EXPERIENCING A FRESH START
It had never occurred to me that I would be unemployed and
looking for a new position, but rather that it might be possible to end my working
life at the same Estate Agency where I had been for over twenty five years, and
that I would actually be able to retire from there in a few years’ time.
So it was quite a shock and with some sadness that I
learned, after a take -over by a Corporate Company, that the functions of nine
staff, myself included, were to be centralised to offices in other parts of the
country and I found myself facing redundancy.
It wasn’t immediate, so we all had time to get used to the
idea, but it was quite a scary prospect being out there again in the ‘market
place’. As the time drew near to the last day, to my surprise, I was quite
eager to leave and make a fresh start, the only thing I was sure of was that I
didn’t want to do the same type of work and definitely not for another Estate
Agents.
For the first couple of weeks of the enforced ‘holiday’, I
registered with a couple of Agencies and even had my CV put forward to a few
companies who needed staff temporarily, even though ideally I would have
preferred full time permanent employment, which I knew wouldn’t be particularly
easy to find, I tried to remain hopeful all the same.
The weather was fine and warm, and it was good to totally
relax, recharge and get the last eighteen months of uncertainty out of my
system. After a couple of weeks I realised I had become very lazy, and would rather
do anything than all the jobs around the house that I’d promised to do ‘when I
had time’, which was surely now! It was
easier to make excuses and do very little, apart from a bit of shopping and a
couple of small walks – it was much too hot to do anything else!
My mobile never rings, so it was a surprise to have an
incoming call from an unknown number on the morning of August the 6th
from one of my friends and contacts at the Property Guide, asking me if I was
interested in speaking with Nicola Spencer of Spencers on Ecclesall Road about
a position of book keeper that they were needing; she had recommended me for
the post, due to my past experience . I
admit my first thought was ‘Oh no, not another Estate Agency - a service industry - do I really want
that? Am I interested?’ After around fifteen minutes thinking about
this and feeling secretly pleased for the interest shown, I decided it would
have been churlish not to pursue this chance for employment, or at least to talk
about it. So I made the call.
The telephone conversation went very well from the outset,
and even when I pointed out that there were definitely some tasks on the job
spec that I had never done or had any knowledge of, Nicola suggested we meet,
and the appointment was made for the following Friday.
In the meantime I had to make a trip down Ecclesall Road to
re-familiarise myself with the Berkeley Precinct and find the location of the
office in readiness for my first interview in nearly 26 years!! Exciting stuff……….
On the day of the interview I woke up with horrendous sinus
pain, so my whole morning was concentrated on getting better and making sure I
was fit to start the journey. Consequently, I didn’t go through the process of
rehearsing my responses to the questions I was expecting to be asked - like you
do - and felt quite calm on the two bus rides to the office. Another consideration: what would this
journey be like during the morning rush hour?
With palms slightly hot and sticky, due to the twenty four
degree heat, I arrived at the office and was asked to go up the spiral
staircase at the back of the showroom to meet with Nicola and Lee (the calm
Scot), who were waiting for me at the top.
Now, it was either Nicola’s friendly manner, immediately apologising for
wearing flip flops and admitting she had made a mess of her ankles with some
new shoes (been there, done that, so could empathise) or perhaps it was walking
into an environment I’m used to – brochures in the windows and on the walls -
but I felt immediately at ease, and not nervous at all.
After a brief outline of what the job would entail, we had a
chat about my work history in general, touched on salary, and personal
responsibilities and then was shown around the lovely spacious and modern
offices. I felt that it all went very
well, and they said they would get back to me in a few days. To celebrate what I felt had been a
successful interview, and to congratulate myself, I went into the local
supermarket and bought a humongous bar of chocolate.
A few days later and to my surprise, I received an email
from Nicola offering me the position, and after only a couple of hours making
sure it was the right decision, I thought it would be foolish not to
accept. After a couple more emails with
answers to my questions and on learning that I wouldn’t be needed to start
until Monday the 2nd of September, which was perfect, I could at
last relax and really celebrate. I couldn’t believe my luck and felt completely
elated. Also this gave me just over two
weeks to prepare and get used to the idea of going to a different office, way
out of my comfort zone, where there were going to be lots of new things to
learn and more scarily to be the ‘new girl’.
One saving grace was that at least it was a business I knew a bit about. Surely that would be useful??
Emotions always quite near the surface, I set off for my
first day, after reading lots of messages and texts from friends and family
wishing me luck, which were very moving.
Quite a few people thinking about me and hoping I would be ok, knowing what
a big deal this was for me, in itself almost gave me a lump in my throat, but I
needn’t have worried.
Everyone I met that day was really friendly and Lee and
Nicola were very supportive and started to show me around the two main areas of
software that I would be using; all in all it was a positive start.
Unfortunately by Thursday I wasn’t in good shape at all, a
bit weepy and I almost felt as if I
didn’t want to go into work. Nothing had
happened to make me feel like this, it was just something I woke up with. This was real.
It wasn’t a game, but something quite overwhelming that I would have to
deal with. This was where I was expected
to go every weekday to work, which after doing the same job with the same
company for so many years and knowing it backwards, feeling totally comfortable and being confident and in control of what I
was doing, made the massive change slightly daunting. There was this huge learning curve ahead of
me and I wasn’t sure I was fit for the challenge.
Nicola and Lee have both been very
understanding and have given me daily encouragement, so there was no reason at
all to be particularly worried or concerned.
Nobody expected me to just walk in and know everything and be able to do
the job straight away and as I was being taken through the daily and monthly
routines slowly and methodically there was no reason at all why I was being so
hard on myself. I guess I am desperate
not to let anyone down, I want to succeed, do a good job and become part of
what is a very hardworking team.
So the transition has been emotional, difficult only because
of the strangeness of going somewhere different, learning what’s expected of me
and finding my way around a new office with fresh colleagues to get to know,
after being in my comfort zone for so long.
It is some consolation that if for instance, I had managed to find
employment in retail, or in manufacturing, then the changes would have been
immense by comparison.
I suppose the moral of the tale (if there has to be a moral),
is don’t stay in one place long enough to become a permanent fixture, as it can
make you insular and scared of the consequences of trying a new challenge and
that we should occasionally take a risk and try something new – but as in my
case –perhaps not something completely alien……..
Marilyn Swales
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