When did this become a career?

[bunchofgrapes]

Friday was my 20th anniversary with the company. Actually, it's 20 cumulative years with several companies that got bought to create the current company, but the current company recognizes all those years. And because they do, it also means I have something like 400 hours of vacation every year. I'm lucky if I use a quarter of that time.

Wednesday I got a package in the mail from the company. It was a nice little certificate for my 20 years and a catalog with gift items. I get to choose one and so far I'm leaning towards the Henckels 7-pc knife set. Second choice is the DeWalt cordless drill. I like to be practical. Interesting note: one of the companies that used to own us was Black & Decker. From a business standpoint, they were a horrible parent company; from an employee standpoint, they were awesome! They'd bring semi's loaded with products into the parking garage and set up little stores complete with shopping carts and of course, we'd go crazy because we got a pretty decent discount. Suffice it to say, I have a house and shed full of B&D products. The rice steamer and electric mower are my favorites, btw. Current company doesn't have anything like that to offer but they do have pretty decent discounts with just about every store imaginable.

I still marvel that I've been employed in basically one place for 20 years and that my path has taken me to business management. I never intended to spend almost all of those 20 years in finance. As a matter of fact, math was my sworn enemy in school. I took anything I could to avoid it in college and mostly, it worked (took a basic math class in which we spelled words with our calculator). So imagine my horror one afternoon when I realized that I was doing algebra!

So what I have I learned over the last 20 years?
- Common sense trumps degree in the business world. There are a whole lot of PhD's in my OU that have absolutely no common sense.
- All it really takes to get a career you never really wanted is a desire to do the job and the ability to take responsibility for what you do.
- Take algebra because one day you will in fact have to solve for y.

Oh, and yes, I do like what I do. It's a pain in the ass most days and I'm jaded and I curse like a sailor but it's still challenging and I'm good at it and yeah, the pay is nice. Plus, there's all that vacation I never get to use.

Comments

[insanityonline1.livejournal.com]

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! I'm very proud of you :)

[bunchofgrapes]

Thank you!

[vr-trakowski.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! Sometimes I think that's the best way to have a career, if you enjoy what you do. Sneak up on it. :D

[bunchofgrapes]

Thank you and I definitely agree! Both my boss and I got sneaked up on. We still view this as a stepping stone to what we really want to do. Unfortunately, we haven't figured out what we really want to do and by the time we do, we'll have retired from this.

[tos-lover.livejournal.com]

Sad to say but I could run quadratic equations til the cows come home. I loved math but hated the sciences, including physics. Something to do with labs, I think. And don't get me started about degree snobbery.

But anyhoo, wow, twenty years. That's incredible. Major congrats!

[bunchofgrapes]

Thanks! I don't think I'd view this as a good thing if we hadn't been bought and sold so many times.

I think it was that one bad turn in 7th grade that turned me off math. I actually like working with numbers and spreadsheets but I cannot do math in my head. I can however recount the entire dialog to just about every episode of The Avengers. Unfortunately, that never comes up at work.

[snowydragon1776.livejournal.com]

Happy Anniversary! ^_^ ^_^


Oh dear I understand basic math and can figure out some algebra even though i hate it and I have common sense and work hard.

*looking in crystal ball* I see management in the archives world *sighs* not what I had in mind.

[bunchofgrapes]

Actually, you too could be destined for a career in business management. Both my boss and I have come to the conclusion that liberal arts majors make the best finance people. Go figure.

[snowydragon1776.livejournal.com]

Yes
Management in Archives in the business management side

but oh dear

i just want to write books

go figure is right

[airforce-chic.livejournal.com]

I know I am a little late with this....but congrats! I hope to spend 20 years with the same company...It means I get to retire, at least in my line of work. That is awesome. Oh, and I hate math, not my cup of tea at all. Free gifts are always a good thing too!

Rebecca (yeah, finally got a LJ account)

[bunchofgrapes]

Yay! You finally got an LJ! Now you need to load up on icons and stuff. Oh, and I'm friending you.

Are you planning to be career Air Force? You get all those excellent military bennies and then you can go to work in the private sector and reap all their retirement bennies.

[airforce-chic.livejournal.com]

I was a complete idiot when I wrote that entry last night...I meant that I can retire at the ripe old age of 39(!) if I do my 20. As of right now, retirement from the Air Force is looking good. I'll be @ 8 years this July.

I know, I need to make my LJ all spiffy looking. No idea on how to do it. But I figured if I can have a Myspace page, I can figure this out too!

Yay, you're my first friend!