Finally moving on

It started the day I got back from my Singapore/Vietnam trip. Actually, it started whilst I was on holidays. I got an email from the head of recruitment within the company asking me to contact them. When I got back from my holiday, I gave them a call, and basically they were trying to poach me across. Strangely enough, it was through a recommendation from my Manager. Strange, because the day I got back, he asked me to tell him when I am ready to move on, and he will come after me. So recommending me to someone else was a strange move.

The interview went well, but it wasn't what I was after. It was almost pure management, but at that time, I was still in holiday mode and I literally thought "I can't be bothered doing this job". So I declined the offer. Then it was farewell after farewell, with things changing every day. I was going through the "Do I want to keep working in this industry" thing, and after my talks in Singapore, I actually felt like throwing the towel in and just moving to London within a month. Luckily, the alcohol kicked in and I became lazy. The game plan was to let everyone who had to leave, leave. Once things have settled down, reassess my position, find out what I want to do, and come up with a plan to do it.

I talked to my old manager (who had moved to another department after "The Announcement") a few times, each time mentioning my intentions of working overseas, and if he knows of any London positions, to let me know. He flat out told me that he would NOT support me if I wanted a role in London. Why? I'd be no good to him overseas.

A few weeks ago, we were chatting again. I had a whinge that I needed to get out of here. Anywhere but here. He took it as a sign to kick things into motion. I was still unsure as to whether I wanted to go work with him. Not because of HIM, but because I'm not sure I want to stay in Sydney. Then he dangled the carrot in front of me. They're setting up a team in London. Damn! So we started talking. And when one of my other colleagues found out we were talking, he basically tried to get me across to his area instead. Meanwhile, LinkedIn was proving useful where I was getting calls from recruiters out of the blue. They were calling my office number scarily enough.

With all these opportunities and offers coming up, I basically decided it was time to move on. Anywhere but here. And in the end, I've decided to go work with my old Manager, who I guess will now be my "now" Manager. The work sounds really interesting as its more investment banking and less retail. Theres no test team currently, so I get to set everything up from scratch MY WAY. Its going to be a fantastic challenge I think.

The paperwork is almost done, and they've finally decided on a date to let me go across. Starting next Tuesday, I will be working in a new department with a new team doing new things. Can I say excited?? I've actually already met the team last week. I got invited to the team dinner at the Australian for beer and pizza. My other workmate wanted to know if it was going to be a big night, so we could prepare. To judge if we were going to need bacon and eggs the next day, I messaged my manager "Did you book a hotel room for tonight?" to see if he's going to get so hammered he needs a place to crash. Except I left out the "need a place to crash cos you're going to get shitfaced" off the message. And little did I know that he was in a meeting room, with his laptop hooked up to the projector and the whole team watching my message appear on the wall. Shit. First 5 mins of the team dinner was me explaining what the hell I was on about. Great first impressions....SoRMuiJAi style...