Saturday, March 24, 2012

Bitter Sweet Good-byes

I didn’t get to write about this before, but there was a job I’d interviewed for last year and I was finally offered the position this year. I did write about last year being my hardest year financially. I was let go from my job, but I still had the responsibility of feeding myself and paying my rent. While I’m glad it gave me a reason to break free from retail and start looking for fulfillment in my career, it put a major strain on my finances. I really stepped out on faith throughout the whole ordeal.

The reason I feel I lost my job in the first place was because I was perhaps too honest with my employer. I’d already been through several interviews with that company and of course I thought it was only a matter of time before I was offered the position. So I felt confident enough to tell my District Manager at the time that I was looking for other opportunities. Lesson learned. I won’t ever do that again. Because after I did that, my DM began pressuring me about my last day and then finally just told me she would assign me one (Fired). Ultimately, the position I’d been interviewing for closed, but they told me to “keep in touch”. And here I was without a job. Filing for unemployment became a fight because they said I quit and I said I was fired. It took a month and half to get my unemployment. I’d been scraping by and borrowing money for my bills.

Then I got the bright idea to go back to the temp agency I’d worked for when I moved back to Tulsa after college. And that’s how I ended up here. In this wonderful office full of welcoming and wonderful people who totally spoiled me even as a temp. I loved it. But I always felt that this was temporary and I still had dreams about the other job. I told people I believe that job is mine.  I’d even had a dream I was working in that office.  I had other interviews, but nothing stuck with me like that place.

Even though I was happy with my work environment, I was ultimately bored with the actual work load and the position didn’t pay nearly enough for me to handle my financial obligations. I began asking my supervisor about a permanent position because I figured I would get an increase in pay once I became permanent. She told me she wasn’t sure about a permanent spot being available but would let me know and was pretty sure I wasn’t getting booted anytime soon.  With the uncertainty of my position here, I continued to look for other jobs and while searching on the internet one day I noticed that the position I’d interviewed for the previous year had become open again. So I got on the ball and emailed them. It began the meeting process once AGAIN.

And while I was having lunches and meetings with them the permanent offer came through at the temp job…. And the pay was only .50 higher than what I was making as a temp. Womp Womp. What to do? I didn’t know about the other job and it had fallen through once before. I didn’t want to turn this down and be without a job once again. My supervisor gave me the offer and I politely said, “I’m going to take this and think about it.” She was puzzled because I’d been asking for this for a couple months now and I didn’t jump at the chance to sign the offer letter.  Again, I was completely honest. I have a hard time lying, which is a good thing. And like the great person she is, she went through the pros and cons with me. A major con being how long they’ve made me wait. And after speaking with someone in the other office, I decided to accept the offer I was given. A month later, I was finally offered the position I’d been praying for.

So here I am on my last day of work.  It’s totally bitter sweet leaving here, but I’m leaving with great connections. It feels really good to leave a place on a good note.  I’ve never had that experience before. I always couldn’t wait to be done with a place. But I’ve gained more insight to what I do want and need in a career and was given time to figure that out. All in all God gets all the glory. That moment when realize that God has answered your prayers is very sobering. 

No comments:

Post a Comment