On The Not-So-New Job

I recently got some e-mails from my former Sky co-workers. Most of them, when they talked about their new jobs, made a point of mentioning that their new “work family” is nothing like the one they left behind. And that made me think about how, at my new job, I’m actually starting to feel like I belong.

I’ve spent over seven months in my “new” job, and I’m finally becoming a contributing member of the team. When I work on a project, I find myself asking more intelligent questions when I get stuck: instead of “How do I do this,” it’s more like, “I tried X, Y and Z thing, and I don’t understand why it’s still not giving me what I expected.” I’m also much more comfortable just coming right out and saying, “I don’t know enough to know what questions to ask; I just know it’s not doing what it’s supposed to be doing.” Plus, it makes me feel better about myself when the person I ask doesn’t have an immediate answer, and has to do a little research — makes me feel like I didn’t miss something blatantly obvious.

One big thing that’s made a difference is a slight change in management. The most senior member of the team was promoted to a managerial role, while our “real” supervisor’s role was redefined as more planning and overall development of the data warehouse. So, our new manager actually got managerial training, and part of her job now is to touch base with each of us regularly, which makes my life a lot easier. Before, I was sitting isolated in my cube, physically removed from the rest of the team, feeling extremely awkward whenever I got confused (which was often) and decided to ask a question (which was not as often as it should have been). Now, I have half an hour every week carved out to talk to my manager about any questions I might have, either technically or overall. She also tries to make herself more available in general; before, she was constantly tied down with projects, and I felt guilty asking her questions, no matter how much she asserted that it was fine to interrupt her.

But more management changes are in the works. My “real” supervisor, the one who first interviewed me and who gave me the call that I got the job, has given his notice. He’s taking a position at another local company, where he’ll have more room for advancement, and I can appreciate the need for that. I certainly don’t begrudge him his career move; I’ve heard it said that people these days will change jobs an average of every five years, so he’s about due. His absence is going to make things interesting, though, as we might not have a replacement for several months, and my new manager will likely be taking over many of his roles… thus making her much less available again.

Apart from playing Musical Supervisors, I’ve also started feeling much more comfortable with my co-workers. I’m finally realizing that, hey, dumbass, you work in IT, where all the other geeks work. You will get along fine if you’ll just TALK to these people. I’ve been working with more of them more closely, getting up-close and personal with people from QA and with the DBAs and with the BSGs and all the other alphabet soup who make up the long chain of people involved with an IS project. And these people are cool. They hack their iPods and run network cable through their houses and get off on having offsite backups of their personal files and photos. I can really talk to these people — I don’t have to worry about them being overly judgemental, for the most part. I’m starting to get a feel for who’s on my wavelength and who’s just another stuffed shirt.

We had an ice cream social at work this afternoon, and that was some invaluable time spent. I got to know a couple of DBAs and QA folks a bit better, and learned a little bit about our unique brand of office politics. (No worries on the diet front, either — they had sugar-free, fat-free ice cream, supposedly, although it tasted too good to be both.)

So, about my job? It’s going well. Better than it was. Three or four months ago, I was much less satisfied with my progress and my interaction with the team than I am now. Now, I’m feeling like I really am that malleable employee whom my boss wanted to mold into a skilled data warehouse engineer. I’m at least fitting into my groove better than before.

Take Your Place In The Circle Of Care

Just got done with my day and a half of corporate training: the Circle of Care. I could tell you all about it, but then I’d have to kill you, being that all my supplementary books and materials clearly state that the contents thereof are property of my employer, et cetera.

Instead, I’ll give you a brief synopsis, which is all you really wanted, anyway:

  1. Videos. Well-produced videos, at least. The characters in the vignettes remained constant throughout the various exercises (calming an upset customer, apologizing, et al.), and the scripts were written and executed well enough that we actually felt emotionally vested in the characters therein. When the clip about Saying Goodbye came up (we do have hospices in our business line), I was one of a few people in the room who got a little misty, but didn’t want to admit it.
  2. Singing and dancing. Seriously. I have a DVD with the music videos for the Original Version, Ballad, Pop, and Dance Mixes (of the Circle of Care song, that is). We were encouraged to sing along, and we danced in the center of the room — usually to the Dance version. Luckily, one of the more outgoing fellows that was in my Orientation group four months ago was also in my Circle of Care sessions, and he did the awesomest college-guy dances EVAR.
  3. People Skills Review. Actually, some was review, and some was new ways of looking at the situations, and new acronyms to apply. I think we all know that, in order to sufficiently answer and soothe a seriously annoyed customer, you need to be calm yourself, and determine the problem, and paraphrase, and reassure, and all that sort of thing. I just got more and different ways to do that in this program.
  4. Holy crap, there’s a lot of people from Sky at my work! There were two in my training group these past two days, and we discussed others, and I went to lunch with a couple of them. I also learned some awesomely juicy news about the Huntington post-merger period.

And that’s about all I’ve got for now. Except a bunch of booklets, two DVDs, a new mug, a teddy bear, a certificate of completion, a couple of new friends, a funky hat, a clown nose, and a new appreciation for my IT skills as a bringer of a more substantial salary than before.

Edit: The Hugging. OMG, how could I leave out the hugging? I may possibly have hugged more people today than I did at my own wedding. We learned all about different kinds of hugs, and I am now officially “Licensed to Hug.”

Yup.

Business Trip #2

I’m carpooling with a co-worker to Chicago tomorrow for more software training. We’re taking off in the early afternoon to battle the inclement weather, and so we don’t have to drive too far in the dark. I haven’t spent much quality time with this co-worker, so this will be a good opportunity for us to get to know each other. Hopefully, we’ll still like each other by the time the week is over…

I’m really looking forward to the content of these classes, as my job really hinges on the subject: creating dashboards for business intelligence applications. Once I learn some of the finer points of creating dashboards with this software, I hope I’ll be able to hit the ground running when I return to work next week. We’ll see how that works out.

The Best Western where we’re staying claims to have a 24-hour fitness center with treadmills and stationary bikes; I have every intention of taking advantage of that fitness center, especially since I didn’t get to do so on my last trip (and in light of my underwhelming weight loss of late). Apart from that, I’m expecting less of the Best Western than I did of the Hampton Inn, just by virtue of the difference between franchises. I hope I’ll be pleasantly surprised, but I’m not counting on it.

My travel buddy will be checking out a laptop from work, plus there’s supposedly a Business Center at the hotel, so I may or may not end up blogging while I’m away. I’m honestly hoping to spend a good part of my evening free time on a treadmill, when I’m not eating or reading or (hopefully) hanging out with Timmay.

We’re going to be staying one extra night so we won’t have to drive four hours home on a Friday night after class. Saturday morning will be spent seeing the sights of Chicago, and we’ll head home after lunch, arriving back in town around dinnertime.

This is shaping up to be a much different business trip than my last. Whether that’s good, bad, or indifferent remains to be seen…

Business Trip #1

There may be few or no updates for the remainder of the week, as I will be in Columbus (Dublin) for MicroStrategy training. I’m sure the Hampton has a business center where I can check my e-mail and whatnot, but I’m not sure how much time I’ll be able to spend on e-mail and keeping up with my RSS feeds, much less actually blogging.

Even though I’ll be missing out on a grand total of 45 minutes (that’s three days’ worth) of Aaron time, I’ll be hanging out with some old friends in the evenings, which is awesome. I know there are some people in the area that I’m not getting to meet up with, and I do apologize for that. Maybe next time… (And there probably WILL be a next time, with all the training I could potentially sign up for.)

I’m looking forward to learning more about the Business Intelligence software I’ve been using at work; I’m also looking forward to seeing old friends, and having a change of scenery. I’m not looking forward to being away from my Honey-Muffin on the Hallmark Holiday Valentine’s Day, or really being away from him at all; and I’m not sure about making the 2½ hour drive to Columbus alone for the first time.

I’m a big girl. I can go on a big bad business trip by myself.

Right?