First update on the new job.

I was doing a really good job of posting almost every weekday, and I was really proud of myself, and then I missed yesterday and felt guilty, even though I had written a bonus post the day before. With the new job and the new hours, I have no idea how my blogging "schedule" will change, but I will keep up this regular posting thing, especially now that I have finally gotten a couple of regular commenters (and I love you guys! And knowing that somebody likes my blog enough to actually read it more than once).

Anyway, so, an update on the new job has been requested, so here it is. I started yesterday, and so far I'm really a fan. I have a cubicle, but it's a nice, spacious, private one in a corner, and my screen faces the back wall so that people don't surprise me and read over my shoulder before I've even noticed that they're there (this is a huge step up from the past job). Today I brought in some photos and a couple posters and did some decorating, so now it feels much more homey and personal. The only thing that I haven't dealt with yet is this lovely bookshelf I have--it's gorgeous, and I'm excited to have it, but I'm not quite sure how to make good use of it. I have lots of books at home but I don't have any work-related books, and I'm not going to bring my personal book collection to the office just for the sake of filling my bookshelf (especially because then my bookshelves at home would no longer be full, and nobody wants that). I might get a plant, but it would have to be a small one to fit on a shelf, and one that likes the shade, because there isn't really any natural light in here. And still, that would only fill part of one shelf, and this monster has five shelves. Does anyone have any suggestions for decorating/space usage options to fill the shelf? I would love to hear them.

Anyway, I was supposed to be giving an update on my job, not my interior decorating dilemmas. The job itself is great, I think. I thought my last job was great at first too (and for awhile it was), so I'm a little leery of unequivocally announcing that this one is fabulous, but so far all the signs are pointing that way. And since I've already had a real job, I'd like to think that I'm a little more savvy about what makes a job great in the long term.

Anyway, this job really does focus on marketing. I was brought into two meetings yesterday and the whole discussion was about marketing and angles and specific communications approaches, and it was so interesting, and it made so much intuitive sense, and it had so much to do with all these different ideas that I tried to push at my old job but that always got stuck with some high-level manager and died. So it was amazing to see that everyone here accepts all those ideas as second nature--the question isn't will we use this approach? but rather what is the best way to implement it? And that is such a crucial and exciting difference.

My boss is great too, flexible and in touch and really good at his work. We already talked about vacation days and time off and that stuff seems like it's going to work out great as well. And my coworkers are all really nice and friendly and interesting and they all have really diverse perspectives on things. And it's only my second day and I've already been assigned real work to do, including writing and editing a newsletter, which is also really exciting because at my old job I just sort of had to start doing projects and then tell people that I had done them, because if I had waited for someone to give me real creative work to do, I would still be waiting.

So really, what may well be the best part of the whole thing is that I feel really valued here. I'm not just one of those administrative people who every now and then does a real project. I'm expected to do real projects, it's assumed that I'm capable of doing them, and the projects are interesting and really appeal to my strengths.

Plus, since this isn't my first time starting a job, I don't feel overwhelmed by not remembering names and not being able to find my way around the office (although I am convinced that this office is particularly maze-like relative to other offices). And I know what systems I like to have in place, like what folders to create in my mailbox to make sure that I can keep track of my email, from the get-go, instead of having to figure it out as I go and then backtrack to clean up the disorganized mess that was created before I figured it out.

Also, I get a full extra hour of sleep in the morning, and that makes such a difference. I swear, even the music on the radio is much better at 7:45 than it is at 6:45.

So yeah. So far, I'd say it's going pretty well.