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"You always change jobs in October." This in an email from a friend last night and only kinda true.
I was raised in a time when it was assumed that if a woman had a career, she'd better find a good lifetime job before she was 40 because it was hard enough to get a job when she's young and cute but when she's old, no one is going to ever hire her.
So it really tickles me to think of how many times I've started new jobs - particularly since turning 40. 9. Nine! I love it. 2 of those ended because I got promoted/transfered. 1 was at the 3 month mile marker when the guy who owned the firm and I decided that it was not a good match. 2 were layoffs. And 4 were situations where I just flat got a better offer. The longest time between gigs was about six weeks.
But I do remember starting a job I Minnesota - a big drawing card for me was the promise of snow. I remember the human resources person explaining that I'd get my fill soon enough. I could not imagine that. My first day was October 21 and it snowed. Not a lot. But it qualified and I was in heaven. (And, for the record, I spent two winters there and never even came close to getting enough snow.)
My last day as a regular Microsoft employee (FTE's as they are affectionately called) was October 6.
But, those are the only October job changes I can actually remember. I left Charlotte, NC for Connecticut on the day the Challenger exploded in January. I started my job in San Jose, CA in September, six weeks before the World Series at Candlestick was interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake. I moved to Seattle and started my first job here in January. I got laid off for the first time a month after the Seattle earthquake (May) and the second time in February. I started this job in March.
I have been so lucky. My dad was a great career coach. Both my parents energetically encouraged me to do whatever it was I wanted to do and always told me that I was in charge of me and had all the talents and skills needed to not fuck that up but make it fun. They were right.
I was raised in a time when it was assumed that if a woman had a career, she'd better find a good lifetime job before she was 40 because it was hard enough to get a job when she's young and cute but when she's old, no one is going to ever hire her.
So it really tickles me to think of how many times I've started new jobs - particularly since turning 40. 9. Nine! I love it. 2 of those ended because I got promoted/transfered. 1 was at the 3 month mile marker when the guy who owned the firm and I decided that it was not a good match. 2 were layoffs. And 4 were situations where I just flat got a better offer. The longest time between gigs was about six weeks.
But I do remember starting a job I Minnesota - a big drawing card for me was the promise of snow. I remember the human resources person explaining that I'd get my fill soon enough. I could not imagine that. My first day was October 21 and it snowed. Not a lot. But it qualified and I was in heaven. (And, for the record, I spent two winters there and never even came close to getting enough snow.)
My last day as a regular Microsoft employee (FTE's as they are affectionately called) was October 6.
But, those are the only October job changes I can actually remember. I left Charlotte, NC for Connecticut on the day the Challenger exploded in January. I started my job in San Jose, CA in September, six weeks before the World Series at Candlestick was interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake. I moved to Seattle and started my first job here in January. I got laid off for the first time a month after the Seattle earthquake (May) and the second time in February. I started this job in March.
I have been so lucky. My dad was a great career coach. Both my parents energetically encouraged me to do whatever it was I wanted to do and always told me that I was in charge of me and had all the talents and skills needed to not fuck that up but make it fun. They were right.
