I’ve been MIA the last couple weeks. I didn’t mean to be, but I was. I don’t have an awesome reason as to why—no long trip, no major house project has been going on that could have possibly used up my time, nothing crazy. But I have made a pretty big change since my last post….
I changed jobs.
For me, I not only consider it a pretty big change, but also a pretty big step. A step to [hopefully] moving up in the design world. A step that took me out of my comfort zone that I’ve built up over the last 21.5 months at my previous job. A step to the unknown. A step towards once again making me love what I’ve chosen to do for a living.
I realized a several months ago that I wasn’t really happy were I was currently working. There were a series of events that made me worried about my position there [as in how much longer the company would keep it around], and how much I trusted the company. It started to make me feel uncomfortable, and made me lose interest in what I was working on. There were days I didn’t want to go into the office. I didn’t want to open Photoshop that day and design something I had no interest in doing. I had lost that spark that had been lit during college. I lost the passion I felt towards design and designing that I had when I graduated college just two years ago. And for me, that put up a big red flag. You don’t [or shouldn’t, at least] start hating what you do and went to school for within two years of graduating. That happens to people having a mid–life crisis and decide to change career paths out of nowhere. Right?
So that’s when I started looking elsewhere. I sent my portfolio and resumé out to at least six or seven places, and was actually able to land some sort of interview with four of those places. There was one position I really wanted. Like really, really wanted. But I didn’t get it. So I waited patiently for a position somewhere else to open. As I was able to land interviews, I slowly realized what I wanted, and more importantly, didn’t want in my next job. The designer position I ended up getting an offer for wasn’t originally my first choice. But after lots of thinking, weighing pros & cons of the different settings (firm vs. agency vs. in-house), and talking with Tim, the offered position became my first choice—before it was ever offered I might add. I originally wanted this possible job to fall through and get a different one I had interviewed for, but changed my mind after interviewing at other places. After my first day at the new place [which was today], I’m glad I rethought everything. I really think I’m going to like where I’m at.
The whole process definitely took time. Much more time than I thought, or wanted. I applied for the position I ended up getting back in December. December! Who knew it would take approximately four months to fill a design position. But as the saying going “Slow and steady wins the race.” And well, I think I’ve won this race.
–m.