I Got a New Job! [Career Transition]

photo © 2009 James Hernandez | more infoI have not written much about my career to date, as I do not want to write publicly about my company.  I am not sure if I am even allowed to write about my company.  But, it is only going to be my company for another two weeks.  I got a new job!

The anatomy of my job search

My company agreed to be purchased by another large company earlier this year.  Since the announcement, the stock has steadily climbed and the payrolls have steadily declined.  While I have not lived through one before, I know the standard protocol for a “merger.”  The new owners lay off the positions that are duplicated.  A big company only needs one finance team, so I suspected the layoff was coming.

I have not actively looked for jobs over the last few months, but I have been actively listening.  I beefed up my LinkedIn profile and updated my resume shortly after the merger announcement.  I decided to leave it to fate from there and see what happened.  With the uncertainty of the future at my company, I was interested in leaving.  However, I had a severance coming if I were to be laid off.  I decided the best route is to network and get ready for the right opportunity.

Attempt number one – learning opportunity

My first opportunity came from a recruiter via e-mail.  He found me through LinkedIn and set me up for an interview for a fascinating position at a fascinating company.  They had me in for an interview but decided to “look another direction” for the position.  I was not heartbroken.  While I would have loved an offer, I took the experience as real life interview practice, as it has been a while since I interviewed for a new job.

Networking

A couple of weeks later, a friend from my MBA program sent me a Facebook message.  He works in finance at another large local employer in a similar industry.  His team was in the market for someone with finance and industry experience.  He offered to pass on my resume, and I happily accepted his offer.

Attempt Number Two – setting the stage

About a month later, I had forgotten about the job.  I figured nothing was going to come of it.  That is why I was pleasantly surprised when I got a phone call from the HR department at my friend’s company.  They wanted to have me up for an interview.  I accepted and made the drive north to meet management from the company.  I thought the interview went well.  I was not sure if the job was going to be perfect for me, but I was far from eliminating it from the realm of possibilities.  It turns out that it did not matter, I was rejected from two jobs (I didn’t even know I had applied for two jobs!)

Attempt Number Three

I got a phone call from another HR person at the company that rejected me just a few weeks earlier.  I was shocked when the call came.  I spoke with the HR representative and was told that the original management team wanted to talk to me again about a new position, but I was not given any more details.  I never burn a bridge, particularly one that is still being built, and I was happy to go meet again.  I liked the managers and the vibe was good the first time around, so I agreed to round two.

I returned to the company and learned that the first job I interviewed for at the company was given to an internal candidate.  An intern was promoted to full time, but they wanted to discuss a higher level opportunity with me.

After a great set of interviews with great people, some of which ran out of time when we both would have preferred to continue, I headed home feeling pretty good.  I did not want to get my hopes up too high, but I was excited to hear back.

Two days later, I got the call.  I was being offer the position with a substantial pay increase and comparable title to my current job.  I was offered a higher bonus and similar benefits package.  It also came with job security and a team that I enjoyed meeting with in my two trips up to the company.  I am looking forward to working with them in the near future.

What happened next?

Telling you what happened next would take more words than I can fit into this post, so over the next two weeks, I am going to write a series on career transitions.  To make sure you don’t miss these posts, which are sure to help you navigate the path to a new career and navigate the process of leaving a job gracefully, be sure to sign up for RSS or e-mail updates.