Reflections From The Day Job

Back in January, I celebrated (if that’s the right word!) FOURTEEN years in my job. Or to correct that, 14 years in the same company – thankfully the job has changed several times across more than a decade otherwise I’d probably have lost my marbles very long ago. These days it’s a rather strange concept to have been with one company for so long. Most people change jobs every couple of years which is perfectly normal. My situation probably isn’t very common anymore for someone who is still in their 30’s.

I’m so grateful for everything work has taught me and all the amazing people I share the weekdays with who are more like friends than colleagues. We laugh a lot of the time and for the most part all get on very well together. When I started, there were just 3 of us, then slowly over many years we grew to 8, responsible for all of Europe, Middle East and Africa which is no mean feat. In the last 18 months we’ve been on a big recruitment drive and are now 19 in total which is something I’m still trying to get my head around – where did all these people come from?! We also have a fantastic office location a couple of minutes from London Bridge station and less than 5 minutes to the River Thames and Tower Bridge. It’s a beautiful part of London.

My friends have always been a bit stumped by my day job, not really sure who I work for or what I do (the industry is cyber security so my favourite thing is to pretend to be a spy, but it’s far less glamorous than that). So many of them have at times in their lives worked for massive companies like Sky, ITV, Canon, The Press Association, companies where you don’t even know the first names of everyone in the organisation let alone their life histories like we all do where I work.

It has advantages and disadvantages, working in such a small group for so long. We have flexibility and have worked hard to earn trust and respect. Every position matters and has the ability to contribute and make a difference. The flip side is that it can be hard to be objective when you’re a closeknit group and I’ll never put in an appearance at one of those swanky Christmas party venues in London like so many of my friends told me about over the years at the big corporations with awe-inspiring entertainment and free-flowing champagne.

But you know what? I wouldn’t swap it for anything. To be able to enjoy what you do, which for the most part I do, is a blessing. I’m far too outspoken to have climbed the corporate ladder so whilst a specific ‘career’ has definitely eluded me, I’d take happiness any day and can imagine at this point I’ll only leave to do something completely different, like follow Pete to a far-flung destination if he got a transfer or set up an animal sanctuary if my Euromillions come in. For now I’ll put up with my wonderful rabble and count my blessings.

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