dianaschnuth

I’ve spent these first three weeks at my new job mainly trying to teach myself the reporting app we use. The person who would normally be my guru is still on maternity leave. Although I’ve picked up the basics, the finer points continue to elude me. I’m so close to understanding how the damn program works, but little things keep popping up and I have to wonder WHY can’t I choose CensusSummary as my Source table OMG?!

Anyway.

There’s a project in the early stages that I’m kind of being primed to work on. A division of the company wants to have a web-based dashboard, where they can see all their normally stodgy and numberiffic reports in an easy-to-read visual format. Awesome. Yesterday, we received a document from one of the end-users, giving us a detailed representation of what said end-users would like to see. I read the document, nodded to myself, and started sketching possibilities on a legal pad (without being asked — it’s just how I do. I’m the thumbnail queen).

Not long after, I get a Microsoft Visio document via e-mail from my boss. It’s his idea of how the dashboard could be laid out. He shows up in my cube shortly after the e-mail does, and I redirect him to my cute little tabbed-browsing concept piece. He says he likes mine better, and has me work up a mockup of my version of the dashboard.

That was most of my day today. And everyone seems to like the result so far.

Yay for my design skillz! As I told my boss, “You went and got me in my element!”

But wait. There’s more.

Around 3pm today, I was approached yet again by my supervisor. It appears that there’s a report that’s been being delayed in our usual development process, and the internal customer needs the report shortly after month-end. Someone had suggested importing the data into Access and using its reporting tools. Just so happens that my boss just hired someone fresh from doing major Access reporting on a regular basis…

Got a sample report, got someone to help me connect to the database via ODBC, and got started. By quitting time, I had most of a report worked out. I’ll have to work out a few details tomorrow. The boss caught me as I was getting my coat on, and I showed him what I had. He seemed to be genuinely impressed that I’d made that much progress already, and he made comment that I’m kind of saving the day. I don’t know about that…

At any rate, I’m finally feeling like a contributor to the team, even if everyone might be going a little out of their way to let the new girl know she’s doing a great job. I’ll take it.

The first half of the week was spectacular. Getting to know a new job, new location, new people, new boss, new responsibilities. Realizing that this gig fits me like a glove. Or it will.

The second half of the week was filled with insecurity and frustration. Me and the help files and the books and the tutorials. I now know that there’s a LOT that I don’t know. Plus, most of the people I’ve met in my department seem on the surface to be stressed, self-absorbed and pessimistic in general. And overly absorbed in football. Today, I was starting to doubt whether I’d made the right decision in taking this job, honestly.

About five minutes before quitting time, my supervisor visited my cube and asked how I my first week had gone. I was pretty honest, telling him that I felt like I was going around in circles, and that I realize now that there’s a lot that I don’t know. He seemed to appreciate that, and told me that he has no expectations of me right now. I am to be a sponge, in his words. I mentioned that I have lots of questions, but feel uncomfortable interrupting other people’s work to ask them, and he said that we’d make time early next week to sit down and discuss things. He also confirmed that, yes, this is only the second company I’ve worked for, and he affirmed that I’d come out the other side with a working knowledge of how the company and the data warehouse applications work.

That affirmation, while supportive, was also telling. The one person who can train me is on maternity leave, but I have the impression that he expects me to be up to speed on my own by the time she gets back.

This is daunting. Fun and new, yes, but still daunting.

I’ll bet you’re all wondering how my first two days at the new job went. Well, wonder no more!

Yesterday was mainly Orientation: all about benefits and office tours and videos and fingerprints and forms and more videos and — OMG, I saw “W” from Good Eats (aka Vickie Eng) in one of my orientation videos! Squee!

Ahem. Anyway, yeah, orientation took up the vast majority of my Monday. I did spend about the last hour of my day actually in my department, being introduced to everyone, then reading some online training materials about the application I’ll be using.

Some other randomness about my first day:

• I was so proud to have secured myself a parking spot in the really close parking garage. The attendant (an attendant in a parking garage?) directed me to park in a corner, by a wall, under a bulkhead. He had to direct me to help me get into the space, and I had to duck to get in and out of the car. And I had to have exact change for the SEVEN DOLLARS it cost to park there for the day. Lesson learned; the garage next door is only $3.
• The restaurant downstairs brings up sandwiches and salads to sell on the sixth floor eating area. I hadn’t brought any lunch with me, since I didn’t know if I’d have access to a refrigerator, so I bought a $3 tuna salad sandwich for lunch. It was quite good.
• My company pays for half of our parking costs, once our benefits officially kick in. So, after January 1, I’ll only have to pay thirty-some dollars a month for parking, instead of $3 a day (roughly $70 a month).
• There’s a fitness center on the first floor. It costs about $25 per month to use. They give you a locker, and they wash your gym clothes every week. Wow.

Today involved more reading of online training materials, learning about the company, and trying to develop a routine. I brought my small Hotei (Laughing Buddha) figurine from home, and brought my wall calendar and wedding picture from my box of stuff from my old job. My desk is at least starting to feel like my own space.

I’m discovering that I’m really a creature of habit, be that a good or bad thing. I’m entitled to two 15-minute breaks and a 45-minute lunch, but I’m not really used to taking breaks. I’m also not sure if eating at my desk is expected or OK or what, since we do have a “pantry” on our floor, with a fridge and a microwave. As far as what to do on my lunch break… I haven’t been listening to my iPod, in favor of just walking around downtown, then walking down the riverside before going back to work. (I never realized that Toledo had such gorgeous views.) Today, I walked downstairs for my lunch walk instead of taking the elevator. All twelve floors. It really wasn’t bad. I think I might make that part of my lunch routine. Still, I think I’d feel more comfortable if I had someone I could hang out with for a week or so, do the break and lunch thing with, and just kind of learn the social ropes.

Speaking of social, I never realized how the four-person cubes at my old job affected our interactions. The new person would meet at least one other person and get to feel comfortable with that person, and the cube walls were short enough to see over when standing or walking. At my new job, I have SO MUCH ROOM in my cube, it’s indecent. I’m all crammed into one corner of it, though, just because I’m not used to having so much room to spread out. The walls are tall enough that I can’t see when people walk by, except maybe the tops of their heads, with makes it a challenge to socialize. It’s just little old me with my back to the cube door, reading my training materials and hoping to get up to speed. People have stopped in to say hello and welcome, but I can count the visits on one hand. I’ll get used to it, I’m sure.

Oh, and it’s SO QUIET! Did I mention that? So, so quiet. It’s weird.

Except for my computer, which sounds like it’s going to take flight any moment.

Hmm, what else to mention…? Oh, yes. I believe there is a corollary to Murphy’s Law regarding work photo IDs. The day my hair is greasier than hell will always be the day when I’m unexpectedly required to have an ID photo taken. RCC, Sky, and now here. At least I can get in to work now, I guess.

I’m currently in a 90-day orientation period, during which time I need to be on my bestest behavior and not call in sick and not be late (like they’d even know, since I’m salary) and do good and learn lots. And not abuse the work e-mail system. So, I guess this is the end of blogging via e-mail from work (and super-long e-mail volleys with friends) for now. Ah, well.

Honestly? I think that, once I get the hang of this MicroStrategy thing and get a better understanding of Data Warehousing, this job will really be up my alley. It seems like a great transition from what I was doing at Sky to a more IT-centric career.