that I'm pretty excited about. It's not just the change itself (after all, I celebrated my 10th anniversary at the Firm 2 weeks ago) and the fact that this will only be my 3rd employer, not counting student "McJobs" - I'm very loyal, me - but the fact that it was such a smooth experience.

As a bit of context for those who don't know me IRL - the last 1.5 years were mildly upsetting and very paradox, job-wise for me. The job-role I had before the current one was discontinued (at least in the team I worked in) and my headcount eliminated, which meant I had to find an alternative. Thankfully, I managed to transfer to the one area that I had always been keen to work in. The catch was, it was a temporary arrangement (maternity cover) and one-way ticket of sorts. Due to the fact that I was not only interested in the field, but obviously not bad at it, my manager and everyone else involved were keen on keeping me and thus we found a way to extend the deal (to the end of May to be precise) and were hoping that "something will come up". What DID come up was a massive reorganisation that thwarted all my hopes and "displaced" several people. I received the bad news 2 days before I left for my trip to New York and it was a big blow. Won't lie, I cried myself to sleep 2 nights in a row and possibly would have done so longer if said trip had not distracted me. However, if there's one role I don't want to see myself in, it is that of victim and therefore I returned to work after that trip determined that I would definitely squeeze those metaphorical lemons I had been handed into some damn tasty lemonade. Cheers!

Earlier on the day my manager told handed me the reorg bombshell, I received a voicemail from a recruiter. It was for a job I had applied for in February. Actually the first application I sent out, realising I better start looking into a Plan B before Plan A won't work out...which it didn't. I was invited for an interview the day after my return from NYC. Unfortunately, the job posting had since been deactivated and was not even to be retrieved in the cache of the platforms it was posted on. Ooops. I had only a dim recollection of what it had said...Be that as it may, the interview obviously went well and after some more weeks of silence, I received a very good offer the Friday before last. I will begin in July and since I have annual leave to use up to in my current job, I am looking forward to enjoying 7.5 weeks of summer vacation in between.

The whole experience reminded me of my first job move from Coma HQ, where I had worked for 9 years, to the Firm. Several of my colleagues at Coma HQ were frustrated and bored, but kept "reassuring" one another that it would be so difficult to find something out in the real world, since after a long time in a civil-service-ish environment nobody would want you, regardless of qualifications. Somehow, this was just the common assumption. Well, I applied for ONE job exactly and it led me to the Firm, one of the most coveted employers out there, with a notoriously rigorous interview process and an unfavourable ratio of applicants vs job offers. 

Despite it being such a prized employer, I have met my fair share of frustrated employees at the Firm during those past ten years, but they are very reluctant to move or even start looking for something else as everyone believes that they will have to work for a fraction of their salaries and will lose all the many perks and goodies they have been enjoying. I never really challenged that. Guess what - not so, at least in my case. Yes, I won't have those perks any more, but I won't have to supplement my income with a side job. Far from it. 

So, yes, I have proved the sceptics wrong twice, finding a great job with minimal effort. Whether this new one will work out for me, we shall see, but  - guess what - I have a feeling they won't tie me to my swivel chair with masking tape and I will be free to go if I don't like it.

This post has been bubbling inside me for a while and I really wanted to share my thoughts in case you have been held back by superstition or bad advice yourself. Don't listen to the sceptics, but trust your gut instinct and give it a go. If nothing comes out of it the first time, it will be a good experience and you'll rock it next time. 

A few weeks ago (before Bombshell Day) I had lunch with some colleagues and one of them asked me if I was worried with that damocles sword of being out of a job dangling over me for over a year now and I replied that, while it wasn't the most pleasant of experiences, deep down, I was very calm and confident and believed my mantra of sorts ("everything will be alright")  that was strategically placed on my work laptop:

The Future is Bright

As I am away for the long weekend when this will go live, but wanted to keep up my Monday-morning-schedule for posts here, consider this a teaser of sorts. Stay tuned.