Thursday 7 January 2010

Crossroads

Two days ago was the 7th anniversary of me working in the same company doing the same job. I'm currently at a bit of a professional crossroads in my life right now.  I love my job, luckily I don't have to work too hard, I enjoy being around most of the people I work with and my salary is pretty good too and of course "flirty office guy" is definitely a good reason for me to stay here. 

In the time that I have been working at this company it has been sold and sold again.  I have seen lots of people younger than me and working here less than me moving positions, being promoted or moving on to other things.  I am still in the same job I started 7 years ago doing pretty much the same thing - nothing has changed!   Lots of these people aren't (in my opinion) any more capable or qualified than me.

There is of course a drawback.  I work in an IT company and although I'm a university graduate - it's not in a technical field.  I have the job I have because I'm a mother-tongue English speaker (with specific writing abilities).  I have very little technical background (or knowledge) which is obviously a big drawback working in an IT company. 

In the past I have spoken with the company's CEO about my situation - he likes me a lot (I hope) and was very understanding and was very fair going through each department and why I wouldn't be suited working there.  (I can't become a support engineer or program developer for obvious reasons).  He also took into account my family situation and how frequent, possibly sudden and prolonged trips overseas wouldn't be suitable for me (he's right!). 

So here I am sitting at my desk day in day out doing the same thing.  In the 7 years I've been here I have definitely reached a certain level of "seniority" and think I receive a certain level of respect from people here. 

The question is, how long can I continue like this?  I am half-looking for a new position - but I understand in the middle of a recession it's very difficult to find a job and even more difficult to leave a good and very secure job to go into the outside world and do something different or the same thing in a different place.  On the plus side of my job - I am not really supervised , I am pretty much my own boss, I am free to come and go as I please, I'm not part of a team (I'm not much of a team player).  On the down side - I'm bored out of my skull, I'm void of any motivation to do anything and again I'm bored, bored, bored!

A new position has been vacated being the manager of quite a large department here.  The girl who used to manage the department is a good friend of mine and she was the one who put the idea in my head that I should go for the job. 

I even spoke to one of the senior managers here about it but he said as I don't have experience managing a team (and there are currently 2 team leaders in this department) it would be a "hard sell" but not necessarily impossible.  He even suggested I speak to the personnel lady.  However, I am not sure whether to go for it or not.  I don't want to make myself look stupid/desperate in front of the company management.  But it would kill me to see one of the two current team leaders in that department get the job instead of me!!!  On the other hand, I'm totally ready for a change, to advance myself and to earn more money.

I like to think I'm well received and well liked in the company but can't decide whether to speak to the personnel lady or not!!!

What should I do?  Sometimes being grown up isn't fun!

7 comments:

  1. Well I appreciate your honesty about not being a 'team player'. You may want to consider that when going for a management position. By definition its a 'team player' position -- you have to listen to all kinds of bullshit from your charges and play the face game with your bosses and other managers.

    Just sayin'.

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  2. You're definitely right. But I think it would be easier for me to be a team player if I'm in charge of the team - at least that way I don't need to try and stand out and impress the boss!

    If I were to get this managerial position - it would actually make me the boss of "flirty office boy" which would be wild!

    Could my life be any more fucked up? hahaha

    Thanks for commenting!

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  3. You state that you are bored, so IMHO you have to take risks in order grow. I think you should apply for the job, especially since you have security still if you don't get it.

    I've been in charge of teams and because of personalities, you will be challenged and not bored any longer and probably won't have as much "free" time to yourself. But be careful of having that "flirty office boy" as your subordinate. He could get you into real trouble if you are not very careful. I've seen charges of harassment over and over in similar situations.

    Well, I guess I may have made your decision any harder -- sorry!

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  4. Well you better find out if he'll go for your peen BEFORE you are his boss...too many complications that way. Although if you do bed him, and become his boss, it will still be complicated (for him, more than you, most likely.)

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  5. Well, today the office is closed but because of work pressures he came into the office today and phoned me to see if I was coming in too.

    I did come in (hahahaha!!) he gave me a hug when I arrived (unusual but true) - I could see from the top of his jeans he's wearing orange undies today hmmmmmmm.

    Will let you know if anything happens.

    I'm very, VERY disciplined - and I know how to separate between what's right and wrong - both as married guys and as his possible boss.

    If anything does happen - I will blog about it!

    Thanks for all your comments!

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  6. A hug, eh?? Hmmmm.....

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  7. Yeah, a hug. And I gave him a lift home (completely out of my way - but what the hell!!). He even invited me up to his apartment - he said it was the least he could do to say thank you. I declined - had to get home it was getting late.

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