An Update

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

I don't really talk about my day job here on the blog, mostly due to the nature of the work, but also because I'd bore everyone to death. I'm changing things up today as it kinda affects the state of the blog.

I was working for a government contracting company. Two months ago, we received word that we lost the re-compete for the contract that we were on. The government chose another firm whose proposal bid was significantly lower in cost than ours. Can't say I blame them as budget cuts are affecting everyone. This is just the nature of the business and fairly common in the DC area where there is a large contractor presence. It just so happened to be a first-time experience for many of us -- some of my coworkers have been on this project since its inception 20 years ago! After the initial surprise wore off, we were all kinda left in this discombobulated, surreal state of mind with so many questions and no immediate answers.

This is the only company (and only project) I've worked at since graduating from college, so I could be talking out of my ass here. I've never left a company voluntarily, nor been fired, nor been laid off. I still think it's a unique situation that we were put in because everyone will be going their separate ways at around the same time. In the meanwhile, we were still expected to report to work for the next two months during this "transition period" between contracts. What motivation is there to produce quality work when you know you'll never see the finish line? We were in the middle of a software build, but now... I'll leave that sentence unfinished, haha. I imagine it's also odd to openly talk about interviewing for new jobs while still at your current job. In some ways, the atmosphere is more relaxed and everyone seems friendlier because there are no more taboo topics. Hey boss, I'm stepping out for a couple hours for an interview. No problem, good luck!

For me, I didn't really feel a sense of panic aside from a knee-jerk reaction. My thinking was, two months is a long time to be unmotivated at work, but is a good amount of time to look for a new job. I may be naive in my thinking, but I felt everyone had marketable skills and shouldn't be unemployed for long. After the two month transition period, our company would keep employees on for a few more weeks. Then, we'd be able to start collecting unemployment checks for a couple months. Perhaps this false sense of optimism stems from knowing that I will be cashing out all my vacation hours once I leave my current company. That's a good chunk of change to tide me over for awhile. Hoarding finally pays off! When I laid out my plan to DH, he was jealous that I could essentially be on a months-long "sabbatical". But happily agreed to be my sugar daddy in the worst-case scenario. Whew.

All my thoughts up until now were written literally days after we lost the contract. I've had two months to process everything and figured it's finally time to finish writing this post. The one constant emotion throughout it all has been overwhelming sadness. Sadness for the breakup of my work family, sadness for having to hand our "baby" over to new parents, sadness for selfish reasons like how I've taken so many perks for granted (ie: flexible work schedule).

I lucked out and was able to find a new job fairly quickly. Same type of work, same industry, just with a new employer and new customer. On paper, the new job checks off all my requirements, many of which are even better compared to my old job. The one thing I was really hoping for was to find a job that allowed me to start at a later date so I have the chance to finish out the current contract and then take a few weeks off to chill. Perhaps it's loyalty to our customer, not wanting to leave management in a bind, curiosity to see how the new company handles the transition, or all of the above, but I'm happy to have gotten my wish.

The last two months have been... interesting, for lack of a better word. It's been eye-opening to see how other companies operate, in regards to day-to-day operations, handling of professional relationships, and just the handling of knowledge transfer during this transition period. On the blog front, I don't know if it's apparent that I've been wearing more business casual outfits. I will no longer be allowed to dress casually at my new job, so I've been slowly preparing myself the last few weeks. RIP jeans (especially holey jeans!), short skirts, and flip flops.

You can bet I'll be making the most of my unemployed situation. Expect non-work appropriate outfits for the next few weeks of the casual and dressy variety. After that, I'm not exactly sure of the state of the blog. I hope to mix and match pieces to create new business casual outfits fairly often. Though a more realistic outlook is probably sporadic blog posts as I focus on my new job while rotating between a select few business casual outfits for real life, likely from the pool below:

spring / summer business casual work outfits
Row 1: one, two, three, four
Row 2: one, two, three, four

Thank you in advance for bearing with me through life changes!

You Might Also Like

21 comments

  1. This was great to read, not the fact that your company went through lay-offs, but how you have prevailed! Maybe you can look at it as an opportunity to refresh the wardrobe :) Even though you have to be more business casual these days, I'm sure the outfits will still be super cute!

    Belinda
    www.snapshotsofmycloset.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm one step ahead of ya... already been picking up new wardrobe pieces ;) Thank you for the vote of confidence and well wishes, Belinda!

      Delete
  2. Thanks for sharing your story above! It's always interesting to see whats going on in the lives of other bloggers, especially those who work 9 to 5 at a job other than their blog. It must be a stressful time for you, but I will say that I've had friends to through similar situations and it always turned out just fine--often they found a job that was even better so it was almost a bless in disguise. Best of luck to you!

    Lifestyle by Joules

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have a pretty easy going outlook on life, but the first few weeks after we learned of the contract situation sure was stressful. In a way I'm glad my coworkers and I were all in the same boat because if nothing else, we were there to offer each other moral support. I probably would've been pulling my hair out if not for them :) Thank you for the well wishes, Julie!

      Delete
  3. Wow, you so rarely share personal stuff that I was totally surprised to read this post. What a stressful time, but I'm glad to hear that things have been working out for you so well despite that. Sometimes change is a good thing? Thats what they say, right :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol that's me, going for long stretches without meaningful text posts, then bam! Out comes an essay. I'm definitely the kind of person who gets too comfortable at times, so this push may just end up being the best thing for me. Thank you for the well wishes, Amber!

      Delete
  4. Thanks for sharing! And so glad you were able to find another job in good timing!


    xo - Sheila
    www.sheislovelyblog.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wish you the very best on your new job. A new job, a new path. Looking forward to how you style your outfits in the upcoming days. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the well wishes, Sky! This may just be a "grass is greener on the other side" type of situation. At least, that's what I'm hoping for!

      Delete
  6. Best of luck with your new job...I'm really looking forward to seeing your casual outfits, you have such nice style and I always like to see when you dress down :) Thanks for sharing what's going on !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ahh, I don't want to get your hopes up, but I might not have many casual outfits to share! I have a feeling I'll be spending most of my days sleeping in and bumming around at home :D Thanks for the well wishes, Katherine!

      Delete
  7. Glad it all turned out well. I was reading as if I was reading a suspense novel. Thanks for sharing, Cee. Good luck on your new job. Can't wait to see your new outfit posts with the new dress code requirement.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You give me more credit than I deserve re my storytelling skills ;) Thanks for your well wishes!

      Delete
  8. That's a relief that you were able to find new employment quickly! When I started reading your post, I was like "oh no", thinking that maybe you were about to announce that due to unemployment, you will no longer be shopping and quitting blogging...worse case scenario, haha. Whew! So glad it turned out okay! I do enjoy seeing your style progress with life changes :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Quitting shopping and blogging at the same time seems so drastic! But I wouldn't put it past me, lol. Thank you for your well wishes, Olyvia!

      Delete
  9. So glad you found another job! That is indeed a tough situation but good that things are working out in other ways and hopefully brighter ways as well. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's good that you were able to find another job soo soon! All the best for your new endeavours and it will be still great to see all your new outfits :)

    katattack2000.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm just seeing this! So glad things worked out, and even more happy that you were able to finagle a little break time in between! Enjoy sleeping in! =D

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear from you. Constructive criticisms welcome!

30 for 30 abercrombie abercrombie & fitch accessories adidas adrienne vittadini agnes b alejandro ingelmo alexandre birman ali ro alternative apparel american eagle amrita singh ann taylor anthropologie apple aqua armani exchange articles of society asos award bag balenciaga banana republic barbour bath and body works bcbg bcbgirls beauty bebe bensoni biltmore for madewell blank nyc blog every day bloggers do it better bois du boulogne bp. brian nagourney burberry by malene birger c. wonder c/meo collective canada goose cara accessories carlos by carlos santana carolina bucci cartonnier caslon casual cb2 celebrities celine chanel chantecaille chelsea28 chicwish china glaze chloe christian louboutin citrus clothing clu too club monaco coach coffee shop cole haan collection collection 18 color brigade columbia crate & barrel crewcuts cuyana cynthia rowley david yurman dc deborah lippmann decor delman disney couture diy dogeared dressy dsquared2 ebay elizabeth and james elleme equipment esprit etsy everlane express featured fendi forever 21 frank & eileen free people gap gara danielle gibson giles & brother giveaway gorjana goyard grace gift gucci h&m halogen halogen x atlantic-pacific halston heritage haul hearth & hand heirloom finds hollister how to hue hunter ikea ilnp in real life inspired by iris & ink isabel marant ivanka trump j.crew jennifer chamandi jenny yuen jewelry jimmy choo john hardy jones new york joules julie vos kate spade kristin coffin l'oreal lanvin lanvin x h&m lesportsac levi's loeffler randall loft longchamp look for less looks like summer lord & taylor lou & grey love 21 lucy m.gemi mac macy's madewell maje make make up for ever manolo blahnik marc jacobs mary katrantzou massimo dutti maybelline mercedes-benz merona michael michael kors misc miu miu mlb modcloth mossimo moulinette soeurs msgm mvmt nadri new balance new balance for j.crew nike nina ricci nine west nordstrom north face nyc nyc new york color nyx old navy olivia burton opi oscar de la renta pfc pierrepont hicks piperlime plastic island pleione polene polo prabal gurung at j.crew proenza schouler ralph lauren ramblings raphaella booz reader mail rebecca minkoff red valentino reed wilson design review revlon river island robert rodriguez ross-simons rsvp saint james saint laurent sales sally hansen sam edelman schutz shashi shinhwa shoes shopbop shopping shopstyle simply vera vera wang sinful colors professional soia & kyo sole society sony sorel sorel for j.crew sperry sponsor spotted moth stella mccartney stephanie b strathberry stuart weitzman style file superdry t3 tadashi shoji tagged talbots target the container store the horse the limited theory tips & tricks too faced topshop tory burch tous colors toys travels ugg uniqlo uniqueen unknown valentino veque for j.crew vera bradley via spiga victoria's secret vince vince camuto vineyard vines walmart ways to wear west elm white house black market wishlist work xhilaration xoxo yearly summary ysl zac posen for target zara zella