It’s a tough job market out there, or so I’m told. I read articles and personal posts on LinkedIn about the struggle people have to find work and I feel for them.
But I am not one of them.
In a world of layoffs and cutbacks, a world where people (young people in particular) seem to change jobs seasonally, I have worked for the same organisation for 25 years.
Is that something to be celebrated or is that something weird?
On the one hand, it’s amazing that someone could stay with one organisation for so long without any of the aforementioned layoffs affecting them.
(There have been voluntary separation opportunities – they just never came at the right time for me to want to take them.)
On the other hand, isn’t it weird being in one place for so long? Where’s the growth? Where’s the change? Wow, what a dull person I must be to hang out in one company for so long!
(Thats why I haven’t posted about my anniversary on LinkedIn.)
Let me get something straight. It’s not like I’ve been doing the same job for 25 years, oh no.
I’ve had seven different job titles.
I’ve worked in three different departments.
I worked part time for two years while I studied for a Masters degree.
I’ve worked with some good people and I’ve worked with some people who I will politely say are not good.
I haven’t just sat on my arse and watched the years tick by.
Maybe the reason I stayed so long is because of the last interview I had before I joined the bank.
“Why would I hire you?” the woman asked. “You haven’t stuck at a job for more than 9 months in the past 6 years. If I hire you, you’ll probably quit in 6 months and take off travelling again.”
I left that interview feeling pretty broken. Was my CV really that bad? Was that travelling backpacker lifestyle of the past few years really a career wrecker?
The nice people at the place I was temping asked if I was actually looking for a permanent job. (I was. The travelling lifestyle may have its glamour but it also did involve some credit card bills that needed to be paid.)
A few days later I was called by someone in HR to have a “chat”. The chat was an interview. The interview led to a job offer.
(“Secretary, though,” I whined to my friends. “Don’t worry,” they said. “You start there and work your way up.”)
They were right. I did.
Sometimes there were long days (and nights), sometimes there were systems that worked against rather than for; but also there were sometimes brilliant moments of camaraderie, sometimes overseas travel to visit the regions the bank works in, sometimes Eurostar to Brussels to be grilled by the EU. (But most of the time, just commuting to the office on the train.)
(Apart from those 18 months we worked from home during Covid, that is.)
A lot of friends, a lot of experiences, and always with one eye looking up because the reason I’ve stayed here so long (despite 15 years of saying “We’ll be moving back to Australia in 5 years,”) is because I’m working for a values-driven organisation.
(There is probably more money and a sharper upwards career path elsewhere. There’s probably less money and an easier life out there too. But with no values? That’s just a job.)
Sometimes its hard to see the values under the admin and the bureaucracy, but the bank’s heart is about making things a little more green, a little more equal, a little more easy to live and work.
I guess that’s why I stuck around so long.
Tales from Tobhamhor 