No, Really!

Get Don a Job!!!  A week and a half ago, I was laid off from By Referral Only.  In fact, my entire department was let go.  I guess the good news is that after not taking a vacation since January of 2007 when my daughter was born, I had accrued about 3 weeks of vacation time, so have enough money to stay afloat for a bit.

My initial thoughts were that I needed to get work right away and to jump at everything that showed any interest.  Having worked in a call center in the real estate industry, obviously, I got two quick bites from people who were looking for people for their real estate industry call centers...  

The problem I have is that I don't necessarily want to work in real estate any more.  I have done quite a bit of thinking over the course of the last seven years on the real estate industry. Four years ago told anyone who would listen that in five years time, we'd see a 40% decrease in home values in San Diego and a nationwide recession because everything I could see that was going on in the industry said a big bubble was going to burst.  I know, it's easy to say that now.  But seriously, if you know me, you've heard it from me for years now.  Even my parents got sick of hearing my rants and told me they thought I was wrong.  So why in the hell did I take my job to begin with?

Because of the challenge.  I talked to the interviewers at the company and got very intrigued by what the company wanted to do and the challenges it presented.  I learned a lot at By Referral Only in my time there, and definitely had a challenge on my hands.  In my time at BRO, I learned a fair amount about SQL, especially the Informix version of it and how to work around some of its idiosyncracies with a bit of thinking.  I learned a lot about leadership and how to effectively manage people through a complete change in their roles.  And I learned a lot about marketing effectively and how the glitzy ad looks fabulous, but doesn't necessarily get you more/better customers.

So where does that leave me now?  Looking for that next challenge.  Something that will keep me engaged and interested beyond the initial learning curve.  Something on the cutting edge, that wants to remain there.  Something that makes use of my desire to solve problems, face new challenges, and makes use of both technology and people.  In fact, something very similar to what I had at the Carphone Warehouse, just, preferrably, with more pay.