Need to up my game

Having had yet another contact let me know they're now on LinkedIn, I thought I'd do a snoop on my ex-colleagues to see where they are now.

I know the name of AOL carries a lot of weight, it's how you handle yourself when you get in the door that separates the boys from the... well unemployed.

It was with a heavy and depressing heart that I realised that everyone I've worked with seems to be flourishing since having left AOL, whereas I seem to be almost floating backwards in this great river of life.

It's spurred me on to begin anew to up my game, get a new job with a decent title and actually do some work that has a progressive feel to it, instead of filling in boxes and basically feeling underused.

Despondent

Image via WikipediaI guess some people call it mid-life crisis.

You get to a point and realise you'll never be a rock star or an astronaut and everyday forks in the road are taken and doors of options close until you either get to where you want to be or live a life of regret wishing roads untaken were taken.

I've been feeling more and more unsettled lately with just about every aspect of my life - from the pokey flat I live in, to the dead end job I really don't enjoy.

Having worked in this job for over a year, not only have I realised I don't really enjoy it or want to continue, I've also realised I really have no clue what I actually want to do. I'm not sure what is more depressing.

I've had the odd couple of jobs that I've really enjoyed, and I really went above and beyond whilst doing those, but the last few years it's really been a case of clock watching and putting in the effort you need just to survive (echoes of Office Space anyone?)

Sue keeps trying to get me inspired to move to Australia, and maybe I need a complete shock to the system like that to find my inspiration.

I really don't know, but I do know that I walk around in a haze and it just gets more and more depressing with each day.


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Now playing: Underworld - Trim
via FoxyTunes

Pay Day

I don't know why it bemuses me so, but today is pay day (well in lieu of tomorrow which is a Saturday). It's the first time I haven't received an AOL pay packet in over 6 years and it feels both fantastic (as the amount is more) and odd (as it's not from AOL).

To ease me into the new world of non-AOL pay, I did receive my final PubOps oncall pay from AOL today as well, so two pay cheques this month. Just in time for holidays too.

Does it get any better than that?

Almost time for holidays!

I've been at the new job now for almost three weeks, so naturally it's time for a holiday!

Fly out on Saturday with Sue and cousin Ben and friend Tina for our two-week (one fortnight) Canadian adventure.

Looking forward to it. It can be quite stressful starting a new job and the propect of taking some time off just as I start has been the light at the end of the stress tunnel.

Fun times ahead as we relax, sleep in, drink beers and frolic in a completely different time zone.

Something Fruity

One of the nice things about starting a new job in a new area of town is checking out all the area has to offer - where's the best pub, where to go for lunch, where can I get postage stamps, is there a newsagent nearby, etc.

Having moved to Holborn work-wise, the area is besieged by fruit and veg vendors at lunchtime running their wares from a market stall.

Last week, with much gusto, I took them up on their offer of healthy grub only to have the hardest banana known to man (it COULD have been used as a weapon), the soggiest, pappiest apples ever and asparagus that was actually mouldy.

This week, with must less gusto and much more trepidation, I visited Mr. Fruit Man and purchased some raspberries and apples (5 for £1, class!)

So far, resounding joy from my £2 outlay! The razzies were actually really sweet (and not mouldy - I was expecting that) and the apples are actually rock hard as they should be.

My faith in the small businessman is restored.

Day 4 at the new job

Well I feel like Hannibal Smith today. It all seems to be coming together, so I love it! (cue smarmy cigar chomping activity).

I'm still getting my head around almost everything, but I've been meeting with people in different departments, been given assignments and have ALMOST got this commuting thing licked. The route home is almost solved, but the route to work needs some ... work.

Today is the first production day I've been involved with and it's quite interesting to see the machinations of getting an international journal of repute published (Toronto Sun notwithstanding).

Started in my "pastures new"

After a long seven week notice period and a week off for...well, I took a week off and don't need a reason after six years... I finally started my new employment yesterday at Economist.com

Still trying to come to grips with EVERYTHING, as one can imagine. From the new corporate environment, to the intricacies of the job and the local haunts - from coffee to lunch. It's all important.

As far as the job goes, the title Producer can mean soooo many things. You ask someone in the theatre, or a musician or even me, and you'll get loads of different answers. I'm trying to figure out which hat from the producer's pandora's box I'll be wearing most. From the first 10 or so hours of work, it looks like I'll be mostly wearing the Project Manager / Documenter of what needs to happen hat, which is cool and a nice change from the Coding Monkey hat I wore at AOL for the last year.

More later.

Nouveau Jobbo.

Having put my CV up on Monster over X-Mas, I was uncertain whether my unique skill set garnered from too many years at AOL would actually make me wanted in the greater job market.

In hindsight, I need not have worried. Since that fateful day in December, I have been inundated with phone calls from a myriad of recruitment firms offering me interviews with companies all over London.

I've been to a couple of interviews, turned down a couple of position, and said no to contract work (I like being an employee and having benefits).

After many fake doctor appointments and illnesses, I have finally decided - after much trepidation - to make one of the new positions I have interviewed for.

As of yesterday, I am no longer an employee of AOL UK, I am "working my notice period". I should start my new job, as Web Producer at The Economist in late April / early May. Hurrah. A new job at quite the prestigious publication.

After six years - as of yesterday - at AOL, the scales are finally falling from my eyes. I haven't been treated well here. HR are a joke and are interested more in keeping the company happy than any HUMAN relations. I've learned a lot, but mostly by accident and on my own dime. No, I don't think I'll be sad to see the back of this place. Only regret I didn't get in the last round of redundancies. Still, the falling scales are invaluable, I could have been here doing this job at 50 and wondering where my life had gone.