I can’t say for certain, but I am pretty sure it was March 13th, 2000. It might have been the week before but it was 12 years ago. It’s kind of hard to remember that far back.
I had spent a week getting materials ready and had never done this sort of thing before. I had taken the job but had never really done it with that large of a group of people before so I was a bit intimidated. Fortunately for me, I knew one of the folks who would be there so somehow that made a difference.
The morning came and they started rolling in. Standing at the front of the room, I waited until I thought everyone was there and then I introduced myself. I told them a bit about who I was, what I knew, and what we were going to learn together. Despite being horribly nervous about the whole thing, the day actually turned out very well. Since my then brother-in-law had been part of the class, I got the inside scoop from him that week and he assured me that I had met with the class’s approval. It was official. I had become a teacher.
I was teaching IT at EBCI so it wasn’t like teaching high school but in some regards it felt like it could have been the same. Students who didn’t want to pay attention and others who were there just to have fun or because they felt they had to be there. But at the end of the day, it was that job that gave me my first real exposure to being an instructor and the world of training. I would last there for six months before moving on to becoming a Systems Administrator but then after almost six years of that, I went back to teaching at another IT school.
When I got hired at Whitehill, part of the job was providing training to our clients. For the first few years, I didn’t realize how much that part of the job was enjoyable for me. It’s not like teaching college. Training in a corporate world, especially to law firms, is a lot different in that these people are paying good money to have someone come in and give them training on corporate software. You still have people who aren’t interested in being there from time to time, but by far and large, it’s a lot smoother than teaching in a college.
About three years ago I came to the realization that training was really what I enjoyed the most. I am a geek at heart and all of that IT/programming/solution stuff is cool, and challenging, and gets the mind going really good. But for me, at the end of the day, when I gave training classes, that’s really when I enjoyed my job the most. It was always the most satisfying of all the work I do and so I decided to try and pursue it in some regard as my full time work.
Now, for software companies who have a formal “training” group, these folks typically do nothing but training and spend a LOT of time on the road. Pretty much every training position I saw on the job board at Oracle (my employer three years ago) had the travel requirement between 80-100%. I was never interested in travelling that much. It’s just too much time to be away from home. Plus, I always wanted to somehow incorporate my love of technology and “geek” stuff into my training position so that I could get a balance of both training and other stuff. It seemed very hard to try and find the right position.
I have to admit that when our group got bought last year, I was pretty upset. I had finally scored an interview with someone within Oracle’s training group and it went well. but because of the acquisition, even if they had wanted me for the position, they were not allowed to hire me and thusly that opportunity died. At first I was pretty mad. But as I got to see what a great company Thomson really is, that quickly disappeared. Then, about a month ago, a blip appeared on the radar.
I had made it known to my manager that I was interested in getting into training more. Through various communications of his, a director within one of the training groups in Thomson Reuters (my current employer) became aware of my interests. Turns out they had an opening in their training group and were looking for someone. We spoke on the phone and the “interview” went very well. I was pretty excited. I tried it keep it out of my head but doing my best to remain positive, and when I did speak of the job to Tamara on a few occasions, I purposely said “when I get the job” as opposed to “if I get the job”. A small thing to do but yet another way to remain positive about the opportunity.
Then, last Sunday, while waiting at the gate in Houston, Texas, I again spoke to the director and he offered me the job. The offer alone was enough to make me want to jump up and down in the middle of the airport cheering. But with a considerable raise, and a travel ratio that I was happy with, I really didn’t know how to react. I got off the phone and I called Tamara who wasn’t home. I left a very emotional voicemail on the phone and gave her the news. I couldn’t stop smiling. Thanks to voicemail-to-email technology, I now have that message to keep and re-live that moment again anytime down the road. Minutes later, I sent this tweet out sharing my excitement without being able to tell anyone exactly what it was I was so excited about.
Yesterday at 12:59pm, I received the official offer from my new manager, signed and returned it. It was at that moment I realized that what I had worked so hard for had finally happened. It was actually real. Until then, it was all just phone conversations and talk, but having that letter in hand made it very real. I actually had to get up from my desk and go for a walk around the back part of the office because I was visibly emotional from being so excited. I went out back, took a few minutes to myself, and then came back to my desk ready to continue my day.
I officially start my new position as a Technical Training Consultant on March 5th. I’m off to Albuquerque, New Mexico in two weeks to meet our team and learn all about my new role. I’m slowly closing off my existing projects and in no time flat, I’ll be on my way in my new role.
Words really cannot describe how I feel these days. I said in January that 2012 was going to be MY year and at the end of February, there’s already big things happening. If this is any indicator, the rest of 2012 is going to be even more fantastic. Right now I feel like I am the luckiest, most fortunate guy in the world. An awesome wife. Two fantastic kids. Great friends and family. And now finally, the job/career I really wanted. Now is my time and I am damn sure I am going to make the best of it.
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