Facing a Career Crossroads
The information came pretty much out of the blue: my company informed me that they were moving my position to their headquarters in Florida. They wanted to know if I was going to move with it.
And oh, by the way, I had twenty-four hours to decide.
The news stunned the heck out of me-- I didn't see it coming. There I was, humming along in my new position that was given to me just a few months ago. I was a Sales Manager covering two states when my company asked me to take over nationwide coverage for our Voice Carry Over (VCO) customers. I jumped into that, loving every minute of connecting with new customers from all over and showing them new ways that they could use our company's videophones to make phone calls. I spent hours connecting and finding new customers via the internet using social media tools. Slowly but surely, our customer base was growing with this segment. I was happy--I was in my niche, doing exactly what I loved to do.
I have only been in the corporate world a short time--two years as a contractor with a competitor and almost a year with my current company. I went back to work full-time in January, after being home with my kids for sixteen years. Over the years while raising my kids, I worked part-time in early intervention, ran a non-profit organization and taught classes at a local college.
To say that I was naive about the fast-paced corporate world is an understatement. So when the news hit me, it hit like a ton of bricks. I was torn. Here, I had a job that I really loved, doing something that I was totally passionate about and I wanted to continue that no matter what--and that meant moving to Florida. On the other hand, there were kids to consider and a husband with a good job of his own. The kids, of course, voiced their objection to having their lives yanked up and transplanted. The hubby was wavering back and forth-- on one hand he relished the idea of sunshine and warmth all year around. On the other hand, jobs were scarce all over and there would be no guarantee he could find something in Florida. To top it off, the value on our house had plummented and there was the question of being able to sell it and afford the move.
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