papa's got a brand new bag

When I talked about moving out of my apartment for a few months, I alluded to some work opportunities I was pursuing. Now that papers have been signed and things are in motion, I can explain it a bit more.

Part of my "Moving Forward" plan was to save some money by moving to my dad's for 6 months. Part 2 of said plan was getting a good full-time job so I would have money to save. For the past few years, ever since "The Job I Really Loved And Put My Heart Into Kicked Me To The Curb" (or T.J.I.R.L.A.P.M.H.I.K.M.T.T.C.) happened, I've been jumping from contract to contract. You can make a living working contracts for various companies, but those long dry spells in between gigs can get longer and longer. It can be a bit demoralizing and knock the wind out of any momentum you have. And that's where I found myself 3 months ago, working 2 data entry job that both were slowly killing me. Not literally, because the work was purposeful and the people were good, but there wasn't any potential to progress.

Up until T.J.I.R.L.A.P.M.H.I.K.M.T.T.C., I would start in an entry to mid-level position with a company and work my way up. Jumping from contract to contract, I've been working hard and hoping for full-time offers, but nothing really emerged. So I was doing the safe thing, day in day out, punching the clock. I did something dangerous: I got comfortable with where I was. And it got harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning. And then the afternoon. I didn't want to go to work and started sleeping a lot. That's called depression. It's not pretty, it's not easy to notice when your in it, but in retrospect, that's what it was. And when I noticed it, I fought like Ali to get out of it.

I snapped out of that fog a few months ago. I was at the Gladstone Hotel karoke night, chatting with a girl I had just met, and she asked the inevitable question: "So what do you do?" And I answered her.

"Wow" she said with refreshing honesty, "That sounds really dull."

And she was right. It did sound dull. My answer even bored me.

I thought about my answer for the next few days and decided I needed to get my fire back. I started revamping the resume and cruising the internet. And so I started searching. And getting up in the mornings.

Fast forward to a few weeks after that night. Some changes were happening in my workplace (aka The Night Job) and I took the initiative. I emailed both our Human Resources representative and my production manager (who also has plenty of HR experience) and updated them on my goal to work a managerial full-time position, and reminded them of my qualifications and experience. When you work a data entry position, you stay working on one or two particular tasks - it can be tricky to stand out from the crowd when it comes to demonstrating initiative and drive.

They emailed "thanks, we'll take a look" emails, and I let that marinate for a day or two. Then a bit later, this would be June, my HR advisor asked to meet with me. My HR advisor asked if I had seen a particular job posting, one that HR hadn't been able to fill. It had been posted before my "Boring Answer" epiphany, and as it was in a different department, so I hadn't really taken notice.

The position was essentially a Training Coordinator. The goal was to learn the workings of a new department, then develop a training program: manuals, classes, presentations, evaluations, the works.

A little bell went off, a eureka moment: shit, I'd been doing that for years. I've been training people since my first Mc-Job, in almost every job, I've trained or written procedures. Wait a minute, I thought. I'm pretty damned good at that. And I like it too, like teaching but in a corporate environment. Hot damn, if that doesn't sound like some translatable job skills that I can use in a career.

We set up an interview. The interview was a 2-parter. Part 1 was giving a 5 minute training presentation on any subject I wanted. I chose how to set up a blog in 5 minutes: lesson for today kids, work from what you know. I sweated out procedure sheets, a Powerpoint presentation and checklists. The manual came together quick, especially after the initial panic. The panic was born out of thinking "Oh bugger, didn't I hire Liam to do the manuals at the book company?", and then remembering I actually paid attention to how he did it and remember I knew how to write procedures to. Took a moment, but I remembered.

I knocked that interview out of the park.

Of course I didn't feel that way directly afterwards, just hot, over caffeinated and anxious. But the actual interview went well, and I knew it. I explained my training methods and philosophy. Yes, I had forgotten that I have an actual training technique. This is what 2 years of button pushing does to your brain. I showed my people skills, gave examples based on experience, the works.

And a week later I got the job offer. Full-time, salaried, can lead to bigger and better things, pretty damned good work that makes me look forward to getting up in the morning. It felt like my old friends passion and confidence had gotten a boost.

I'm as jacked about the actual work as I am at returning to daytime work. My 6pm - 12am shift was interesting, but for single bachelor music-loving guy, it gets restrictive when it comes to planning social life and going to concerts. It's a good change. I'm in the same office building downtown, so I just take the GO Train from Richmond Hill to get into work. An hour to listen to music or read everyday.

And that’s the long and short of it: new (old) place to live for a little bit, new job, new opportunities, new potential and new clothes (say what you will, but new clothes and shoes put a spring in my step). Add in some patching up I did with my Mom a couple of weeks ago (relationship spackle is handy), and a summer that has seen me reconnecting with lots of old friends I haven't seen in ages, and things are really rolling along.

We end this story with me feeling pretty damned good.

He ain't no drag.

Papa's got a brand new bag.

And I would be remiss if I didn't thank that friend who got me into The Night Job in the first place and encouraged me to take the initiative. You know who you are.