Corporate World

"So how's the new job?" is the question of the month. It's going pretty well actually, thanks for asking. (Today willl be my one week anniversary.) I'm in a position of a bit of "higher" management now, so I've been spending more time in meetings then at my desk so far, and people are looking to me to help rather than me having to offer. Some people even think I have experience and wisdom! It's quite flattering.

I've spent my last two jobs at small companies, so going back to a corporate environment will take some getting used to. I went through a day and a half of training and orientation, kind of like Freshman orientation at college, which made me feel young again, at least for a few minutes, before I learned that half the group being trained just had their Freshman college orientation four years ago.

Some unique perks of working coporate again: our building has a nurse, masseuse, and a barber shop, where the late president's personal barber has worked at for at least a decade. And of course, a cafeteria where you can get a decent meal for around $5, and a company famous buffalo chicken salad, where popcorn shrimp sized nuggets of breaded buffalo chicken is tossed in a salad with bleu cheese dressing.

With a few hundred people sharing ofice space, and going through hurdles from of a team of 30 rather than 3 will take some getting used to, but I've always welcomed change, and time will tell is this place is right for me (or if I'm right for this place).

First Day On The Job

First day on the job. I'm sitting in my corner cubicle (this time with walls that go up to my neck), in front of a computer I cannot log into, staring at the image to the right till about 4 PM because my computer wasn't set up. My welcome packet is 40 pages long - but half of those pages are local food menus, which is a very good sign. I learned how to use the coffee maker; insert a pack of coffee and it makes a cup and disposes of the empty pack for you. Very cool. I visited the cafeteria - not as big as Credit Suisse or BMG's cafeteria, but clean and more economical than orher big name corporation cafeterias. I had my first Vault soda there. "Drinks like a soda, kicks like an energy drink." I set up my voicemail cause my phone works. I received my temporary ID so I can make it past the guards at least. I read two binders worth of material that I think is irrelevant to me because it seems outdated. I read the manual for my new calculator, and realized calculators haven't advanced much since the last one I used in Junior High. And I wrote this blog entry, so I'm off to a pretty productive start.

Interestingly enough, I'm also only the second married guy here. The other married guy just came back to work today. From his wedding. I wonder how old everyone thinks I am?

I'm Hired

After four weeks, dozens of phone calls, six interviews, and three offers, I've finally settled on a position. If you followed my previous post, I declined the growth position, and in the interview with the video game company, we mutually agreed that there would be higher paying opportunities than what they were able to offer. That leaves the brand company, who actually one upped my title from Manager to Supervisor, which was a very pleasant surprise. I accepted the offer and will start on June 21st, which leaves me a week and a half of actual freedom. My new office will be on 49th St. and 8th Ave., so give me a shout out for lunch or a beer if you're in the area. And if you want to have lunch or a beer and you're not in the area, I have an open schedule until June 21st.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go Now?

I've been on a job interview every day for the past week. Today is the first day where I don't have to leave the house. (I have an interview by phone at 2:30 PM.) Being unemployed is a lot more work than I anticipated. I've also been spending money on coffee drinks, dry cleaning the suits, and buying a shiny new pair of shoes for the interviews. Haven't received my first unemployment check yet, but they might as well make them out to Starbucks.

I've had two offers so far, and I've already declined one. The current offer I'm sitting on is dependent on the status of two more opportunities. The first is at a very well-know advertising agency; they've expressed interest in having me come in for a second round, but they've yet to confirm a date and time. They also said they weren't sure if they were ready to hire for that particular position, but a second interview gives me hope that they will be. The second opportunity is at a video game company with International offices. The job would require me to visit the European/Asian offices once a quarter, so that could be very interesting for me, as well as allow me to break into an industry which I've always wished to be in. The offer on the table though, is for a profitable but smaller interactive agency, where they would develop a department around me (and I would make up my own title), so the opportunity there could be extremely lucrative as well.

So here's what it's looking like now: growth vs. brand vs. industry.

Worst case scenario: the growth company gets tired of waiting for me to give them an asnwer and declines the offer, the brand company's second interview doesn't happen becuase they've decided they're really not hiring, and the industry company doesn't like me on the first interview becasue I spilled my Starbuck's Banana Creme Frappuccino all over my freshly dry cleaned suit.

I'm hoping that I should have a better idea what direction my porofessional life is going in by the end of the week.

In other news, the latest update for my current fav vido game, City of Villains, just went live, so I can find a way to keep busy in the meantime. And I've got laundry to fold.

Wanted Man

Just ending Week Two of unemployment, and am currently writing this in between interviews at a Starbucks on 40th St. off of Madison, sucking down their new Banana Crème Frappuccino. Spending a couple of hours in midtown in a suit and tie in 80 degree weather is grueling. The biggest difference between this area and the old office at Union Square is that I'm not the only one in a suit and tie in 80 degree weather. Every male in this Starbucks right now is wearing the same corporate uniform except the guys behind the counter. This isn’t a reflection of corporate culture, but it’s still something to consider when accepting a new job. My coffee breaks here may end up costing more than my lunches.

The next day…

I’m in Starbucks again. Now cozying up to a Vanilla Frappuccino and a stranger sharing my table. This Starbucks is in the Barnes & Noble in Union Square, where I lugged my 7 pound laptop over to take advantage of the “free wireless high speed internet access,” as all the signs say. Well, it’s only free to bn.com.

Very clever, Barnes & Noble. Access to any other site will require a subscription based service.

The gentleman sharing my table is on his cell phone discussing the difference between a “dork” and a “geek” as I’m typing this. He’s speaking loudly enough that I’m sure he doesn’t mind that I hear.

Anyway, I just came out of my third interview in two days. This one went pretty well, I think. I already got an offer from my first interview yesterday, and the second interview was talking about hiring me on a contract basis. The big one I’m looking forward to is tomorrow, for a major advertising company. This would be my first choice, but I was forewarned that they weren’t actually looking for someone but would like to meet up with me anyway.

Considering I haven’t actually started looking yet, these are good signs. All the calls I’ve received are from postings of my resume on the major job boards. I haven’t started any company research or contacting anyone on my own yet. (If Barnes & Noble in Union Square really did have free wireless Internet access, I could be doing that right now.) I applied to a couple of corporate toy sites, in the hopes that they may actually be looking for an online marketer. I haven’t really put too much thought in what direction to go in, but the winds seem to be pushing me back towards agency work. I think I can push back, but with no clear direction, maybe I shouldn’t resist too much for now.

More to come…