My New Job

My new job is exciting. I’ve never done this type of work before (advertising) but it’s right up my alley! I’m doing lots of observations and shadowing right now, but my boss is slowly handing over the reins. We’re beginning to move some spreadsheets and marketing plans over to Google Docs, after a suggestion by moi. I’m trying to be patient but I’m so ready to have more responsibilities and projects. Everything is so exciting and thrilling to learn, to a girl who spent her schooling writing crappy newspaper articles and spent two-and-a-half years in a daycare.

My new job is tough. I sat in on a budgeting/media planning meeting yesterday and it was intense. I think I was lost within the first 30 seconds, but it’s good for me to just be there, hearing what’s going on and why. There is so much to learn with this job but I’m not expected to pick everything up within my first week. My boss has an incredible amount of spreadsheets with so many rows and columns, color-coded to remind her of things she needs to do, that it makes my brain spin looking at it too long. I’m starting to get the feel for her spreadsheets, though. There is a method to her madness, for sure! :)

My new job has a different energy surrounding it. I don’t know how to say this in a nice way, but there was a lot of negativity at my old job. So much so that I tried to keep to myself as much as possible and would dread going to work the next day because of the drama. There were so many people there that made me question why they were working at this place if it made them so miserable. At my new job? There’s a totally different atmosphere. Maybe I’m just so new that I don’t see it, but these people seem to actually enjoy their work. Who knew?! They don’t have easy jobs and have to meet tough deadlines, keep customers happy, and deal with all sorts of mishaps but they maintain a fun, lively atmosphere and don’t let the little things bog them down. They are all hard workers and I feel absolutely blessed to be surrounded by this energy and feeling of support.

My new job leaves me feeling fulfilled. I had been feeling very uninspired and unmotivated in the past few months. After graduation and my cruise, my life was filled with the ups and downs of job searching. Getting interviews, being turned down, submitting resumes over and over again to no avail. There was nothing exciting happening and nothing exciting would happen until I received a job offer. I felt like I would be stuck at my old job for another year and every Monday, I felt sick to my stomach because that my life was still the same. Granted, I could have done more during this time to motivate me without having a job, but I wasn’t in that mindset. I feel less tired and sluggish working 40 hours a week than I did working 25. I am undeniably more happy and satisfied with my life. I’m challenged and pushed to use my brain and problem-solving abilities. Most of all, I am using the degree I put so much work into.

My new job will not always be this delightful. When you know, you know. Just like in a relationship, this job is in the brand-new stages and being new and exciting. I’m in the honeymoon phase where everything is puppies and rainbows and sunshine. But I also know I will encounter bumps in the road. I will make mistakes and doubt myself. I will wonder why I ever thought this job was so amazing in the first place. There will be weeks where I am so busy I can’t see straight and weeks where I am so happy I could cry. I’m prepared for this, because my life has been a series of rollercoasters and I know what it’s like to encounter bumps and valleys in the road. 

My new job makes me so happy I didn’t settle. During my first-ever post-grad interview, I went on an all-day second round interview shadowing assignment where I followed a veteran sales rep and a newly hired sales rep as they went door-to-door to businesses, selling office supplies. (Yes, selling office supplies. What a thrilling job!) I remember telling the veteran how this wasn’t the job I thought it would be (I figured more marketing, less sales) and the newbie told me something I haven’t been able to get out of my mind for the past week. He said, “Yeah, this wasn’t the job I thought it would be, either. But, you know, a job is a job.” Is it, though? Can we strive for more? Is that being too naive? Perhaps, but I’d rather be naive and happy than in a job that made me miserable. I keep thinking about the what ifs. What if I had tried harder to get the job in the last-round interview? What if I was a door-to-door sales rep, doing something just to have a job? What if I had settled? I am so very glad I didn’t. I’m so very glad I followed my heart and found this opportunity for me to flourish and grow.

My new job scares me to death. I’m only one week into my three month probationary period and all I can think of is how happy I am with my new life and how scared I am that I won’t live up to expectations and will not make it past these three months. I know it’s a silly worry because all I have to do is show I’m willing to learn and happy to be there and it’s all gravy. My boss has already said she’s impressed with how quickly I catch onto things, so I just need to keep that up. Keep impressing her, keep learning. But I’m a worrywart by nature, so I guess I had to worry about something.

My new job is making me the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. More than graduation, more than my cruise. I finally feel like I’m doing something worthwhile with my life. I’m no longer stagnant, no longer waiting for my life to start. It has started. It started a long time ago. But I’m finally living it the way I was meant to.