I haven't been blogging much lately...

...because I've been busy with my new job. I had been planning to write about it for the longest time, but I just never got around to it. I've been back at work for about a month now.

I guess I didn't write because I didn't have much energy for it. Work hasn't really been that busy, but after a whole day in front of the computer, I just don't want to be in front of the screen when I got home. But most of it was because I didn't really know where to start.

For example, I still have a hard time articulating why I took the job. The whole thing came together pretty quickly. The company's recruiting manager called me up and scheduled an interview between me and a senior manager for the next Wednesday. A day after the intervew, the recruiting manager called me up the next morning, asking me how soon I could start if an offer were tendered to me. I ended up signing that very afternoon, and I started work at the company two Mondays later.

I didn't take the job because of the money (although it does pay well), or because I thought it was a particularly good, can't-miss opportunity (although, for any sane person, it could be).

I guess I was just running out of excuses. My "showbiz answers" for leaving my last job (I wanted to take a break, I wanted to finish my final project report for grad school, I wanted to look into other opportunities) weren't holding up anymore (I had been out of work for 4 months already, I finished a draft of my final project report back in July and it only took me about a day to revise for a final version, I wasn't really looking for other opportunities and if I did agree to come for an interview for a recruiter I showed up looking like this). Anyway, taking the job really was an impulse decision.

(Warning: Cryptic paragraphs, insider-y paragraph that's not really meant to be understood to follow)

I did it with the realization that, despite being away, things weren't really getting better with me. I was still in the exact same place I was six months ago, which was the exact same place I was in a year ago, which was the exact same place I was in 18 months ago. I had a vision of the next six months, the next year unfolding and me remaining in the exact same place. With the new job, it's doubtful that it'd be any different, but I could at least pretend that I'm "moving things along".

(End insider-y paragraph)

Anyway, the job. It's okay. I have a high regard for the people I work with, and in many respects, it is an incredible place. To look the part, I got myself a yuppie haircut and a clean shave, and I make sure to come to work in accordance with the company's dress code. I'm trying to get into a routine, battling traffic and commuting to the other side of the metro really early every morning, going home, cooking dinner, and packing lunch for the next day.

The schedule is killing me, because as early as I have to get up each morning, I still couldn't sleep easily at night, so usually end up going to work with three or four hours of sleep. The company I work for has a night shift, which I prefer, and I actually tried going in to work at night for about a week. Too bad the schedule didn't work for my bosses, who worked mornings so I had to go back to the regular shift so I could get to meetings with them.

The job is about as different from my last job as you could get while staying in the IT industry. To be perfectly candid, I don't see myself lasting this long here, but then again, I used to say that too about GMA, and I ended up staying almost four years. It's not necessarily a bad thing. It's a more professional approach; I come in, I do my job (and I've been doing a good job too), and I go home. But I don't pour my heart and soul into my job, not like I used to, anymore.

Labels: personal, work

- posted by jaemark @ 10/05/2008 11:18:00 PM