What am I Doing?

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Then & Now: My Career

Dear Diary,

This entry is on the self-serving side, but I think it makes for a good story.

I've been working in the mortgage industry for close to 10 years now.  I have seen a lot of bankruptcies, down-sizing, failures and successes.  But few things will compare to the moment I experienced about a week ago.

THEN

I got my first job after replying to a job flyer I saw posted at Cal State Long Beach.  I was a telemarketer making cold calls to prospective borrowers and I also did some data entry work.  I knew where my place on the food chain was (on the bottom) and I was fine with that because this was a part-time job while I was finishing my degree.

Fast-forward the "Memory TiVo"... and two years later I have managed to squeak up a few notches on the food chain.  I am now a Mini Analyst (in college), which I classify as one notch below a Junior Analyst (out of college).  I don't remember specifically the work I did, but I do remember working for a group of loan officers, one of which, liked to let me know where my place on the food chain was.

NOW (8 years later)

I'm married, I have 3 kids and I am a Senior Portfolio Analyst, which is a big improvement from Mini Analyst, single and living with Mom & Dad.

[Special shout out to K.C., W.L. and the 11th Floor-ee crew for growing me up in this business.]

When I started this new job I was surprised to find out that I was going to be getting an office after my department moved to a new location.  After moving in, the facilities team was stopping by daily to help us get settled into the new location.  I needed a floor mat for my chair, guess who delivered it?

The loan officer from THEN that liked to tell me where my place on the food chain was!  I was shocked (and secretly ecstatic).  There he was, still wearin' the bling, but with work gloves on and delivering my floor mat.  It was a great feeling too because he recognized me and we chatted for a few minutes.

After we were done talking he picked up my trash and walked out of my office.

THEN - NOW = SWEET, SWEET JUSTICE

Tags: good story, college, analyst
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1 comment:

Aaron & Sara Warren said...

I don't know whether I have good stories or not, but I certainly have plenty of stories and I've often wondered about the people that seem so fascinated with my stories and why they don't have their own fascinating stories - I suppose the Dilbert article is right - maybe they don't know they're stories or know how to organize the memory. Interesting. BTW - That is such sweet justive! I love it!