With the first week of January came knowledge that I could no longer continue working with my large public company team. This meant that my Busy Season would look nothing like last year and I had no idea what to anticipate. The need to switch companies became apparent as well with my future happiness and success hanging in the balance. A fresh start was necessary and I picked up my job hunt with a brand new sense of urgency and vigor.
With the second week of January came a brand new challenge which would test my commitment to my current employer versus potential future employers. I was placed in the "In-Charge" position of my very first audit. As this audit was a subsidiary reporting to another branch of our company who is auditing the parent company, this role and responsibility is within my capabilities, but it would stretch me and force me to take ownership of the entire process.
Up until this point, I had been operating in a strictly "Do as you're told" world. In my new job, there was no one telling me what to do and in several cases there was no prior year documentation to leverage or the prior year documentation was insufficient. I had managed an "Agreed Upon Procedures" engagement before, but an audit is an entirely different beast. I called upon my Dad for some advice because the size of the responsibility was paralyzing and I didn't know where to begin. The best advice was to simply get organized and make a rough timeline for myself. I started by listing out all the areas to test and what procedures would be appropriate. From there I could see what I needed to discuss with my manager, what I could work on myself, and what could wait for a later date. This list was my map and guide for the next 5 weeks.
At the same time, I was corresponding with three different companies who wanted to interview me. The fact that I was the sole individual working on my engagement made it easy to slip away for a few hours for three interviews which came one after the other in quick succession. After the interviews, all I could do was think over which company would be the best for my future, my advancement, and which job would make me happy.
The third week of January brought a new and unforeseen challenge. In the midst of my turmoil of managing my very first audit and corresponding with three potential employers, came a diagnosis from the doctor that was embarrassing, painful, and pulled into question my worth as a girlfriend, future wife, and potential mother. I am so blessed to have a boyfriend who loves me and assured me that nothing between us had changed and that he would still love me and plans to spend his life with me. He has been my rock through this entire ordeal. He never stopped loving me even though my entire life was flipped into turmoil. I had contemplated finding a psychologist or therapist during this time as I felt so depressed and worthless. I feared falling into a spiral of angst and unhappiness.
As God always provides, around this time a few other auditors joined the team and distracted me from my stupor and reminded me that there is a bright future still on the horizon. They probably don't know how much their presence alone kept me from losing my mind.
The following week was full of hope, disappointment, and unrecognizable joy as I heard back from the companies that I had interviewed with. One offer came through and stood out as the best option for my future, and career. This opportunity was my answer that I had been praying for and that all my friends and family had been praying for. I was overjoyed to see that this new position would offer me better pay, a larger bonus, and most importantly: a fresh start.
What followed was a mix of logistics and learning how to quit a job in the real world. I put in my 2 weeks notice and did my best to keep quiet the fact that I was leaving, but the gossip mills are always at work and many people knew that I was leaving before I told anyone. My last day with my former company was 2/20/2015 and I bid farewell to all the friends that I had made over the past couple years. I will miss them and they are the only reason I will miss my former employer.
And so begins my week of "Funemployment" before I start my new job this Friday. While this year looks entirely different than how I would've predicted, I am so excited to begin a new chapter, full of fresh faces and new challenges. I firmly believe that it's the challenges that we overcome that make us stronger and more worth while people.
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