Here's an article I wrote that was posted today. Read, enjoy, comment, share, you know how much I love feedback! Just click on the link below.
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Monday, June 27, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Back on Track
It was around this time two years ago that I had made a bold decision in leaving a stable job. I had been there for seven and a half years, I was making great pay, I had decent benefits, and people there had high respect for me. I had started that job when I was 19, and I had started at the bottom. I worked as a cancel clerk making $9.50 an hour, which was great pay for me back then. I found myself quickly progressing and within 8 months I was promoted with a dollar raise. It seemed like it was promotion after promotion. I was making myself known with management, throwing out my business ideas like I was one of them, even being told that I had a bright future with the company if I kept up the good work. And I did. The last position I held was an operations analyst, and I didn't even have a degree yet. However, with my extensive knowledge of office applications, SQL, and my drive to learn I was given the opportunity to hold that position. So why did I leave? A number of factors really. I was going through a dark time in my life. I had lost my husband at the time and we had been together for almost 9 years. That itself sent me into a spiraling depression. I started to loose interest in my work. I dropped out of school even though I was so close to graduating. I started drinking heavily, going out to bars a lot, and most of all not taking care of my diabetes. My boss at the time was a great manager, as well as a great friend. And he tried the best he could to help me out. He knew what I was going through as I had confided in him my personal life. But he couldn't help me if I wasn't motivated to do the job. In my mind I knew it came down to him either having to fire me, or me quitting. So I quit because I thought if I was fired I would become a failure.
That turned out to be a not so good idea. When I quit, I figured I had enough in savings to last me a little while until I found another job. I had actually found a sales job about a month later selling credit card processors to small businesses. But that didn't last long. The training was horrible as were the leads. Sales that I thought I had earned $3,000 in only ended up being $75 because there were "issues" with the paperwork or the customer had backed out of the sale. And that was in one month. I knew I couldn't survive on $75 a month. So I tried another sales job working as a reseller for AT&T Uverse. That seemed promising at first. I made a couple hundred dollars my first week and my sales manager had faith that I would do well. But after a couple months I had to quit because I was spending more money in gas than I was making (it was door to door all over the metroplex).
By this time I decided to either go back into retail or back to a desk job. I put in application after application with the same answer, "You're over qualified". My internal reaction....so?!! I need a f*&%ing job! Of course, with no job came no benefits and no medical insurance. I had to rely on friends and family to help pay for my insulin and diabetic supplies, and that only lasts for so long. I had finally run out of money 6 months after I left my first job with no hope in sight of finding anything promising.
My husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, stuck by me through it all. Which amazed me because we had met right at the end of me selling Uverse. He knew I didn't have any money, I had lost my car, I was living with my mom, and I had nothing to offer him except for myself. And it seemed that to him, that was enough.
With a stroke of luck and knowing the right people, I was finally able to land a good job as a customer care rep at a call center. The pay wasn't as much as I was used to making, but that didn't matter. Anything was better than nothing at this point. After a few months working there, I started looking for other job opportunities. Mostly because I didn't agree with how the business was ran, but also because the medical insurance was sub par. It was still expensive for me to go to the doctor and I had to meet a deductible on my prescriptions before they would allow me to only pay the co-pay.
So after a couple months of job searching, I was able to land the job I have now (which I have previously praised about in a couple of my blogs). I truly am grateful to have this job, and not because of the money (I am back to making what I was as an analyst). But because I am surrounded by wonderful people who I love to work with and I have great medical coverage so I can finally get back to taking care of myself.
Last week I had my first doctor's appointment in over a year. And this doctor is amazing. He has a great personality and knows my medical needs. He prescribed me the insulin I needed and is committed to helping me get back on track. Within a week, I have seen an absolute improvement on my bloodsugars. Now, I am keeping track of everything to make sure that I can stay on track. With the support of my friends, family, and even co-workers I know that from here on out I won't be in the same mess I was in a couple years ago
That turned out to be a not so good idea. When I quit, I figured I had enough in savings to last me a little while until I found another job. I had actually found a sales job about a month later selling credit card processors to small businesses. But that didn't last long. The training was horrible as were the leads. Sales that I thought I had earned $3,000 in only ended up being $75 because there were "issues" with the paperwork or the customer had backed out of the sale. And that was in one month. I knew I couldn't survive on $75 a month. So I tried another sales job working as a reseller for AT&T Uverse. That seemed promising at first. I made a couple hundred dollars my first week and my sales manager had faith that I would do well. But after a couple months I had to quit because I was spending more money in gas than I was making (it was door to door all over the metroplex).
By this time I decided to either go back into retail or back to a desk job. I put in application after application with the same answer, "You're over qualified". My internal reaction....so?!! I need a f*&%ing job! Of course, with no job came no benefits and no medical insurance. I had to rely on friends and family to help pay for my insulin and diabetic supplies, and that only lasts for so long. I had finally run out of money 6 months after I left my first job with no hope in sight of finding anything promising.
My husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, stuck by me through it all. Which amazed me because we had met right at the end of me selling Uverse. He knew I didn't have any money, I had lost my car, I was living with my mom, and I had nothing to offer him except for myself. And it seemed that to him, that was enough.
With a stroke of luck and knowing the right people, I was finally able to land a good job as a customer care rep at a call center. The pay wasn't as much as I was used to making, but that didn't matter. Anything was better than nothing at this point. After a few months working there, I started looking for other job opportunities. Mostly because I didn't agree with how the business was ran, but also because the medical insurance was sub par. It was still expensive for me to go to the doctor and I had to meet a deductible on my prescriptions before they would allow me to only pay the co-pay.
So after a couple months of job searching, I was able to land the job I have now (which I have previously praised about in a couple of my blogs). I truly am grateful to have this job, and not because of the money (I am back to making what I was as an analyst). But because I am surrounded by wonderful people who I love to work with and I have great medical coverage so I can finally get back to taking care of myself.
Last week I had my first doctor's appointment in over a year. And this doctor is amazing. He has a great personality and knows my medical needs. He prescribed me the insulin I needed and is committed to helping me get back on track. Within a week, I have seen an absolute improvement on my bloodsugars. Now, I am keeping track of everything to make sure that I can stay on track. With the support of my friends, family, and even co-workers I know that from here on out I won't be in the same mess I was in a couple years ago
Being Connected
I was on my in to work the other day listening to the radio. I usually listen to a local talk show in the morning and the host had said something that got me thinking. Why do we always have to have instant gratification when it comes to connecting with the outside world. With all of this technology surrounding us in today's age, we feel as a society that we always have to stay connected in some shape or fashion. I, for one, am particularly guilty of this. I can't go anywhere without my cell phone. I work in front of a computer all day where I talk to customers, do research online, and interact with others either by email or instant messaging. When I come home I am either on my laptop, texting on my phone, or watching netflix on TV (which is streamed online).
With this in mind, I started thinking about what we did as a society ten or fifteen years ago. Back then, I was a teenager going through junior high and high school and learning about the facts of life. Believe it or not, I did not have a cell phone, my parents wouldn't allow it. They freaked out when my boyfriend had bought me a pager. Hell, I didn't even become accustomed to the internet until I was fifteen, and it had already been out a good five years at least. No, the only connection I was really accustomed to was my home phone, writing notes and letters on actual paper, and verbal, face-to-face communication.
Yes, I dreamed of being one of the lucky ones who always had their cell phone by their side believing I was popular if someone happened to call me while I was talking to someone else. But I never dreamed that as an adult I would feel like I would die if I didn't have one. Now, it seems like I live in a world of ADD where I am going from website to website looking for new information. Or I am checking my phone every 10 minutes to see if I missed a text or if I got a new email from work.
Now, I'm not saying instant connection is a bad thing. If I was in an accident and I needed to call my husband to let him know, having a cell phone by my side would be a life saver. Or if I'm out to lunch and I get an email from my boss that I've been waiting on, I can see that he sent it to me and I won't have to fret during my entire lunch hour.
What I am saying, though, is that maybe sometimes we have to take a step back and break away from the constant connection. Give our sanity a break and get connected with the life outside of our internet stream. Usually, I get that break when I'm driving home and sometimes I feel anxious. And I feel it's a little sad that I get anxious when I can use that time to relax and gather my thoughts before I get home to my husband.
At any rate, while I know that technology advancements will find new and better ways at keeping us connected, sometimes I think it's best if I just hit the off switch, relax, and communicate like I did back in the day.
With this in mind, I started thinking about what we did as a society ten or fifteen years ago. Back then, I was a teenager going through junior high and high school and learning about the facts of life. Believe it or not, I did not have a cell phone, my parents wouldn't allow it. They freaked out when my boyfriend had bought me a pager. Hell, I didn't even become accustomed to the internet until I was fifteen, and it had already been out a good five years at least. No, the only connection I was really accustomed to was my home phone, writing notes and letters on actual paper, and verbal, face-to-face communication.
Yes, I dreamed of being one of the lucky ones who always had their cell phone by their side believing I was popular if someone happened to call me while I was talking to someone else. But I never dreamed that as an adult I would feel like I would die if I didn't have one. Now, it seems like I live in a world of ADD where I am going from website to website looking for new information. Or I am checking my phone every 10 minutes to see if I missed a text or if I got a new email from work.
Now, I'm not saying instant connection is a bad thing. If I was in an accident and I needed to call my husband to let him know, having a cell phone by my side would be a life saver. Or if I'm out to lunch and I get an email from my boss that I've been waiting on, I can see that he sent it to me and I won't have to fret during my entire lunch hour.
What I am saying, though, is that maybe sometimes we have to take a step back and break away from the constant connection. Give our sanity a break and get connected with the life outside of our internet stream. Usually, I get that break when I'm driving home and sometimes I feel anxious. And I feel it's a little sad that I get anxious when I can use that time to relax and gather my thoughts before I get home to my husband.
At any rate, while I know that technology advancements will find new and better ways at keeping us connected, sometimes I think it's best if I just hit the off switch, relax, and communicate like I did back in the day.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
A Feel Good Moment
I have always been a firm believer that you should take pride in your work, and that you should work for a company that strives to make a difference in the community. If you don't, then at least make that a goal. Until recently, I had not had the opportunity to work for a company who wanted to provide services to help the community.
When I worked for Brink's Home Security, they did offer to match your contribution to any foundation of your choice. However, not everyone has extra cash laying around to donate. I know I really don't, especially with the way the economy has been lately. But at least the company tried to do something to help the community.
When I worked for Gold's Gym, they did support the JDRF (juvenile diabetes research foundation) which is close to my heart cause of the fact that I am Type 1 Diabetic. But the effort was only once a year, and it kind of was negated when I saw how their customers are treated. In most cases, at the call center, we were trained to be polite to the customers even when they were yelling at us (which was most times than not). When it came to their money, though, they were sure quick to take it. And in some cases I believe it was done without legal authorization. But I'm not going to go much into that. I just knew when I saw how the business was ran, I needed to find something better, more meaningful, and fast.
Which my decision to leave Gold's Gym brings me to where I am today with AccuConference. I had a feeling that when I started with this company it would be a good move. I didn't know everything the job would entail or how the business was ran. I knew after my first interview, it was a small company. It was definitely much smaller than what I'm used to. My husband and I were a little skeptical on if this was the right move for me. I had a secure job at Gold's Gym. I was promised a promotion in a matter of months with a raise to go with it. I had been there for eight months and had already impressed my managers with my ability to handle situations in a call center and to provide outstanding customer service without ever working in a call center before.
My second interview with AccuConference boosted my confidence that this move would be the right one. The VP was interested in my ability to do reports since I had worked as an analyst with Brink's and was familiar with Excel, Access, and SQL. He offered me a salary and benefits package I couldn't refuse. There was no way Gold's Gym could have beat the offer. And I was right. When I told the Director of Customer Operations that I was giving my two week's notice, she immediately asked where I was going, what I was going to be paid, and what they were offering me. When I told her everything, I could see the tears in her eyes welling up. She knew that she just lost a really good employee. It wasn't really her fault, though, she was a good boss to me. It was the principles of the company itself that drove me away from having a long-standing tenure.
So, now I just surpassed my fifth month of being with AccuConference, and each day I'm loving the job and the people more and more. What really gave me a sense of pride with my job was learning about one of our customers and how they use our services to help the community. At AccuConference, we provide conference lines for businesses, non-profit organizations, hospitals, government agencies, and educational facilities to hold conference call meetings. It saves our customers money on travel expenses and still allows them to communicate with their participants about whatever important event is going on.
One of our customers is a local university. They use our services quite often and not just for conference calls. They also use us to transcribe their conferences for their records. Being the well-adapted individual that I am, I had learned the transcription process after being with the company for almost 3 months. I then created a very good tracking system for these transcriptions to make sure that these customers are receiving them in a timely manner and that we are billing them correspondingly. I noticed that this university was submitting dozens of transcriptions at a time and that their billing for these transcriptions alone was starting to pile up.
I was having a conversation with a co-worker of mine who is really good at networking with our customers. She decided to contact this university and see if she could meet with them. She was able to do so today and got a little more information as to why their transcriptions are piling up. This university has a program that helps children who have had significant trauma in their history overcome their issues and become adopted. They use the conference line to interview the prospective adoptive parents, the children in the program, and social workers. The university, when speaking with my co-worker, stated that we were apart of this program as well with the services we provide. They said that without us, the research wouldn't be considered as legit and the program might not have received the kind of response it has today.
After I heard that, I felt a great sense of pride with the company I work for, the people I work with, and the job that I do. Knowing that the transcriptions I provide might have helped a child find a good home and live a close to normal life, that feeling itself outweighs any monetary benefits I could ever receive. I believe that is how work should be, I should be able to say every now and then, that I am proud of the work I do.
When I worked for Brink's Home Security, they did offer to match your contribution to any foundation of your choice. However, not everyone has extra cash laying around to donate. I know I really don't, especially with the way the economy has been lately. But at least the company tried to do something to help the community.
When I worked for Gold's Gym, they did support the JDRF (juvenile diabetes research foundation) which is close to my heart cause of the fact that I am Type 1 Diabetic. But the effort was only once a year, and it kind of was negated when I saw how their customers are treated. In most cases, at the call center, we were trained to be polite to the customers even when they were yelling at us (which was most times than not). When it came to their money, though, they were sure quick to take it. And in some cases I believe it was done without legal authorization. But I'm not going to go much into that. I just knew when I saw how the business was ran, I needed to find something better, more meaningful, and fast.
Which my decision to leave Gold's Gym brings me to where I am today with AccuConference. I had a feeling that when I started with this company it would be a good move. I didn't know everything the job would entail or how the business was ran. I knew after my first interview, it was a small company. It was definitely much smaller than what I'm used to. My husband and I were a little skeptical on if this was the right move for me. I had a secure job at Gold's Gym. I was promised a promotion in a matter of months with a raise to go with it. I had been there for eight months and had already impressed my managers with my ability to handle situations in a call center and to provide outstanding customer service without ever working in a call center before.
My second interview with AccuConference boosted my confidence that this move would be the right one. The VP was interested in my ability to do reports since I had worked as an analyst with Brink's and was familiar with Excel, Access, and SQL. He offered me a salary and benefits package I couldn't refuse. There was no way Gold's Gym could have beat the offer. And I was right. When I told the Director of Customer Operations that I was giving my two week's notice, she immediately asked where I was going, what I was going to be paid, and what they were offering me. When I told her everything, I could see the tears in her eyes welling up. She knew that she just lost a really good employee. It wasn't really her fault, though, she was a good boss to me. It was the principles of the company itself that drove me away from having a long-standing tenure.
So, now I just surpassed my fifth month of being with AccuConference, and each day I'm loving the job and the people more and more. What really gave me a sense of pride with my job was learning about one of our customers and how they use our services to help the community. At AccuConference, we provide conference lines for businesses, non-profit organizations, hospitals, government agencies, and educational facilities to hold conference call meetings. It saves our customers money on travel expenses and still allows them to communicate with their participants about whatever important event is going on.
One of our customers is a local university. They use our services quite often and not just for conference calls. They also use us to transcribe their conferences for their records. Being the well-adapted individual that I am, I had learned the transcription process after being with the company for almost 3 months. I then created a very good tracking system for these transcriptions to make sure that these customers are receiving them in a timely manner and that we are billing them correspondingly. I noticed that this university was submitting dozens of transcriptions at a time and that their billing for these transcriptions alone was starting to pile up.
I was having a conversation with a co-worker of mine who is really good at networking with our customers. She decided to contact this university and see if she could meet with them. She was able to do so today and got a little more information as to why their transcriptions are piling up. This university has a program that helps children who have had significant trauma in their history overcome their issues and become adopted. They use the conference line to interview the prospective adoptive parents, the children in the program, and social workers. The university, when speaking with my co-worker, stated that we were apart of this program as well with the services we provide. They said that without us, the research wouldn't be considered as legit and the program might not have received the kind of response it has today.
After I heard that, I felt a great sense of pride with the company I work for, the people I work with, and the job that I do. Knowing that the transcriptions I provide might have helped a child find a good home and live a close to normal life, that feeling itself outweighs any monetary benefits I could ever receive. I believe that is how work should be, I should be able to say every now and then, that I am proud of the work I do.
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