I've been moved at work. A year after my former boss the VP told me he thought I should be in the other building, the small crowded building with the call centers, it finally happened. I've been dreading it, but nothing I said would make any difference. It's loud in here, there are frequent distractions, and a lot of my job is analyzing, which ideally would require thinking and concentrating. My job title is Analyst, after all.
And I don't have the same boss anymore. Despite the fact that I work with multiple departments, my former boss the VP has decided that I should report to the director of one of the departments. There is a whole other operations/technical department and they are the obvious fit for my position. I have spoken to the two heads of that department and they agreed and said they would love to have me, but again, my former boss the VP doesn't agree. Coincidentally, that department is in the other, quiet building.
I got the news while sitting in a meeting with the director guy - my former boss the VP came in and said that, if I didn't already know, I wasn't reporting to him anymore, I was reporting to the director. If I didn't already know? How could I have known?
So here I am in the noisy and crowded call center reporting to a person who doesn't understand what my job is, exactly, and whose department is only one part of my job.
I've worked here for a little over three years now, and it's really a good company. The benefits are decent and it's a growing, obscenely profitable company. I'm hoping to possibly get a promotion... and I'm hoping that will mean more money for me.
In the time I've been here I've gotten much better at many aspects of working in an office. I can be aggressive when I need to, taking charge of meetings, standing up for myself, blah blah blah. I am quite a wimp by nature so it has been really good practice for me to be in a situation where I have to take control and make things happen. (I failed to win the battle of where I would sit and who I would report to, but it wasn't for lack of aggressive trying on my part.)
I've also learned about selling. I am not a natural salesperson, but now I understand the importance of sales techniques in everyday life. Really, in just about every interaction with other people you are trying to sell them on you, to some degree.
My Dad was a great salesperson. He worked in department stores and opened up two women's clothing stores of his own. But then he decided to move back to VA to raise me, and he transitioned into a broker position, where he sold stocks and retirement plans. He worked with a lot of the universities and community colleges in the southwestern VA area.
Looking back on it now, I can see what he was doing - as he got older and closer to retirement, he was smart enough to realize he needed continuing income without having to continue to work for it. After he retired he got commission for years and years from the sales he had made, in addition to his Social Security and his Veteran's benefits.
What a cool guy. I sure wish I could talk to him about it now, and ask questions.
