Just over eight years ago I begrudgingly accepted a job offer after being laid off and subsequently slogging through 11 months of unemployment. It was tough accepting that job offer because of the drastic pay cut I would endure, but I remember still being a teeny bit excited since I had really felt an immediate sense of kinship with MH, the person to whom I would be reporting.
Little did I know that the kinship I felt with MH during the interview process would bloom into a wonderful friendship along with the working relationship, and that I would be inspired and challenged more in my new job than ever before in my career. MH never let me settle for being "just" an admin, and the result was that I became so much more than that under her leadership.
Eighteen months ago I was devastated when I found out that she was leaving me to pursue other opportunities within the company. Despite promoting me again as a parting gift (she promoted me three times during my 6.5 years with her), in the 1.5 years since she left me, I have languished. And while I like the person I now report to, I have not been <i>inspired</i> like I had been under MH.
In that 1.5 years, my workload has shifted from engaging project work to almost 100% busy work. And while I know busy work can be important, it is not fulfilling in any way, and I found that my morale slowly began to sink. I went from looking forward to work to dreading Mondays, and counting the hours to Friday afternoon.
This summer I tentatively began sending out my resume to see if anything came my way. I did have an interview with a very solid national company with a strong local presence, but despite my confidence about receiving an offer, none came. I was dejected, but not undeterred. I continued to look online and applied to jobs I thought would challenge me to step outside of my comfort zone.
Just before Thanksgiving I received a call from a company that has an office in Charlotte. They were in need of another Executive Assistant since they are continuing to grow and hire more professionals to support this region. The phone interview was promising, and an in-person interview was scheduled for a few days later.
The interview went very well, and once again I felt optimistic that I would get an offer. And this time, I did. The following morning I was contacted and offered a job. After discussing it with Denis, I accepted the position.
I turned in my notice to my current boss a few days later. She was sad, but said she understood that there just hasn’t been enough work for me, and she admitted that she didn’t even know what 2018 would look like for me. That was enough for me to know I absolutely made the right decision.
My new job starts on January 2 and I’m very excited. Sad to be leaving so many wonderful coworkers behind, but looking forward to making new ones, and seeing how else I can grow in my career moving forward.
