The new gig
So after what seems like forever, I'm finally found a new position, and am moving on from my current firm. This Friday represents my last day at the old place, and I start on Tuesday. I'm obviously nervous moving on - the devil you know vs the devil you don't and all that - but I'm extremely excited too.
I guess the first place to start, is why I'm leaving the old place. I've only been here for a year and a half, and it was barely 15 months when I started looking in earnest. The job had a lot of promise when I started - it was a smaller firm than I was used to, but came with the potential of being able to find my place in the ownership. There was work out the wazoo - so much that the owner guaranteed me 45 hours a week - and the office was just 15 minutes from home. So despite the obvious disappointment of losing my old job, it looked like this was going to be a decent next step in my career.
Except it wasn't. It started well enough, but the big source of work they were expecting turned into a source of nothing but frustration. They've switched software packages from CAD to Revit, with a long list of growing pains; and their recent merger meant that large projects that normally would have been handed over are now subject to a list of requirements that our company doesn't meet. So instead of having more work than we knew what to do with, we barely had enough to hang on. My guaranteed 45 hours of work was barely 30. And even if the pay was guaranteed, the lack of work was troubling - a company can't survive if it isn't bringing in money.
And aside from the work issue, there was a definite culture issue. Things were very "old school", and not in that way that is good. Everything was very focused on billable hours, we were encouraged to go home and use our vacation if work was slow, and there was very much a salesman feel - part of our job as project managers was to act as marketing too; if we were slow on work, it was our failing for not bringing in enough work. So a lot of the attitudes here left things feeling fairly isolated, I think best summed up by the fact that at lunch, people would go sit in their car for an hour. And aside from the generally unwelcome feel, a lot of the people here are extremely conservative, which made Phoenix a no-go. I don't think I would have specifically been fired for it, but I certainly wouldn't have felt welcome.
So I gave my two weeks. And when I did, it confirmed a lot of what my gut was telling me - that it was time to go. Apparently the higher-ups are in talks with another MEP firm, looking to sell and merge. What that tells me is that there is a recognition of the shortcomings of the company, but it also tells me that the ultimate promise - that of part ownership - was now off the table. Granted, the time here has made it pretty clear that maybe that wasn't the best fit for me anyway, but still - the writing was on the wall that I was never going to realize all that was promised.
So after several starts and stops and good interviews and bad interviews, I finally found one that seems perfect. The new position will be at a firm in Columbia, and they specialize in mission critical systems for government clients. They primarily work with NASA and the Air Force, and the sample project they showed me was about replacing the UPS and generators at a satellite tracking station. I've done similar projects, but never at this scope or scale, but to be able to say "I'm working at this NASA site" just makes me thrilled. I'll need to get security clearance, the job will entail travel to some remote places, and just sounds like everything I've been looking for in the type of work I want to do. Sure, redesigning office buildings pays the bills, but flying a military flight out to a remote air base is hard to top.
The other interesting thing has been that this new job presents a new opportunity to bring Phoenix into the workplace. I've tried to mention it without being annoying, and ultimately reached out to the HR people at the recruiter. I know that as a company that does federal contracts, they legally can't discriminate against me based on gender identity, but "legally can't" and reality may not mean the same thing. But I ended up having a long conversation with the HR, and that was absolutely amazing. His take on it was much more proactive than I was expecting - he called and talked to me about my preferences, and exactly what being Phoenix means, and what I was looking for. The conversation was very positive and comfortable, and the end result of it was "I'm talking to you so I can go to your company and let them know what to expect and what they'll need to do". For once, it doesn't feel like a conversation of "if" but a conversation of "how". Needless to say, I'm excited about the possibility. Nervous as hell too, because having HR and a policy behind me isn't the same as working directly with people. I still may run into a situation where being Phoenix causes issues in the office, and there's always the dreaded bathroom issue. But the fact that I'll be going in with HR on my side is huge.
And so it goes - one chapter closes, another opens. Here's hoping this one is all it's cracked up to be.
I guess the first place to start, is why I'm leaving the old place. I've only been here for a year and a half, and it was barely 15 months when I started looking in earnest. The job had a lot of promise when I started - it was a smaller firm than I was used to, but came with the potential of being able to find my place in the ownership. There was work out the wazoo - so much that the owner guaranteed me 45 hours a week - and the office was just 15 minutes from home. So despite the obvious disappointment of losing my old job, it looked like this was going to be a decent next step in my career.
Except it wasn't. It started well enough, but the big source of work they were expecting turned into a source of nothing but frustration. They've switched software packages from CAD to Revit, with a long list of growing pains; and their recent merger meant that large projects that normally would have been handed over are now subject to a list of requirements that our company doesn't meet. So instead of having more work than we knew what to do with, we barely had enough to hang on. My guaranteed 45 hours of work was barely 30. And even if the pay was guaranteed, the lack of work was troubling - a company can't survive if it isn't bringing in money.
And aside from the work issue, there was a definite culture issue. Things were very "old school", and not in that way that is good. Everything was very focused on billable hours, we were encouraged to go home and use our vacation if work was slow, and there was very much a salesman feel - part of our job as project managers was to act as marketing too; if we were slow on work, it was our failing for not bringing in enough work. So a lot of the attitudes here left things feeling fairly isolated, I think best summed up by the fact that at lunch, people would go sit in their car for an hour. And aside from the generally unwelcome feel, a lot of the people here are extremely conservative, which made Phoenix a no-go. I don't think I would have specifically been fired for it, but I certainly wouldn't have felt welcome.
So I gave my two weeks. And when I did, it confirmed a lot of what my gut was telling me - that it was time to go. Apparently the higher-ups are in talks with another MEP firm, looking to sell and merge. What that tells me is that there is a recognition of the shortcomings of the company, but it also tells me that the ultimate promise - that of part ownership - was now off the table. Granted, the time here has made it pretty clear that maybe that wasn't the best fit for me anyway, but still - the writing was on the wall that I was never going to realize all that was promised.
So after several starts and stops and good interviews and bad interviews, I finally found one that seems perfect. The new position will be at a firm in Columbia, and they specialize in mission critical systems for government clients. They primarily work with NASA and the Air Force, and the sample project they showed me was about replacing the UPS and generators at a satellite tracking station. I've done similar projects, but never at this scope or scale, but to be able to say "I'm working at this NASA site" just makes me thrilled. I'll need to get security clearance, the job will entail travel to some remote places, and just sounds like everything I've been looking for in the type of work I want to do. Sure, redesigning office buildings pays the bills, but flying a military flight out to a remote air base is hard to top.
The other interesting thing has been that this new job presents a new opportunity to bring Phoenix into the workplace. I've tried to mention it without being annoying, and ultimately reached out to the HR people at the recruiter. I know that as a company that does federal contracts, they legally can't discriminate against me based on gender identity, but "legally can't" and reality may not mean the same thing. But I ended up having a long conversation with the HR, and that was absolutely amazing. His take on it was much more proactive than I was expecting - he called and talked to me about my preferences, and exactly what being Phoenix means, and what I was looking for. The conversation was very positive and comfortable, and the end result of it was "I'm talking to you so I can go to your company and let them know what to expect and what they'll need to do". For once, it doesn't feel like a conversation of "if" but a conversation of "how". Needless to say, I'm excited about the possibility. Nervous as hell too, because having HR and a policy behind me isn't the same as working directly with people. I still may run into a situation where being Phoenix causes issues in the office, and there's always the dreaded bathroom issue. But the fact that I'll be going in with HR on my side is huge.
And so it goes - one chapter closes, another opens. Here's hoping this one is all it's cracked up to be.