I officially love my new job.

(Okay, so technically I've unofficially loved it since Friday afternoon, but they said I wasn't allowed to say I loved it until I'd gotten through a Monday. Well, Monday's almost over and I still love my job. Admittedly, it's been pretty slow for a Monday, but it's still Monday. So there. =P)

To start with, I've got something I've never had in any job before: my own space. I guess it's technically more of a reception area than an office, but it's still mine - almost every time Randy (the sales person who's been training me) tells me where something is, he adds something along the lines of "But you can work out your own system if you like; whatever works for you." There's even space where I can put up pictures and whatnot if I like.

I also have my own work email account, which is pretty darn cool. Unfortunately, the last receptionist apparently signed up the service account (which points to mine) for all sorts of junk email, so I'll get to sort through that all day...yay. However, it's still awesome. It's like I'm a real professional or something. :)

I think what I like most about this place, however, is the atmosphere - it's what I always imagined an office should be like. Everyone more or less does their own thing, which is nice, and everyone more or less respects everyone else's time and territory. When people do interact it's in a relatively casual manner; no one's uptight about saying the wrong thing or being unprofessional (some of the language I've heard would definitely come under the category of "unprofessional", but I've never been a stickler about such things), and everyone is more or less cool with everyone else. This also means that most of the time I'm left to do my thing, which is answering phones and sorting mail and adding up time cards and filing and making up work orders and basic grunt work like that - but everybody treats me (so far) like I'm more or less on par with the guys that get billed out at $95 an hour - which I suppose is true, since without someone to do all of this they'd be in a bit of a bind. Plus I get to wear jeans to work - technically I could probably wear t-shirts too, though for my first few days I'm trying to dress up just a bit. Since most of the people I see are just members of the office, though, it's not really a big deal either way.

Of course, there are always problems with the independent-worker system (one of the big jokes around here is that even though we're a telecommunications company, our internal communications leave something to be desired); but on the whole I think it's the one that suits my temperament best. And after being in a job that wasn't really suited to my temperament (not to mention a few coworkers who really didn't "get" me personality-wise), it's nice to be someplace with...well, with people like me. (Aside: Incidentally, one of the things Randy mentioned to me on Friday was that they had hired me almost entirely based on chemistry - apparently, from the moment I said "I tend to be rather outspoken, independent and opinionated" in the interview, Nancy (my potential supervisor) sat right up in her chair. So it wasn't entirely a coincidence that my interview didn't feel particularly structured - apparently, I was the one to whom they said the least about the job, but I was also the one whose interview was the most fun. And considering how badly their last receptionist clashed personality-wise with everyone else (or so I've heard), I guess that's what they were looking for. End of aside.)

Anyway, I suppose I should reserve some judgment, considering I've been here all of a day and a half. However, for now I'm happy with it, and I sincerely hope I remain that way - it's a great place to work, the pay is decent, it's got some really good benefits (job-wise and medical-wise), and I finally feel like I'm somewhere where I fit. I didn't even realize how important that was until it was such an issue...

I officially love my new job.

(Okay, so technically I've unofficially loved it since Friday afternoon, but they said I wasn't allowed to say I loved it until I'd gotten through a Monday. Well, Monday's almost over and I still love my job. Admittedly, it's been pretty slow for a Monday, but it's still Monday. So there. =P)

To start with, I've got something I've never had in any job before: my own space. I guess it's technically more of a reception area than an office, but it's still mine - almost every time Randy (the sales person who's been training me) tells me where something is, he adds something along the lines of "But you can work out your own system if you like; whatever works for you." There's even space where I can put up pictures and whatnot if I like.

I also have my own work email account, which is pretty darn cool. Unfortunately, the last receptionist apparently signed up the service account (which points to mine) for all sorts of junk email, so I'll get to sort through that all day...yay. However, it's still awesome. It's like I'm a real professional or something. :)

I think what I like most about this place, however, is the atmosphere - it's what I always imagined an office should be like. Everyone more or less does their own thing, which is nice, and everyone more or less respects everyone else's time and territory. When people do interact it's in a relatively casual manner; no one's uptight about saying the wrong thing or being unprofessional (some of the language I've heard would definitely come under the category of "unprofessional", but I've never been a stickler about such things), and everyone is more or less cool with everyone else. This also means that most of the time I'm left to do my thing, which is answering phones and sorting mail and adding up time cards and filing and making up work orders and basic grunt work like that - but everybody treats me (so far) like I'm more or less on par with the guys that get billed out at $95 an hour - which I suppose is true, since without someone to do all of this they'd be in a bit of a bind. Plus I get to wear jeans to work - technically I could probably wear t-shirts too, though for my first few days I'm trying to dress up just a bit. Since most of the people I see are just members of the office, though, it's not really a big deal either way.

Of course, there are always problems with the independent-worker system (one of the big jokes around here is that even though we're a telecommunications company, our internal communications leave something to be desired); but on the whole I think it's the one that suits my temperament best. And after being in a job that wasn't really suited to my temperament (not to mention a few coworkers who really didn't "get" me personality-wise), it's nice to be someplace with...well, with people like me. (Aside: Incidentally, one of the things Randy mentioned to me on Friday was that they had hired me almost entirely based on chemistry - apparently, from the moment I said "I tend to be rather outspoken, independent and opinionated" in the interview, Nancy (my potential supervisor) sat right up in her chair. So it wasn't entirely a coincidence that my interview didn't feel particularly structured - apparently, I was the one to whom they said the least about the job, but I was also the one whose interview was the most fun. And considering how badly their last receptionist clashed personality-wise with everyone else (or so I've heard), I guess that's what they were looking for. End of aside.)

Anyway, I suppose I should reserve some judgment, considering I've been here all of a day and a half. However, for now I'm happy with it, and I sincerely hope I remain that way - it's a great place to work, the pay is decent, it's got some really good benefits (job-wise and medical-wise), and I finally feel like I'm somewhere where I fit. I didn't even realize how important that was until it was such an issue...