Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Huh.

I just got an e-mail from one of our recruiters - she's going to be contacting me within a few days regarding an internal position I applied for. It's in a different part of the company, not where I am now. It might not be a forever position, but anything, just about, would be better than where I am right now.

Of course, I then have to think - if I were to be offered this position, and accept it, would it be getting me any closer to where I might want to be in the future, or farther away? I think all it would accomplish would be to get me out of here. I don't think it's anything I'd be passionate about, I don't know that it's anything that would interest me for the long term. It would just be somewhere other than here.

At any rate, it's nice to have at least a little interest expressed, and it never hurts to talk.

Edited to add: I realize I'm putting the cart way ahead of the horse here, thinking about whether this position would further my long-term goals or be something I could be passionate about. I've already interviewed, made myself a job offer, and talked myself out of the position, all before I've talked to the recruiter! LOL

Or maybe I'm just starting to really think about my life, rather than making reactive decisions to bad situations. Sucky job, offer of new job - knee-jerk reaction, take new job and get the hell out. Thoughtful reaction - if new job offers no opportunities to improve the skills I really want to make a living using, or develop new skills that would help me make a living I'll enjoy, why take it? Keep looking.

3 comments:

meno said...

It's the human condition to take a scenario and then run, run all the way to the ends of the earth with it.

I look forward to hearing what happens.

Katie Alender said...

Well, I don't know. Most people I know get work through referrals. A happy, energized person is the kind of person whose name you pass along (well, competence helps, too).

If the new position would give you a little fresh air, it might be worth it. You never know what opportunities come out of new situations.

Lisa @ The Plain-Spoken Pen said...

Katie, no one referred me - I found the posting and applied for it through our internal career search tool.

And just to explain why I don't know if it will ultimately get me toward something I'll truly enjoy - it's an oil and gas property manager position. I can almost guarantee it doesn't involve books, writing or research in any form! If I'm considering going back to school for a master's in library science, I can't see that becoming an oil and gas property manager isn't going to further any goal that would go along with that degree. And it certainly won't use my law degree - you don't even have to have a law degree to be considered, just experience in my current position (which also doesn't require a law degree, but you wouldn't know that from the job postings for the position I now hold).

A month ago, two months ago, just being a breath of fresh air, being anywhere other than where I am, would have been enough. But I think that's a big part of the reason why I've ended up in the stinkhole I'm in now - just jumping to what seemed like a better deal at the time, without any kind of long-term career path or goal in mind. I'm almost 40, I'm getting too old to keep making that mistake. It's time for me to really think about what I want, and try to find something that makes me happy and that I can make a career of. I'm getting too old to keep job-hopping every three or four years.