Another Transition Story: From Public to Private Industry
As a follow-up to yesterday’s article where I talked about transitioning from eDirectory to Active Directory, today’s artcile is about adjusting to the new style of organization I work for.
As you probably know already, I recently left my position with a government organization to re-join the ranks of the private sector. In a previous article title “I need a new challenge” I talked about why I was unhappy in my former position. You can consider this as a follow-up to that artcile as well.
Transitioning to a new employer is not always easy or fun but if done right can be a very rewarding experience. This happens to be the case with me with the added benefit of fun being part of it too. My new job is with a private company based in New York but I work in the Canadian office which also happens to be the support center for this organization.
Some of the problems I had with my old position were the red tape, lack of montivation, and un-willingness of management to move forward (on almost everything). Other factors included lack of comminucation, disfunctional teams and so much segragation of duties that no one knew what anyone else was doing.
My new job has been much different. My new manager is very helpful, knowledgeable, and hard working. Which is a complete change from past management. I’ve already been registered for a training course in Toronto that costs more than all the training I received with government over the entire five years I was there.
The biggest improvement is that I now feel like I’m part of a team. I must point out that my team size went from nine in my old job to only three (that I work with directly with but it’s essentially bigger because of other groups we work with very closely) where I am now. Regardless of the size it’s nice to finally be able to ask questions without being shut down. I’m also able to make decisions and not have to worry all the time that I’m doing things the wrong way. My peers and superiors appear to appreciate my knowledge and education enough to trust me to do things right. This is a HUGE plus over my last job where I was always second guessed and nothing was ever done right because certain people looked down on me because of my “Help Desk” position.
Finally, one of the things that impresses me the most about my new job is the passion that everyone has about their work. When things break we not only fix them but we spend the time to understand what caused it and how to prevent similar problems in the future. In my last job we just fixed things and didn’t spend the required time to learn why it broke in the first place. This shows that my new co-workers have much more pride in their work than my last ones did.
Not everything is a peachy as it sounds. There’s always the worry about the economy and what will happen to the company but this is an acceptable risk to take when the rest is so much of an improvement over the last.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
I dont know if you will get this comment as your article was written in 09 but I came across it and felt compelled to respond. This is EXACTLY WORD FOR WORD what I am experiencing at this point. Not the new job part yet but I hope to speak of the experience as you do in the very near future. I have been seeking to make a transition into the private sector from government for exactly the reasons you described in your post. I have been looking for at least a yr now but search has yielded little results. I feel that human services/government background is making it difficult for employers to see how or where I could fit in the private sector 
I was wondering if you have any advice for someone like me looking to move into a new field like you have…I aspire to one day soon work in an environment like the one you describe you work in now 
I totally understand where you’re coming from. I was working in the private sector where I found myself the “third man” in a dysfunctional IT department, we were three individuals but not a team by any regards. I parted company back in October last year and though I’m unemployed and in severe financial hardship I’m all the happier for leaving. But with the current economic climate being what it is people will be under more pressure to stay in jobs where they are unhappy and undervalued just to keep paying the bills. I’m glad you found something that seems to be working for you.