You know how when you're single, it's hard to find someone worthy of dating...and then when you're in a relationship, folks come out of the woodworks? That's how it seems to be with my job situation.
I promise you, the MINUTE I began giving serious thought to going back to NY, here come the job opportunities. LOL! First, I got a call from a manager I had done a phone interview with previously. She called and told me about a position out of her office, but she wasn't sure if it could be worked from a remote location. She said she'd check with her managers at the end of the week and let me know. I hadnt heard anything before yesterday, so I assumed it wasn't available anymore. Yesterday, my current manager asked me if I had applied, and asked me to forward the confirmation email. Still waiting to hear on that.
Then a workers comp adjuster who previously worked for my company, sent an email to someone who still worked for us, asking her to find out if any liability adjusters were looking as they had a position open. I forwarded my resume last Friday. So did another co-worker. We both had interviews today. I kept hearing things about this position that were making me think twice about applying, but what I was told in the interview made me feel much better. It's on a different side of town but the commute wouldn't be bad.
On Tuesday, my old supervisor called me and said that she was asked for recommendations for another internal position, and she wanted to know if I was interested. I told her I'd like to know more about it, and the next morning after yoga class, I spoke with a manager in that department. What she told me piqued my interest, so I applied yesterday morning. Today, the director called me to do a phone interview, but I missed him. I left him a message this afternoon.
Things like thtis always make me say, "really?!?" My friend Stacy says this is the universe telling me I need to stay in Charlotte. She refuses to discuss relocation with me. LOL! LDR says, "do what you gotta do, babe."
So, what I gotta do is wait and see how this all plays out. :)
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Moving Into New Spaces
Moving into the rental house has been a blessing, and I'm enjoying my new space (although, sometimes it can be a little TOO quiet, lol). There's something about moving into a new space that is just exciting for me. New challenges, a change from the norm. Maybe it's the Aquarius in me. As a child I was always changing my room furniture around. My mom used to say, "if you move that furniture one more time it's gonna fall apart!" Of course, now that I'm older, my furniture is much heavier so I can't move it like I used to. But I enjoy changing up what I can.
In my yoga classes, my teachers are always challenging me to move into new spaces. To expand my flexibility and build strength. When I started, lots of poses had to be modified because of my inflexibility, or my myriad injuries (lol). Now that I'm stronger and a little healthier, I try to do the full expressions of poses whenever I can. I don't put my knee down in side plank anymore. I try to open my arms when I'm in my chair with a prayer twist. I reach for the floor in my side angle pose instead of resting my forearm on my quad. I love to feel my practice expand.
As far as my career, I've been in the same space for a minute now. The company I've been working for since 2008 was bought out by another company in our industry. The culture of the old company and the culture of the new company are like oil and water. Total opposites, and they do not mix. It's going to be a drastic change. And it's not one I'm sure I want to be a part of. Everything ain't for everybody...the older I get, the more I understand that phrase. They've pretty much showed us that they don't really care about the people. It's very "like it or lump it." Well, in a recession, most folks are not in a position to lump it. I can just see that it would eventually drain my spirit, which is no bueno. I desire to move up in the ranks, but I don't know if this is the place to do it. Do I really want to (essentially) start over somewhere else?
On a whim, I did post for an internal position, but I was really debating about what I'd do if they DID offer it to me. They call it a "lateral move," because they say that our job grades/pay grades from the old company are much higher than theirs. Translation: we'll move you to this position and give you more work, but we're not going to give you a raise. This internal position involves some files that are in litigation. I've had a small amount of litigation experience; the problem with positions that involve litigation is that they already want you to know how to handle litigated files. OK, well how can I learn if no one will give me the chance?
I kicked azz on the phone interview, and according to my current manager, they "loved" me, but their only concern is the litigation experience. *crickets chirping* You can pretty much teach anyone anything, unless you're just dealing with someone who has no ability to retain information. I'm not that person. Everyone I've worked under will tell you that. When I came into claims I had zero experience. You don't go to school to learn about claims. Everything I had to know I was TAUGHT. I bring things to the table that you cannot teach: my personality, ability to work with all kinds of people, ability to work independently or within a group, the ability to lead, the respect of my peers, my thirst for knowledge, and that internal drive that I will do my job and do it well, because it's not within me to put out shoddy work product.
If they can overlook all that, they've answered my question about whether or not it's time to move on to a new space outside of this company.
So, I'm taking the leap to find a new position. I had a phone interview two weeks ago for position, and now I have an in-person interview on Tuesday. I don't know why I'm feeling so nervous. Maybe because I really want to get away from where I'm at now. I think a lot of my peers are going to start looking, and I don't want to get caught in the rush of people flooding the job market. I want to move NOW, while folks are still debating.
I've gotten offers on every job I've ever interviewed for since college, except for one. And that didn't have anything to do with my skills, but with my credit report (ah, youth. LOL!). I'm hoping that streak will continue. If it crosses your mind on Tuesday around 3:00pm, send out some positive vibes for me. :)
Are you moving into any new spaces in your life?
In my yoga classes, my teachers are always challenging me to move into new spaces. To expand my flexibility and build strength. When I started, lots of poses had to be modified because of my inflexibility, or my myriad injuries (lol). Now that I'm stronger and a little healthier, I try to do the full expressions of poses whenever I can. I don't put my knee down in side plank anymore. I try to open my arms when I'm in my chair with a prayer twist. I reach for the floor in my side angle pose instead of resting my forearm on my quad. I love to feel my practice expand.
As far as my career, I've been in the same space for a minute now. The company I've been working for since 2008 was bought out by another company in our industry. The culture of the old company and the culture of the new company are like oil and water. Total opposites, and they do not mix. It's going to be a drastic change. And it's not one I'm sure I want to be a part of. Everything ain't for everybody...the older I get, the more I understand that phrase. They've pretty much showed us that they don't really care about the people. It's very "like it or lump it." Well, in a recession, most folks are not in a position to lump it. I can just see that it would eventually drain my spirit, which is no bueno. I desire to move up in the ranks, but I don't know if this is the place to do it. Do I really want to (essentially) start over somewhere else?
On a whim, I did post for an internal position, but I was really debating about what I'd do if they DID offer it to me. They call it a "lateral move," because they say that our job grades/pay grades from the old company are much higher than theirs. Translation: we'll move you to this position and give you more work, but we're not going to give you a raise. This internal position involves some files that are in litigation. I've had a small amount of litigation experience; the problem with positions that involve litigation is that they already want you to know how to handle litigated files. OK, well how can I learn if no one will give me the chance?
I kicked azz on the phone interview, and according to my current manager, they "loved" me, but their only concern is the litigation experience. *crickets chirping* You can pretty much teach anyone anything, unless you're just dealing with someone who has no ability to retain information. I'm not that person. Everyone I've worked under will tell you that. When I came into claims I had zero experience. You don't go to school to learn about claims. Everything I had to know I was TAUGHT. I bring things to the table that you cannot teach: my personality, ability to work with all kinds of people, ability to work independently or within a group, the ability to lead, the respect of my peers, my thirst for knowledge, and that internal drive that I will do my job and do it well, because it's not within me to put out shoddy work product.
If they can overlook all that, they've answered my question about whether or not it's time to move on to a new space outside of this company.
So, I'm taking the leap to find a new position. I had a phone interview two weeks ago for position, and now I have an in-person interview on Tuesday. I don't know why I'm feeling so nervous. Maybe because I really want to get away from where I'm at now. I think a lot of my peers are going to start looking, and I don't want to get caught in the rush of people flooding the job market. I want to move NOW, while folks are still debating.
I've gotten offers on every job I've ever interviewed for since college, except for one. And that didn't have anything to do with my skills, but with my credit report (ah, youth. LOL!). I'm hoping that streak will continue. If it crosses your mind on Tuesday around 3:00pm, send out some positive vibes for me. :)
Are you moving into any new spaces in your life?
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Say What?!?
Yesterday was a busy day at work. Mondays are generally our heaviest volume days. Lots of people are out of the office due to the holidays. One of my co-workers (who just got engaged - yay!) is out for the week. Another one, who works remotely, has been a butt and taken off every Monday this month (except next week, and only 'cause it wasn't available). She has done this several times this year, along with taking other heavy volume days off. She took today, too. *I* was supposed to have today off...but, I digress. Not the point of this post. ::side eye:: to her azz, anyway.
Some time after lunch, we all got an email. Something to the effect of, please join us for a conference call at 1pm. Umm hmm. It's Monday - I got 6 new claims, my phone is ringing off the hook, I ain't even leave for lunch. Oh - and you haven't told us what this little call is about. Yeah, ok. Next!
I promise you, of the skeleton crew that WAS in the office, 90% of us were not on that call. LOL! That's so bootleg, I know. But given that the email had no subject, and we weren't told what the call was about, we all kind of thought, "whatever!" Usually, if something is really important, our office manager will send out an email telling us that attendance is mandatory.
While that very short conference call was progressing, I was on the phone with a customer. I began to hear rumblings and grumblings around me, but I couldn't really focus on what they were saying. I couldn't wait to get off the phone with that man. Especially because, while I was on with him, we got an office wide email that we should meet at 1:30 to discuss The Call in more detail.
Uh oh.
I got him off the phone about 4 minutes before the meeting was to begin. I said to my co-workers, "OK - what happened now?"
Her reply? "They sold us to (name of competitor)."
::blink::
Um. I'm sorry. What??? I think I just hallucinated. Mind you, less than 6 months ago, we were fighting to keep this competitor from taking our account. The only account we work on in my office. If we had lost the account to them, I wouldn't have had a job. So...yeah. This sale is akin to Dunkin' Donuts saying, "we got into this coffee thing, and it was great. But now we just want to focus on our bread and butter - our donuts. So, we're selling our coffee operations to Starbucks."
Usually, when something this big happens in my industry, you hear rumblings of it WELL before it goes down. Trade publications, rumors from management at other companies, etc. We heard NOTHING. And judging by his reaction in the meeting, I don't think our office manager knew it was going down, either. Might be why we didn't get that "mandatory" meeting email.
When we walked in the meeting, my stomach dropped, 'cause the Grim Reaper was in there. Who's the Grim Reaper, you ask? Well, he's the HR Manager who handled the layoffs when this same company laid me off in 2005. You don't want to see him, 'cause that usually means somebody's gettin the ax. Well, I guess if he's the Grim Reaper, somebody would be getting the scythe. Anywho, whatchu doin' here, Grimmy? I need my job, man!
Long story short: we've been sold, but we're all going to be offered comparable jobs. That was part of the sale deal (insert sigh of relief here). All of this will be in place by the end of 1st quarter 2011. Grimmy is just there to help us with the HR questions of it all. How will benefits terminate, what happens to 401Ks, cash balance pensions, PTO, etc. Oh. A'ight. Good lookin' out, GR. Don't touch me, though. I choose corporate life, I promise!
My new year is starting out crazy, and it's still December! Word? Word.
My take aways:
1. When you get an email telling you to get on a conference call, get on the dang call. :lol:
2. Expect the unexpected!
3. Change is inevitable.
That's the ball game! Thanks for comin' out. It's been real. Tip your waiter on your way out.
Some time after lunch, we all got an email. Something to the effect of, please join us for a conference call at 1pm. Umm hmm. It's Monday - I got 6 new claims, my phone is ringing off the hook, I ain't even leave for lunch. Oh - and you haven't told us what this little call is about. Yeah, ok. Next!
I promise you, of the skeleton crew that WAS in the office, 90% of us were not on that call. LOL! That's so bootleg, I know. But given that the email had no subject, and we weren't told what the call was about, we all kind of thought, "whatever!" Usually, if something is really important, our office manager will send out an email telling us that attendance is mandatory.
While that very short conference call was progressing, I was on the phone with a customer. I began to hear rumblings and grumblings around me, but I couldn't really focus on what they were saying. I couldn't wait to get off the phone with that man. Especially because, while I was on with him, we got an office wide email that we should meet at 1:30 to discuss The Call in more detail.
Uh oh.
I got him off the phone about 4 minutes before the meeting was to begin. I said to my co-workers, "OK - what happened now?"
Her reply? "They sold us to (name of competitor)."
::blink::
Um. I'm sorry. What??? I think I just hallucinated. Mind you, less than 6 months ago, we were fighting to keep this competitor from taking our account. The only account we work on in my office. If we had lost the account to them, I wouldn't have had a job. So...yeah. This sale is akin to Dunkin' Donuts saying, "we got into this coffee thing, and it was great. But now we just want to focus on our bread and butter - our donuts. So, we're selling our coffee operations to Starbucks."
Usually, when something this big happens in my industry, you hear rumblings of it WELL before it goes down. Trade publications, rumors from management at other companies, etc. We heard NOTHING. And judging by his reaction in the meeting, I don't think our office manager knew it was going down, either. Might be why we didn't get that "mandatory" meeting email.
When we walked in the meeting, my stomach dropped, 'cause the Grim Reaper was in there. Who's the Grim Reaper, you ask? Well, he's the HR Manager who handled the layoffs when this same company laid me off in 2005. You don't want to see him, 'cause that usually means somebody's gettin the ax. Well, I guess if he's the Grim Reaper, somebody would be getting the scythe. Anywho, whatchu doin' here, Grimmy? I need my job, man!
Long story short: we've been sold, but we're all going to be offered comparable jobs. That was part of the sale deal (insert sigh of relief here). All of this will be in place by the end of 1st quarter 2011. Grimmy is just there to help us with the HR questions of it all. How will benefits terminate, what happens to 401Ks, cash balance pensions, PTO, etc. Oh. A'ight. Good lookin' out, GR. Don't touch me, though. I choose corporate life, I promise!
My new year is starting out crazy, and it's still December! Word? Word.
My take aways:
1. When you get an email telling you to get on a conference call, get on the dang call. :lol:
2. Expect the unexpected!
3. Change is inevitable.
That's the ball game! Thanks for comin' out. It's been real. Tip your waiter on your way out.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Cleaning Up Other Folks' Mess
Maybe I need to learn how to take a "stress leave" like my infamous co-worker. Apparently she takes one every year. Go figure! If I took a stress leave every year, would I still have a job? Probably not. I frankly don't understand why she still does. Maybe she has some dirt on upper management?
We just got an email that we are going to get some more of this chick's work to clean up, because she had new claims that she never completed investigation on. The only good news, is that another office has agreed to help us out with new intake, so at least we are not going to get slammed with those.
Allegedly, she's coming back in June. We'll see. I'll try to refrain from punching her straight in the jaw when she does return. Frankly, I'd rather see her submit a resignation, so we can get someone on our team who really wants to do some work. Anybody need a job?
I'm so tired of lazy people! Color me verklempt!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
GET OFF MY TRAIN!!!!!
I know you guys remember that scene from "Ghost," starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Vincent Schiavelli. Vince's character was mad pissed that Sam Wheat was on his train, and he made his feelings known. "GET OFF MY TRAIN!!!"
Well back in 2003-2004, a couple of co-workers and I adopted that phrase. When someone was calling us constantly, or bugging us about stupid things, we would say that they needed to get off our train. It makes us laugh, relieves stress, and helps us vent our feelings to each other.
Today has truly been a day where everybody needs to get the hell off my train. Like I'm [ ] <-- THIS close to screaming it to somebody over the phone. Just like he hollered it in the movie. I need for people to understand - while I get paid to handle your claim, I DO NOT get paid for you to be talking to me any kind of way. This economy has really made people lose their minds and their home training.
RB called me earlier this morning...in the midst of me being hella busy. I told him I was busy, but he kept talking. Asking me about bowling, etc. DUDE - I am at work and I am BUSY. I'ma need you to get off my train, right now. This is your stop. I'll pick you back up later when I have time.
I was talking to this woman earlier. She strained her ankle. She wants money like she broke a bone. Ain't gonna happen. While I was calmly explaining to her that she had a soft tissue injury and not a fracture, this heffa hung up on me! I called her back and she let it go to voice mail. I left her a message, with attitude, and told her to take it or leave it and call me back. If I wasn't at work, the end of that message woulda been, "and I'ma need you to get off my train!"
When will people understand, my train does not have room for all this extra dumbness?? Whether this is your stop, or not, I'ma need you to GET OFF MY TRAIN with the nonsense!!!!! I'm not even stopping the train anymore...I'm just going to push people off while it's moving.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Calgon, Take Me Away!
I work in insurance. Claims, specifically. Right now, I am working for a third party administrator. In plain English, we process claims for a specific client that is self insured. It's their money - we just dole it out accordingly. In reality, if they say "jump", we ask "how high?" But that's another story for another time.
This is a fairly busy season for this client. Which means we are getting slammed with new claims. We recently realigned our units, according to states/territories. I was working the Northeast, but now I have been switched to the Central unit. I feel like someone pulled the okie-doke on me. It seems like I have 3x more work than I ever had in my old unit. I'm constantly working unpaid overtime. While unpaid overtime is sort of a given/expectation in the claims world, I don't want to be working it all the time. I might not have the most exciting life, but I'd like to live it - and I can't live it from the office.
When I was switched to this unit in March, we had 5 adjusters. One resigned at the end of April. I knew they would not replace this person, due to budget issues. We could still manage, although his work had to be split up amongst the office. I found out today that another co-worker is leaving. It's supposed to be temporary. I found out because I was given some of her work to do. I probably had a confused look on my face, so my manager proceeded to explain that this person would be out of work, and that she'd send an email explaining. Have we received the email yet? Nope. At this point, I just feel like "whatever!" I hope they have a plan in place, because I am really frustrated right now.
I feel partially bad about being frustrated. I know there are people out here who have lost their jobs, and they are looking for work. I know that I am truly blessed to be gainfully employed at this time. I may not have extra money, but my bills are paid. I totally get this, and I am NOT, by any means, wishing to be unemployed. It would be nice to get a "thanks" every now and then.
Back in March, we got some snow here. It wasn't a ton, but some areas got more than others, and some got ice. I knew that there would be many people who didn't show up for work. I had freakin' BRONCHITIS and should have been in bed resting, but I got up and took myself in to work. A few other co-workers showed up as well. Did we get a "thanks for coming in?" Oh no. We got to hear about how the office manager was pissed that more people didn't show up. Um. OK.
It's the little things like that, which just grate on my nerves. Yesterday and today were hella busy. Tomorrow will be as well. Such is life. At least I have this blog to vent!
This is a fairly busy season for this client. Which means we are getting slammed with new claims. We recently realigned our units, according to states/territories. I was working the Northeast, but now I have been switched to the Central unit. I feel like someone pulled the okie-doke on me. It seems like I have 3x more work than I ever had in my old unit. I'm constantly working unpaid overtime. While unpaid overtime is sort of a given/expectation in the claims world, I don't want to be working it all the time. I might not have the most exciting life, but I'd like to live it - and I can't live it from the office.
When I was switched to this unit in March, we had 5 adjusters. One resigned at the end of April. I knew they would not replace this person, due to budget issues. We could still manage, although his work had to be split up amongst the office. I found out today that another co-worker is leaving. It's supposed to be temporary. I found out because I was given some of her work to do. I probably had a confused look on my face, so my manager proceeded to explain that this person would be out of work, and that she'd send an email explaining. Have we received the email yet? Nope. At this point, I just feel like "whatever!" I hope they have a plan in place, because I am really frustrated right now.
I feel partially bad about being frustrated. I know there are people out here who have lost their jobs, and they are looking for work. I know that I am truly blessed to be gainfully employed at this time. I may not have extra money, but my bills are paid. I totally get this, and I am NOT, by any means, wishing to be unemployed. It would be nice to get a "thanks" every now and then.
Back in March, we got some snow here. It wasn't a ton, but some areas got more than others, and some got ice. I knew that there would be many people who didn't show up for work. I had freakin' BRONCHITIS and should have been in bed resting, but I got up and took myself in to work. A few other co-workers showed up as well. Did we get a "thanks for coming in?" Oh no. We got to hear about how the office manager was pissed that more people didn't show up. Um. OK.
It's the little things like that, which just grate on my nerves. Yesterday and today were hella busy. Tomorrow will be as well. Such is life. At least I have this blog to vent!
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