Rejoining the ranks of the employed

Well, it's been a crazy couple of weeks, but I'm happy to be able to say that today I formally accepted a job offer!!

Yay!!

For a job that I don't have to start for another few weeks, meaning some lovely time off to enjoy my separation pay!!

Double yay!!!

It's also a job I wanted, which is great. I was interviewing left, right and center, but really I was between two roles, however one company got their act together faster and made a good offer. I ended up having a frank conversation with HR at the other company and explained that I really wasn't in a position to turn down the opportunity and she told me that although they really liked me things had changed recently and they weren't in a position to hire for the position as quickly as they had hoped anyway, so obviously that made the decision very easy.

It's such a relief and I'm really looking forward to working somewhere new. It was weird, but I really thought I would feel a pang of emotion when I left my previous place of employment for the final time last week. I mean it's been almost 11years, but instead I felt free!!

I'll try and be better about updating now that I have some free time, but the whole process of looking for a job has left me quite drained and I was so glad to be able to cancel the 3 interviews I had scheduled for this week and enjoy a few weeks of sleeping in and hitting the gym during the day when it's quieter. I'm trying to get in some semblance of shape for a trip I have booked in mid-April. Surf camp here I come ;-)

Will Kurtz @ The Mike Weiss Gallery

I was early for week 3 of my surfSET surf camp at Chelsea Piers this afternoon so I popped into a few galleries on 24th street to kill some time. It's been ages since I've done a gallery tour and I miss them, but every time a tour came up I was either surfing or away somewhere, so I haven't been able to make one yet. One additional perk of the position I talked to the folks at Company2 about is that the office is in Chelsea, close enough for some lunchtime art without the weekend crowds. It was really busy down there today, although I'm guessing the Damien Hirst exhbit, The Complete Spot Paintings, is a significant draw at the moment. I couldn't even be bothered to go into that gallery, it looked to be bursting at the seams, but I was very glad I stopped by the Mike Weiss Gallery and saw Will Kurtz's exhibit, Extra F***ing Ordinary, of life sized sculptures of New Yorkers, largely using newspaper, whom the artist photographs stealthily via his iPhone. This newspaper dog was my favorite, I love the texture of his fur.


The exhibit runs through February 18th. Catch it if you can.

Splinters Surf Documentary

I'm going to see this documentary in New York when it opens on Friday February 3rd at Cinema Village. It looks amazing!!! Here's the synopsis from the film's website.

"Splinters is the first feature-length documentary film about the evolution of indigenous surfing in the developing nation of Papua New Guinea. In the 1980s an intrepid Australian pilot left behind a surfboard in the seaside village of Vanimo. Twenty years on, surfing is not only a pillar of village life but also a means to prestige. With no access to economic or educational advancement, let alone running water and power, village life is hermetic. A spot on the Papua New Guinea national surfing team is the way to see the wider world; the only way."

Here's the trailer

SPLINTERS Teaser from splinters on Vimeo.

It's been a whirlwind!!

Ugh, it's a beautiful day in New York today, the conditions in Rockaway are supposed to be great for surfing, the school is going out for a lesson and I am too hungover to join them. Damn damn damn damn damn damn. It's probably for the best anyway given my job situation not to be shelling out $75, but it would have been nice, especially as the instructor I find to be particularly attractive is the one taking them out. I think Megan may be going, I know she was considering it. So jealous!!!!

So the reason for the hangover is that I was out with my team for drinks last night - or should I say my former team since they are no longer reporting to me, but to my friend Deb (who is not best pleased to have been put in this situation). It was a fun night, although I was surprised they stayed out so late. I honestly thought we'd be out for an hour or two and then they'd head home to their significant others, but one to two hours rapidly turned into four to five.

It was the first time we've had an opportunity to talk openly and honestly about the whole situation and how they are feeling about what's going on at the agency. Like many others I've spoken to in the department, they are frustrated with how disorganized things are at the moment and unimpressed with how I've been treated, especially as the head of department hasn't been very forthcoming about what's happened with me. People have noticed I'm missing from the new org chart, but when they ask he just waves his hand and says something about me exploring other opportunities.

"We're not stupid, we all know what's going on, he should just be straightforward with us!!"

It's not like I've been shy about telling people if I'm asked, but apparently at an off site on Thursday a couple of people didn't know what had happened and asked why I wasn't there. The department head also asked why I wasn't there and expressed surprise that I didn't show, saying he thought I'd have had some good feedback.

Is he for real? They've laid me off from my position, albeit it with a significant amount of notice, but he thinks I am going to show up to an off-site meeting to provide feedback? Does he REALLY want my feedback?? I'll give it to him if he really wants it, but I didn't attend the off site, because a) I didn't think there was much point and b) my time was much better spent having a full on day interviewing with 4 different companies.

Yup 4 in one day. The job hunt has moved so fast that I feel I need to take on an intern to keep all my meetings and phone calls straight. I've talked with 8 companies so far, interviewed twice at two firms and am waiting for meetings to be scheduled with 2 more.

Last Thursday I interviewed with HR at Company1, a well respected mid-sized digital agency, and was pretty excited about that position, at that point that role was definitely my first choice. The next day I interviewed with the head of the team at a smaller agency and on Monday my recruiter emailed to ask how my interview went at Company2:

"It went well, they are a nice group of people and I appreciated their candor about the role, but to be honest I am not entirely sure the position is for me. While there are opportunities to help grow the team I wouldn't have a team working for me and I am not sure how I feel about that since coaching staff is something I excel at and enjoy. The heavy exposure to a single client is also something that gives me cause for concern."

A few hours later I received the following note from him:

"I get it and I've expressed your concerns to them. Having said that, they "love" you with a capital "L" and want you to come back and meet with senior leadership. They are willing to restructure the role to give you immediate direct reports. Would that make this worth continuing discussions?"

Ugh, I knew this would happen and I wish I loved them 'with a capital "L"', but to be honest I just wasn't feeling it in my gut, however a job is a job and should other opportunities fall through then...maybe!! Would it be wrong of me to go in and meet with senior leadership knowing that I am unlikely to take the position?

Seriously, can you tell I am Catholic? I feel guilty about frigging everything!!!

That was the week of January 13th...this past week has been a whirlwind.

On Monday I met a recruiter for coffee at Soho House in the Meatpacking District. I've never been to Soho House before, not the NY outpost nor the original in London, but I'm really not down with it to be honest and I so wanted to hate the place as I think the whole private club thing is pretentious and assumed it would be packed to the rafters with hideously pompous British ex-pats and those who fawn all over them - but I have to admit the 6th floor lounge is lovely. Anyway the recruiter seemed a bit disinterested - I noticed her zoning out a couple of times, although to give her her due she could have been looking for the coffee I'd asked for as she did seem to listen to me. There are a couple of positions she is going to put me forward for; one would be at a small, award winning creative agency with just 50 employees that's looking to build its capabilities in my area of expertise, so it would be just me, team of one working with the head of strategy. To be honest this scares the crap out of me in some ways as I think of how hard it would be to replicate the team I'm in now, but then again it could be really cool and I like the idea of the agency being led by creatives since so many advertising agencies seem to run by people with MBAs who have no clue about the end product we're selling. I'd have to interview with them and see what my gut tells me. The second position is at mid-sized agency in Brooklyn and the vacancy is actually for a lower level than me, but she said they are always on the lookout and may consider creating a position for the right person.

I also spoke to another recruiter who is putting me forward for another position at a small marketing consultancy near Union Square. I looked them up and someone I know from my days on an agency account works there. She's also checking with some other contacts. Then the HR department at a large agency emailed me to set up a screening interview. They are hiring at all levels - cause for concern, did they decimate the team or are they growing? Apparently someone Megan worked with in San Francisco saw my resume and called her about me, so she gave him glowing feedback. The job there sounds a bit scary to be honest. It's a big agency and the role seems much more senior than the one I have even though it's the same title, but I have a phone interview with someone there this coming Monday.

On Wednesday I had a phone interview with a company I wasn't interested in, very much a management consultancy type organization - I thought I may as well for the practice - and ugh, it was awful. Well, I suppose it wasn't THAT bad, but the guy asked me how I would re-evaluate a client's marketing program? Talk about a broad question. I told him what I would do from the perspective of my area of expertise, but I really didn't like the sound of the role and at the end of the interview I told the guy that I was looking for a role in a more creative environment and that I didn't think I was right for them and they weren't right for me. A bit direct perhaps, but the guy kept telling me how they had 150 specialists who do what I do as though it was something to boast about and I just thought "ugh, how dull to be working among 150 others like me." Anyway even though I didn't want the job the experience freaked me out a bit and I was dreading my interview with the head guy at Company1 at 8am on Thursday morning, but he turned out to be really great and told me that they have a 'no assholes policy' ha ha!! Can't hate an organization that has that policy. Anyway he wanted me to come back in and meet with a few more members of the team.

After that interview I headed downtown for a 10am meeting with senior leadership of Company2, who I had admittedly put in the 'back-up job' spot after Company1, but...well I REALLY liked them too. They were very straightforward with me - one guy, who would potentially be my boss, was a fellow northerner who had no qualms about admitting to a hangover in our meeting - and basically told me that the department is in a bit of a mess and he thinks I would make a good partner for the current departmental lead, and mentioned something about making me a co-head of the department. Erm...not the job I interviewed for, which was frankly too junior despite the title, so...well see. I emailed him a thank you note on Thursday evening and I got an email back that night saying they would be putting an offer together for me, so I'm just waiting to see what that is, but I'm kind of excited by this role. The current team they have in place is pretty junior and one of the account directors who I interviewed with had worked with me before - told me that I could really make a difference to the team, so after initially not being too enthused about this role my gut is now telling me to go for it and that going in and turning around a small department could be great for my resume, that is if that's the role that's on the table, because as I said that's not the role I initially interviewed for, but....we'll see!! I'm really excited about it to be honest, but we'll see if they are able to come back to me with an offer for a more senior level position!!

Google thinks I am a 25-34 year old man!!!

Ha ha I read this article on Gawker this morning and clicked on this link to see what Google inferred about my demographics based on my browsing history and Google says the following:

Your demographics

We infer your age and gender based on the websites you've visited. You can remove or edit these at any time.

Age: 25-34

Gender: Male

Um....so very wrong Google, I am a 40 year old female. Apparently this is because the sites I visit tend to be about movies - gotta love rottentomatoes and imdb - technology news - how sexist of Google - and travel - I have researched a lot of surf related travel lately. The swimwear one is confusing, but I have been researching wetsuits and most sites tend to default to displaying male suits, so perhaps that's it. Very entertaining anyway. At least Google thinks I am significantly younger than I really am.

Hmmm, does Google think I'm immature?

Night Of A 1000 Mikes*

So no dates this weekend, which is a good thing because it is FREEZING outside. I've just been out to do laundry and brrrrrrrrrrr!!!! Actually I potentially could have had a date today as I got chatting to a bloke at the NY surf meet up happy hour that Megan, Layla and I went to on Friday night - a fantastic bunch of people - and we exchanged numbers. Not wasting any time he sent me a text message on Saturday morning.

"Hey it's Mike from last night, it was nice meeting you. We should get together sometime and go for a surf. Waves might be good tomorrow."

Mike from last night? Well I met a bunch of Mikes last night, in fact it was like every other man I spoke to was named Mike, so the name didn't narrow it down much and more importantly....SURFING??????

Today!!!! It's 18 friggin' degrees outside (-7.7C)!!

While it's always nice to be asked I politely declined the invitation to succumb to hypothermia, although truth be told if I had the gear and more surfing experience I would have seriously considered it. The waves are better on the East Coast in winter and it's exhilarating to be out there in the cool water when you're toasty warm in your wetsuit. Quiksilver even makes a battery powered heated vest that you wear under your suit. I have to say I find the combination of a battery powered suit and the ocean somewhat alarming, but it's been on the market for a couple of years and I've read reviews of it, so it must be safe. Mustn't it???


Anyway no dates this week, but next Saturday I am grabbing a coffee with Chris from OkCupid. Chris is one of those overly keen OkCupider men who emails very regularly without necessarily waiting for a response from me. He'll email to see how my weekend was, or ask if I had a good day at work. We haven't met yet and I already feel overcrowded by the guy, but we'll see. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, but I'm not overly optimistic.

*Well, okay, I exaggerate, there were just 4 Mikes, but still it was quite a lot. I also had to laugh when I arrived at Chelsea Piers for my SurfSET fitness class on Saturday afternoon and realized my instructor there is also a Mike, it's like some surfing prerequisite.

The Continuing Shit Show That Is My Redundancy

So it's come to my attention this week that there is a clause in my separation agreement that basically says they'll pay me the 10 weeks I'm entitled to, BUT...

...I'll receive a check every two weeks AND if I start a new job within the 10 weeks then all payments end!!

The payments end!!!

What the ^%$# is that about???? It's a total kick in the teeth given I've been there almost 11-years. That is sooooo not what the employee handbook implies. It's pretty much squashed any loyalty I had to the company. Ahhh marketing agencies, why do they never $#@&ing follow their own advice to the clients when it comes to their employees, such as the old marketing adage about it costing up to 5 times more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an old one. Our goal for our clients is often retention and advocacy, but clearly that doesn't carry weight when it comes to employees. Seriously I could scream, although I'm actually going to do something much more productive than that. I'm going to solicit some legal advice via the NYC Bar Association that holds a weekly Pro Bono legal clinic* next week to get some advice, but if there's no way out of it then what's the point in finding a job? I may as well take some time off to enjoy myself, to enhance my skills, to write, to eff off to surf camp in Nicaragua, although the only way I could relax if I did that is if I have a signed commitment to a job waiting for me on my return.

May I ask Americans, is this common treatment when it comes to employees and if so why the hell do you stand for it?

So my job search is moving fast, which is good news, although in some ways it's all moving forward a little faster than I would like given I only sent my resume out into the universe last Thursday afternoon, I've been bombarded with calls from HR people and recruiters. Now obviously that's not a bad problem to have in a country that's experiencing an unemployment rate of close to 9%; there seems to be a lot out there for someone with my skills and experience. It's nice to be niche. Well I'm actually not niche in terms of my qualifications - mathematics degree - but most people who studied with me effed off to finance or accounting. The ones who went into marketing are few and far between. I interviewed with the HR department of a well known agency this morning and by the end of the day they'd contacted me about meeting with the department head at 8am on Tuesday next week, conflicting with my only standing meeting. A good thing to be honest, because I'm interviewing with another agency tomorrow afternoon - one of my interviewers used to work at the agency I am at now, so I know her and...well to say she's moody is putting it mildly, so I'm not exactly enthused at the prospect of working with her, but we'll see, perhaps she's changed!!!** Knowing my luck I'll ace the interview - I'm incredibly charming when I'm not interested and a nervous wreck when it's something I want, but it's all practice.

I'm meeting another recruiter for coffee on Monday, have a call with another on Tuesday and a meeting with the HR department of another agency on Wednesday. I'm trying to schedule the meeting with the department head for Thursday or Friday, but I'm waiting to confirm the availability of an Executive Vice President of another agency who wants to talk to me for 2 hours (2 hours???).

It all sounds incredibly positive doesn't it? People should have my problems, I really am incredibly lucky. Colleagues keep telling me that I should have no trouble at all finding something, nevertheless the prospect of being out of work fills me with dread.

As if I haven't been keeping busy enough with my job search I've also been dating. I didn't resolve to date in 2012, but I did in 2011 and quite honestly totting up my year's accomplishments and realizing I'd only gone on 6 dates made me realize I just wasn't making an effort. I decided that I'd respond to everyone that emailed me*** and see how that went. So far I've been on 2 dates, so already my average dates/month is up fourfold so I'm killing it compared to 2011 ;-)

*Pro Bono!!! How cool is that? It's restored my faith in some lawyers, but clearly not the slimeball that came up with my company's separation agreement. Hanging, drawing and quartering is too good for him/her.

**When hell freezes over ;-)

***Within reason. The 25 year old that sent me a note saying "You look amazing for your age. I just have to say ( gut feeling ) that we should definitely sit down, eat, and talk" will not be receiving a response, because a) he's too young and b) any man that thinks it's a good idea to use the qualifier 'for your age' doesn't deserve a response. What about a simple "You look amazing" the "for your age" part just negates the compliment. Men are idiots!! Why am I trying to date them again.