Same Old Job That I'm Thankful For

I love my job... all over again.

I work at a computer chip factory owned by Qimonda Memory Products. I don't work for Qimonda though, I work for a company that supplies equipment used for one of their manufacturing processes. Luckily for you, I won't bore you with those details.

There are lots of great things about where I work. I'm fairly paid, I work with a great team, I have unbelievable flexibility with my schedule, and I have the best boss I could ever hope to work for. I think I'm pretty lucky. There are some downsides though. Our equipment is located in a large cleanroom and when my customer needs our assistance, I get to go suit-up which in not unlike putting on a large trashbag which makes you perspire just from walking around in it.

The most unfortunate part of my job, is that with my current position, there is no place for my career to grow within my company. If I wanted to move up, we would have to move back to Massachusetts, and neither Daleen or I are ready to do that right now.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I heard of an opening at my customer's company, in Richmond, that would be a significant jump for my career. It would be a big step up, put me back on Monday through Friday, and would be better pay. So I interviewed and that went well, I even talked to my manager about it in order to not feel like I was hiding anything. This new job was pretty much a done deal and then at the last minute I get the call that the company has now had a global hiring freeze and there will be no new job for me. Needless to say, this was a little dissappointing. Actually, it was vey dissappointing.

However, I was able to go back to my old manager, and we talked and he told me that in his opinion, everything with my job is just like it was before. Whew! Like I said, I have an awesome boss. Actually since all this has happened, it looks as though my customer may be going through some changes which probably wouldn't have been good for me if I was working for them.

So, it's been a bit of a rollercoaster over the last couple of weeks. Everything was lined up perfectly for my job to change and then at the last minute, I feel like I have been pulled back and protected from something that would probably not have been good for me or my family. It's funny how I started out looking for a change in my work, and that is what I got, but never how I expected. Through this process, I learned a lot about my company, a whole lot about my boss, and I have a new appreciation for my job and its relative security in a very shaky industry. I also was able to have a more serious discussion with my employer about my future which probably wouldn't have happened otherwise. Gotta love that......