Thursday Thirteen #53 - Hi Ho Hi Ho, It's off to work I go

I swear, I haven't been holding back...well...maybe a little bit, but only because I was saving the news for today's post. So, without further ado...I GOT THE JOB! I am once again among the land of the employed, and it feels good. I want to thank EACH and EVERY one of you for your words of support, positive vibes, prayers, and encouragement during the last few weeks. This time of unemployment, for someone like me, who is self-sufficient and self-dependent could have been a horrible time, but you all made it much more bearable. I think overall I handled this situation pretty well, but it was only AFTER I was offered the job that I realized how truly stressed out about the whole thing I was. Now I can breathe a sigh of relief, and enjoy my next two weeks of vacation, because I don't start my new job until May 27th. Yay me.

So, here are Thirteen Things about my new job:

1. I will be the Executive Assistant to the CEO of a local credit union. I'm not, nor have I ever been, someone who gets hung up on "titles" when it comes to career, but I have to admit that I'm a little bit proud of the fact that I landed a job that is pretty high profile. CandidMama is calling me "Big Shot Jr.", and we're getting a lot of laughs out of it, but I am a little proud of myself. I've worked hard, and it's kind of nice to feel a sense of accomplishment, ya know?

2. The CEO seems to be a genuinely nice guy, very down to earth, and actuall reminds me quite a bit of The Boss at the The Firm. This is a good thing, because I had a fantastic working relationship with The Boss, so I'm hoping it'll be the same with The CEO (I believe for now we'll make that his name here on this blog). When I went in yesterday, for what I thought was a "second interview", it turned out that he just wanted to offer me the job face to face. I think that says something about the kind of place he runs and the kind of guy he is.

3. The organization I will be working for is a fairly large one in terms of credit unions, and they offer fantastic employee benefits and perks. Besides my friend who works in HR (who got me the interview) I know of one other person who works there, and they both love the company. It seems to be a professional but very laid back and convivial atmosphere. While I was sitting there waiting (both times I went in) random folks would walk by and they would all smile, say hello, etc.

4. Yesterday, after being offered the position, CEO introduced me to a few folks and then went to show me my office. He was all excited, it was kind of cute, and upon showing it to me, he said "Go ahead, have a seat, try it on for size". So I sat behind my desk and he was all happy. It was cute. The office itself? Very nice, much larger than the one I had at The Firm, with very large windows overlooking a busy street in the downtown area.

5. Let's talk about the location for a minute. I will be working 5 minutes from my house. With traffic in this city (which is pretty hectic) it'll probably take me closer to 15 to 20 minutes to commute, but that is still about 30 minutes less than I delt with for the old job. I will be, approximately 2 miles from home, however. With gas prices as they are, I'm pretty happy about this. The office is in the downtown area of my hometown, which is a busy, bustling place. Not quite Boston, but good enough for a bit more of a social experience, which I seriously am looking forward to.

6. Parking in the downtown area is quite a commodity, and as one of the employee benefits, the company pays for employee parking in a local garage. However, as an executive member (they called me that, not I), I get my very own gadget to open the gate to the private lot behind the building. I get happy about silly thingslike this, because, well...it's just kind of cool, right?

7. The job responsibilities themselves will range from the usual stuff (fielding phone calls and correspondence for the boss, etc.) to all sorts of projects that he seemed excited I was willing to take on and brainstorm about, etc. The organization is in a growing stage, so there's potential for all sorts of new experiences there, and I'm looking forward to those.

8. There are, I believe he said, about 120 employees at the moment (though that may just be at the one location, I'm not sure), but regardless, I'm going from a place with 5...so that will be quite a change and I can't wait for that.

9. Think of the blog fodder I might have with all those employees and working right in the middle of downtown. So, YOU get something out of the deal too.

10. I realize that this will be a "job" and therefore it won't be all roses and sunshine, and there will be negative aspects at some point, but at the moment, I'm just focusing on the good things, and I really do get a great feeling about it.

11. I feel like this job was tailor made for me. I was looking to get out of the legal profession, but wasn't sure I could afford to do so. I was out feeding the poor when I found out about this opening from my friend. I prayed that the CEO woud be a nice guy, and I genuinely like the guy. I wanted to stay close to home, and not have to go work in Boston, but I kind of wanted the "city" feel of my old Boston jobs, and this is CLOSER to home, but in the city. The whole thing hs just felt right from day one.

12. When I went to The Firm yesterday, after my interview, because I'm still helping out there part time a bit, The Boss came into my office and said "SO?" and when I told him I got the job, he kind of did that "YES!" motion with is body and actually said "YES!". He did his own version of the happy dance for me. I really will miss The Boss, he's a great guy, and genuinely cares for me and was concerned about me and truly happy that I got this job and am happy about it. I get a little emotional thinking about it, because it's not everyone who's lucky enough to have that kind of relatioship with their boss, you know? Plus I feel badly for him that The Firm is in such dire straits. It sucks.

13. That's all I've got on the new job for now, but I'm certain there will be plenty more stories once I start working. For now, I'm going to enjoy my vacation, and thank God I'm once again employed.

So again, thanks everyone for all your prayers and stuff the last few weeks, I have no doubt that they helped me land this gig, and I'm truly appreciative.

Happy Thursday!!!