Change

Change can be a scary thing. It can also be a necessary thing. There are days when I wonder change is needed. Change is sometimes a difficult decision to make.

For some time now, I have been contemplating change. I think that I have made a few major changes in my life. I upgraded from a condo to a townhouse this year. That was a huge change. But it's a change I probably would have done eventually.

Career-wise, I am wondering about change. I've been working at the same company for almost 14 years now. For the past couple of years I've been thinking of looking for something different. I feel that I'm not able to really learn any transferable skills except for what is usable in this company. Also, there have been changes in how things work here that bother me. Things have gotten to a point here where you sometimes need to ask around for stuff to work on. It's crazy, but I do not understand why I would have to ask anyone for work. Some of the folks here complain about having so many projects. Well, hey! I'm here! Why not offer me some of that? I'd like the opportunity to build up my competence so I can be a useful resource!

However, I think alot of this also stems from the fact that for the better part of 2007, I was without a manager. Without a manager, there was not a whole lot of guidance. Sure there were team leaders, but they were busy trying to find resources to work on some of the projects. However, it just seemed like they didn't feel like they had the authority to allow those with less experience to work on some of the projects at the time. Thus, it becomes that evil Catch-22: How can one gain the knowledge and competence to work on something if they are not given the opportunity to work on something to gain that knowledge and competence? And from this my frustration is borne.

So, what am I doing? I decided to pull the trigger last night and let loose my CV for a position at a company where a friend works. It's a large financial institution. Yeah, I know. There's a certain amount of volatility. But this place recently received some backing from another large financial institution. I think it was some sort of partnership or something. Anyway, this bolster helped to nearly double the value of their stocks. So, it can't be all that bad, could it?