I Do & I Don't

i was scheduled to be on vacation until wednesday, january 3rd, but after being off since a week ago friday, i am pretty bored of staying at home. plus the adorable one goes back to work tomorrow, so hanging out by myself, while nice, results in me sleeping and watching tv. essentially i waste the day away.

so, by going back a day earlier than planned, i'll have a day of vacation to use later in the year--and since we essentially take two vacations a year (one at the end of may, the other at the end of december), it will almost be like having an extra day of vacation to enjoy.

my problem is, while i don't want to stay at home, i don't really want to go back to work. mostly because of two reasons. one, the real load of supporting the product line, previously handled by the cabbage patch head, is going to be my responsibility.

making it trickier is that my supervisor used to be the main marketing liaison, which would have been a huge support to me. unfortunately, our department director (my previous supervisor) posted a position that i should have interviewed for and didn't, and another coworker (who i do like), was selected to take over. the problem being is that my coworker has no experience with being a marketing liaison, so it's almost like i know more about how to do the job than she does. and because she doesn't know as much as i do, as i've been practically in an understudy position, i think she's going to be leaning over my shoulder a lot. which has to be expected, but i'm not a fan of having to teach someone to do their job.

the worst and second reason is that my supervisor, who i like and trust, has hired a new person to do the same work that i do. we had hired another person about a month ago and she's wonderful. she has previous applicable experience and has picked up our processes very quickly. in addition, we have a lot in common and she fits in great with our group.

the woman that they have hired, who starts tomorrow, was the runner up for the first hiring. from what we've been told, she's 24, graduated from notre dame, and led project teams at target. apparently, she wanted to go the executive track there, but for whatever reason, she decided to go a different direction. and we've also been informed by our supervisor that she's involved in a million organizations, is super outgoing, and tends to be a real "go-getter." her weakness is that she has no real experience with the type of work that the position requires, so she's even more of a newbie. making matters much worse, in my opinion, is that due to space constrictions in our area, she is going to be temporarily (probably two months at least) placed in an office, unless my supervisor moves out of his cube and i'm stuck next to her.

now, i know it's wrong to pre-judge people. i totally get that. but i have a very bad feeling about this woman. for starters, she's graduated from a top university, she's young, and she's already managed teams. the problem is, she's coming in at the very bottom of the totem pole. as i'm the most senior person in our position, i'm not the queen bee, but i am the most experienced and seasoned. and i get how the company and culture works, which takes time and experience. it's not something you just walk into knowing. and as i've told a trusted coworker, you could be the president of the united states and it wouldn't mean dick starting at our company, because everyone starts at ground zero. you have to prove yourself and it's not an overnight thing.

and our group is very special because our department director hand picked the original team members (one of them being my supervisor) and they are all extremely bright, talented, and considered the "go to" people by the president of the company, our division, and other senior management personnel. i'm not bragging when i say it's a big deal to be in our group because we get assigned special projects--stuff that the corporate marketing department should be doing, but because they are led by incompetent bozos, are not equipped to handle.

i got very lucky because i was the first person hired in after the group had been together, just the four of them, for over two years. so i was the new kid on the block for quite a while before additional staff (now totaling five) joined our team. what i find funny a lot of days is that i straddle the two groups--the old guard that runs our group and the new guard that came primarily from outside companies who have their own ideas about how to get projects accomplished. some days i feel like odd girl out as i want to belong to both groups.

anyway, with this new gal starting, my fears are that she's coming in thinking that one, she's gonna run the show and secondly, that the position she's in is just temporary. i'm going into year three of the position and still have so much to learn before being promoted, which may happen later this year, if i'm lucky. i'll talk more about that possibility in another post, but the point i'm trying to make is that no one joins our company and instantly races up the ladder. my supervisor, who started out in my position, wasn't promoted for six years. and then it took another two to become a manager. so, nothing happens fast regarding job advancement.

which is good because there is so much to learn about the industry, as well as how to best navigate the company to get the information you need and the culture to be successful in your endeavors. i'm finally on an upswing after a very bumpy start two years ago. seriously.

so, i while i know it's wrong to have serious concerns about a person i haven't met yet, i'm kinda sick to my stomach about this new gal joining our group. because the truth is that she's coming in as the new grunt, not the star player. something i'm almost sure she doesn't get.