Ch-ch-ch-changes
So yes, about two and a half weeks ago, I was laid off as part of Dartmouth’s financial woes and restructuring efforts. That kind of sucked … but having been through layoffs (and worse) before, I had a sense that it was coming, and more importantly knew what to do.
So I hopped on the job search nearly immediately. First thing I saw was “Associate Registrar for Research,” which immediately had me salivating: it’s the job, of course, that I wanted when we moved here 6 years ago, the (academic) career path I saw for myself 10 years ago! Of course, I was told in HR the next day that there was an offer out on the job already, so it was effectively closed. Oh well. On to other searches, no time to linger! So I dug in to all the other stuff out there (there’s not a lot of stuff out there right now), found some good leads, started some great networking connections going, and generally got lots of balls rolling.
Then, a week later, and email from HR contact. The Associate Registrar position was open again, please apply forthwith. *please insert shocked googly-eyed emoticon here* So hell yes, I whipped up a letter (it is truly amazing to note how much easier writing a strong cover letter is when you are really really INTO the job you’re writing it for), made some minor edits to the resume, got a few pieces of feedback, and submitted the whole shebang into the official electronic system. That was on Wednesday, February 18. The next day, I scheduled an interview for Tuesday, February 24.
That interview went very well indeed, and a follow-up was discussed. I went off to the gym, and returned to a voice mail asking if the round 2 interview could be … that afternoon! Well, yes. So off I went a few hours later. That also went well, and contained various hints that things were looking extremely good. I walked out of the building thinking “I think I just got a job.”
And yes, the offer came at noon the next day (Wednesday, Feb. 25). I officially accepted later that afternoon, and it’s now down to signing papers and getting the transition going.
My head is still spinning! Because not only have I managed to re-secure employment in nothing flat, but I’ve landed EXACTLY where I want to be professionally. I’m sure there will be some upcoming moments of panic as I get up to speed in a new environment and rapidly dust off some rustier technical skills, but it’s that good kind of panic that comes with increased responsibility and accountability … things that I wanted very, very much.
Going forward here in blogland, of course, there will be virtually nothing said about this job: rather a lot of privacy laws that I have zero desire to tangle with. But now is the time to shout from the rooftops!
February 27th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Congrats!!!
May 14th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Remembered you have a web site!
How’s that job going?