The Job of Finding a Job Continues

Earlier this year, I wrote about my continuous job issue - getting promoted.

Let's recap:
Last year, I applied for this position, and interviewed with HR.  The company suddenly restructured, and HR decided to put the job on hold.  I was a leading candidate.

January of this year, the job reopened, for two positions in the area.  I applied to both, and waited.  I did a preliminary interview with HR, where they asked me to pick one of the two open positions (they're both in the area, but I did have a clear preference), and waited.  I then did a final interview with my boss' boss and the man who would have been my boss, and waited.  In all, I waited three months.  And didn't get the job.  I covered that in May.

After I didn't get the job in the first half of the year, I decided to swallow all pride and help the guy who got the job (keep in mind, I used to help him before he got the job, too).  I put on a brave face and acted like an adult.  I filled in for him three times, a total of about 18 days in three months.  I helped him close sales, deal with problems, and covered my office location so that he didn't need to spend as much time with us.  He excelled at his job.  I took on some more responsibilities, and even became certified to train my team on a new product that pertained to that job.

And then they decided to add a third person to the position.  I applied.  I interviewed with HR again.  I interviewed with my boss' boss' counterpart, and waited.  I then had an interview with the new boss over the group in our area (they had expanded the management as well), and waited.

I didn't get the job.  Again.  The fourth time in less than a year.

This time, they hired a woman in our area who had always been there, pestering the first hire to fill in for him instead of me.  She never had the time to do it, and never focused on getting the job, but took a temporary position in management to fill in for someone who was out.  And that got her the job.  Mind you, I've done that before - I mentioned it at the beginning of May's post (see the demoted link).  When I was told that I didn't have the job, I was erroneously told that the person they hired (they didn't tell me who - I found out later) had come from outside the company, and had more experience than I did.  As you can imagine, I was quite miffed when I figured out the truth.

Once again, I played the loyal worker and rolled with it.  I started conversations with the new boss, and shook hands with the lady who got my job.

And then I started casually looking around for a new job.

My casual search changed only a week later, when my boss for the past three years, a guy I've managed and who had managed me at various times, a guy I've had some issue with before (he was the ultimate cause of being demoted in 2015), but has been the best manager I had in all twelve of my years with the company, was suddenly fired.

They didn't have a reason, really.  It was an algorithm, a computer program that scored him against others without taking into account that he was the highest-rated manager in the state, and managing the top location in twelve states.  And in his place, they put a guy that had been trying for years to get rid of me.  I knew I wouldn't have much time, so I escalated my job search, and looked for jobs within the company around the country - the same position I had been passed over for earlier in the year.

I applied to a position just beyond the state, half a day's drive away.  I contacted people back where my parents live, and in the state where my boss considered moving to.  I had some interest, got a couple interviews, and got to the tail end of one of them.

And they chose me.  The location that's back home, on the other side of the US.  Better still, they will pay for my move.

It infuriates me that I couldn't get a job in my own area, where I've worked for a dozen years, but I could get the same job thousands of miles away on the first try. The people who want me to move are genuinely interested in my abilities and success - something I can't get with people 30 miles away from me.

So now I stand on the precipice of massive change for myself and my family.  It's a daunting task.  But I think that in the end, it will all be worth it.  A new adventure awaits - the adventure I wish I could have had here.  Instead, I get to spend the next many years far from here, from an area I love, but from situations I despise.

Wish me luck.

-TRM