That's right, I said it, change is good! Embrace it. Take those lemons and squeeze them all over your wounds! It’s gonna hurt a little but suck it up and move on!
Leaving EPL was a hard decision for me. I was safe there, could have worked there for another 10 years. My boss loved me, thought I could do no wrong, let me have time off when I needed to, let me work from home some days just because. It was an easy job just because I was good at it. The amount of love I got when I left was the best part. People in HR telling me if I ever wanted to come back to just call, my boss tell me that my desk is empty if I want to come back. The people were awesome (well most of them), I’ve made some lifelong friends there! Leaving there was scary, but I had to take the leap! I took a position over at M’s that looked to be full of excitement! They were going to be on the upswing soon, and I was going to help be part of it! It was a great opportunity for me to get out of IT and try something different to “be in the mix” of things.
Less than 60 days on the new job at M’s and I find out they are closing our office in Irvine. Fuck me. I just left this great job and a great company to just be booted out like yesterday’s trash. This news could not have come at a worse time. With only a few weeks before Christmas we had a big company meeting. The week leading up to this meeting was the most stressful of all! People think they know what’s happening, everyone has their own versions of what they have heard from so and so. Stress took me over, was I being let go right after the meeting? I’ve not been here long enough to get any kind of package. I couldn’t sleep, I ate WAY too much. I couldn’t stop talking about what might be going on. My nights were filled with thoughts of having to break our lease and give up our house, sale my car, put my children in one bedroom…. All the craziness goes through my head. I could only think of worse case. Nothing would really be wrong with any of the scenarios above, but I just didn’t want to pick up and change everything because of a bad choice I made.
The morning of the meeting I am so sick to my stomach and in tears so many times. This was it, I was going to be unemployed in an hour from now, tossed out of the building, badge taken and sent on my way….
My boss somewhat helped me to feel better and tells me that it was not happening today and I would be one of the last people to leave. But what did that mean? Meeting time happens, we find out they are closing our office in Irvine. I have a job for 3 more months. Some people only had two months, but some of us had 3. My first thought; I can find a job in 3 months! Easy Peasy! BIG relief off of my shoulders. Kinda. The rest of the day was filled with drinking, and LOTS of it. I am pretty sure I consumed at least an entire bottle of top shelf vodka myself! The company was paying and I was drinking! HA.
Hubby picked me up, got home, shed lots of tears, went to bed. Got up the next day, put on my big girl panties, came into work and started the process to find a new job! I had my night of tears, my week of stress, I was ready to hit the ground running! My resume was the easy part, after all, I had just gotten this new job a few months ago, so I just had to throw on my new role and be done! Some people that had been here for longer than I took it more personal and had and is having a much harder time! I can understand and I feel bad for some of the people that have been a M’s for 20 something years. It was easier for me to be positive about it because I think I am a pretty positive person in general, but I had only been here for such a short time! The decision was already made and I knew I could do nothing about it, so just get your crap together and start putting yourself out there!
My new found love is LinkedIn! My cousin who is a recruiter had told me how powerful it was months ago, but I didn’t get it until now. Of course my job search started with Google. But as I would find a job posted I went to LinkedIn to see who I knew that worked at that company. I have heard it OVER and OVER in the last few years, and boy it’s SO true; You have to know someone to get your foot in the door to any company these days. LinkedIn has been key to my job search. Before I knew it I had 4 phone interviews lined up in one week! All with the help of different people I knew that had worked at one of those companies. All because of LinkedIn! Most people don’t mind passing your resume onto someone they know. If you don’t ask, you will never find out!
One of the things my boss told me when we found out the news about losing our jobs was, if I needed time to take calls or interview, please take it! He said he would give me a great reference, after all, he felt super bad about just hiring me and then having to turn around and let me go. This worked to my advantage. My first phone interview was with *bucks. In checking out their website, they had an entire webpage with tips on your resume and how to prepare for an interview with them. It was in fact a really great way to brush up on my interviewing skills! All four of my phone interview went really well! They all promised 2nd interviews. I was hitting the ground running for sure. It was a great feeling. I had some great experience and people wanted to talk to me. It had been less than 3 weeks since dooms day and I was kicking butt!
The next week followed with 2nd interviews and even a third. Then a job offer!!! I don’t even understand how things can move so fast sometimes, but the next thing I knew I was putting my notice into M’s! You can’t fire me, I quit!
Blowing this Popsicle stand for the Bell! They are such an awesome and LARGE company! Very hip, full of young people, energy, and they do a LOT of fun things, it’s like it was made for me! I will be supporting 3 Directors on the Restaurant Excellence team. I start there in February and am really excited for things to come! Lots of great opportunities to show my skills and a lot of chances to move around within a great company! They are really focused on personal and professional development. That’s really important to me these days. The perks I will get for working for the Bell are pretty awesome! They really thought long and hard about what will attract the best people! Between daycare on campus, a gym, a salon and restaurants, they had me at hello.
In talking to my current President at M’s this morning he told me that their CEO is one of the best out there! I really respect our President and have no hard feelings towards him for the decisions that have been made here. I don’t take it personally and I’m not one to burn bridges. It makes me sad to have no choice to leave a company where I really enjoy. I enjoy the management and our President. He is that guy that walks around and knows your name and says good morning. He is that guy that tells me that I will do great things and will be such a great asset to the Bell. It was great to hear. I am going to miss the people I have bonded with in the last four months. Sad to go, but so excited for the opportunity I have been presented! More updates on the new awesome job once I start! More to come on the awesome weight loss journey that is on it’s way. It has been shown in my past, if I am happy at my job, it reflects in my attitude, my home life and my life in general! Here’s to a new change and a new start for 2014!
