Back to Work!

Well, my first week back to work hasn’t been too bad.

The first day I wasn't totally reassured about receiving the salary and benefits I requested. During interviews and when offering me the position they told that HR had agreed to my terms. Now I have accepted the position they are back-tracking first on one thing and now another. But it seems that everyone is trying to be as honest and straightforward as possible so I am hopeful.

And naturally in the morning I couldn't get past the security gate because they don't have a record of me doing the safety course!!

Luckily (unluckily?) this is not the first time I've encountered this problem so a few well-placed phone calls ensured they let me through. Now I just have to make a billion and one phone calls to solve the problem. At times like this it is such a relief to be familiar with the system.

A short intro:

At the end of 2010 I returned to full-time work. Although a qualified bookkeeper with many years of experience I was a little nervous re-entering the workplace.

I signed up with a couple of personnel companies and scattered my CV across the internet. Surprisingly quickly I received an interview at a large Israeli concern. The offer was a position working in the finance department which seemed to fit my experience and abilities. The less attractive part of the offer was that I would be working through a sub-contractor on a two-year contract. And there was a lengthy commute.

The commute was tiring but bearable when public transport was working ok, hellish and exhausting when it was not. I seemed to have chosen to return to work at a time when both the road and public transport systems were being 'improved' and there were days when I believed my commute was trying to kill me!

The work itself was interesting. We had been taken on for a large project so the work was intense and required a lot of over-time.

At first everyone assumed that at the completion of our contract we would be taken on permanently, as had happened with previous contract workers, but following management changes it become clear this would not happen.

My boss was not willing to part with me so quickly and even though I was given my notice last month she put my name forward for other positions.

A few days after my contract ran out I was accepted.

Reading through the correspondence gave me the urge to start humming the theme to the Onedin Line

So here I am back at work. The surroundings are familiar, close by are the people from my previous department. They have been very supportive and were pleased to see me back. More surprisingly (in a very pleasant way) acquaintances who I saw maybe 5 minutes a day or less and said hello to in passing have greeted me warmly and remarked on how glad they are to see me back, how they had been hoping a position would be found for me.

The work itself looks interesting although I haven't yet started doing much because the bureaucracy surrounding the settling in process makes it almost impossible to concentrate. The first day was spent setting up my computer, the second day was spent figuring out why my computer wasn't set up properly and then completing those pesky safety tests.

But my new boss hasn't let me languish in a pool of boredom while the technical details are sorted. He provided me with documents and presentations explaining various aspects of the business and a detailed manual which makes surprisingly interesting reading. He's also very thorough on the details; helping me set up my computer properly, ensuring I get office supplies and introducing me to everyone around the new workspace.

I have also been reading through correspondence to get an idea of work flow and how things are done. It means that I don't feel lost jumping into the middle of the project and gives me an idea of what is involved and what I will be expected to do to contribute to the whole.

By Thursday I was tired and and looking forward to the weekend but unlike the previous few months I wasn't counting the minutes until I could grab my bag and walk out the gate. That seems like a good start!