my two-month hiatus is coming to an end.  i’ll be officially employed again and will start my new job on march 17.  well, primarily, it’ll just be a four-day orientation before i get my hands dirty.  good thing is, i’m still eligible for the holy week break, so the last day of the orientation will resume on easter monday, then i get assigned to my post the following day.  how do i feel?  honestly, i feel excited and raring to go back to work after my long vacation.  but before i describe what i’ll be doing, let me just take this time to thank one person, who without her telling me about the job openings in this particular company, i wouldn’t be landing the job.  so to my former officemate and friend, chille, who will also be a future officemate again as well, since we both got hired by the same company and we’ll both be attending the orientation on the 17th, thank you and i owe you one big time!  i’m also looking forward to working with you again.

so, on to the job details.  well, as you may have noticed, i don’t really give specifics.  even company names and job titles.  but since most of you who read my blog know me that well, i may have already told some of you what i’ll be doing.  but for the benefit of those who are keeping score with my life through this blog, let me just give some details about what i have gotten into… hmmm… did that sound right?  nah, just joking!  i’m really that excited!  ok, first of all, the job level.  but first, a disclaimer:  what i’m about to tell you is based on what i was told by the person who interviewed me for the post, a.k.a., my future boss (whom i keep constant communication with ever since the interview since she believed that i’m the person qualified for the job).  ok, from my previous job where i handled a team, i’ll be going two levels up.  that’s reason for excitement number one.  she was leaning on my years of experiences with the previous two call centers i worked for plus the latest one, with a major financial company.  she’s giving me the free hand to analyze how the operations are going and recommend changes and revisions in the operations if needed.  i’m shaking in excitement even right now when i just typed that last sentence.  i’ll be using the experiences i’ve had on how operations should be running.  for sure, i won’t be running things the way my former superior used to do.  how things were at my former employer are still fresh in my mind and it’s something i vowed not to emulate.

secondly, the company i’ll be working for is the same nature as my previous employer.  the only difference is that this new one is a local company.  so that means, my work schedule revolves on how local companies operate.  which means, no more graveyard shift for me!  that’s reason for excitement number two.  imagine, my life will finally be back to normal after six years of working for US customers, including local holidays!  this means a big deal for my health and personal life.  no more missing out on family affairs, weekends will be real weekends and i can finally decide if i would want to catch a movie or go to a party after work!  and the best thing, my body clock will continue to run normally as i sleep during the night!  need i say more?  well, reason for excitement number three is the compensation package, but that’s a given in any new job going two levels up, but still, the package being offered is very attractive to say the least.

of course, there’s no such thing as a perfect job.  the one minor drawback of this new job is its location.  i’ll be based in greenhills after the orientation with occasional visits in the makati operations area whenever needed since my position covers both sites, if i’m not mistaken.  good thing c5 road is almost always traffic-free compared to edsa.  with a pro-and-con ratio of 3:1, it’s still a good deal.  one more thing to add, me going local instead of staying put in a US based call center may prove to be a good transfer.  with recession fears haunting the US economy, most outsourcing companies are slowing down in terms of expansion, if not some have started to pull out.  most investors are playing safe rather than waste their money for a sure return of losses instead of profits.  one thing i’m surprised about is, with all the other call centers i applied and had interviews with, whether it be US, UK, or austrailia-based, not one came back with any single feedback.  whether they stopped hiring due to impending losses had something to do with how the US economy is faring, i don’t know.  but i couldn’t stop thinking that it had played some sort of role in it.

so, there it is.  i have the rest of the week to enjoy the remaining hours of being unemployed and it’s back to the grind by next week.  i’m rested, recharged, re-energized and itching to get back in the thick of things.  for those of you who continued to keep faith and prayed for me in order to get a new job, i thank you as well.  with the bitter exit i experienced on my previous job, i believe that good karma repaid me with this new one.  it’s something that i’m very, very thankful for and one that i would give my very best for, just like any of the jobs i have had.  this would also be an entirely new learning experience for me, and with that, i guess that’s one more reason to be excited about.