Update: on the 11th, I was one of the unfortunate many laid off by my magnanimous (former) employer. Now, for many, this was an emotional calamity. For me, though, with the lovely weather we’ve (for the most part) had, along with having free-time to let my brain wander free, it has been a nice respite. With my last employer (a frantically paced Fortune 500), it was nearly impossible to make the time to reflect and be planful. After a brief foray into slothness (oh, what delights that brings), I’ve awakened my inner Franklin-Covey geek and have launched into some self-analysis and refocusing.
For some time I’ve been wondering what I want from this thing “career”. For so many folks it’s a key defining piece of their existence (sometimes THE defining piece). I’m still hedging. Basically, I’ve never fully committed to the notion of a career, at least as a single discipline. I’m not, say, an accountant, nor programmer, nor anything that linear. The closest I could place myself in this context is “administrative assistant”, which doesn’t mean much in-and-of itself. Simply, it is the title I’ve had most often. The main thing it means, though, is that I’ve not spent that much time in charge of major efforts. Mostly, I’ve been the person executing project work. On one of my recent evaluations, one of my listed strengths was “getting things done”. I have found such quite enjoyable, at times challenging and encompassing a wide variety of work. That’s the sort of thing I’ve always enjoyed. For a while, though, I’ve had this nagging sense that it isn’t enough – perhaps a year or so.
Lately, I’ve become more interested in strategy. I’ve also noticed that I’ve become a bit bored by details (whereas, I used to delight in the mind-numbing morass of extreme detail). Now, though, I think I’m attracted to the title “analyst”. There’s some detail to such work, but it’s not the “we’ll need pencils at the event, and how many cupcakes should I order?” stuff I’ve dealt with for years. Part of me still enjoys that stuff, however. Mainly, though, since it’s second nature and I can generally hit home-runs with little effort. In other words: laziness.
We’ll see what comes my way. Between my severance and unemployment, I don’t need to take the first desperate position that comes along. Which is good since there’s a bit of a dearth out there.
