Reflections on Losing My Job of 20 Years

End of an era

Early in 2019 I was informed I would be losing my job of the past 20 years. That is basically my entire career. I only worked professionally in one other place for about a year before moving to this job in Rhinelander with Drs. Foster and Smith Pet Supplies. Over the years I wore many hats: started as a designer for the newly formed “Internet Department” and as things progressed, I eventually landed in a Project Manager and User Experience Manager Role.

Honestly, it was a bit of a relief when I finally was told it was over though.

I’ve been prepared to lose my job for some time – a year+ prior a large amount of the staff was let go and more left through the following year. So it felt my end would also be coming, eventually. I had been mentally thinking about it for almost two years. On top of that, I’d been dissatisfied for many years, and wanting to make a break – so it being forced on me was welcome, in a way.

But it is hard, really SO hard. Even though I’ve been fortunate enough to receive a nice severance package, and have had several months to prepare along with a career-building team brought in to help and workshops on healthcare, finances, an incredibly supportive family and more. . . It still looms. Every now and then terror and melancholy hit me.

20 years. TWENTY years. That is a whole lifetime really. That is so many friends made, people met, experiences had, lessons learned, tears shed, laughter shared, stress-induced sleepless nights, chaos, memories and so much more.

So I do want to stop for a moment – NEED to stop – and reflect on all of it, appreciate it and acknowledge the impact of this. It is no small thing.

But I am going to keep my head up, my energy positive, and be excited for what is to come – I think there are GREAT things to come for me. I’ve been provided an opportunity and I am not going to waste it. I will look back at these 20 years fondly and appreciate all they brought me to help me through the next 20 years!

Working From Home: Step One

Earlier this year I was informed I was being let go from my job of the past 20 years in a few months. Knowing this was coming, and that I am not able to move, I began looking into Remote work opportunities. We live in a rural community, so I believe working from home is my best option.

As I began honing in on a plan, updating my resume, understanding what roles are out there for Remote work, it became evident I needed a real work space. It’s all too easy to take a nap, or watch some TV when you are settled in, all comfortable on the couch with your laptop.

Occasionally, I work from home for my current job, and wind up with horrible back pain. At the office, I have been using a stand up work station for five years and I love it. It eliminated a lot of pain I was having. It also makes me feel energized and active. When I do sit, I feel very low-energy and find it difficult to concentrate.

So I finally made the plunge, and invested in a stand up desk, two new monitors, a docking station, and updated the office with a new coat of paint, rug and moved around the existing furniture so my partner and I can share the space.

I can’t wait to start using it as a dedicated working space! I’m excited now and really feel like I’m on the right path towards working from home successfully.

About Digital-Melissa: I am a veteran of all things internet, located in Rhinelander, WI. 20 years in eCommerce with everything from design to copy, social media, marketing, project management, website help & management plus more. Contact me today if you’d like to talk about how I could help your business.

PMI ACP Certification

ACP Certification – Agile Certified Professional – is a certification from PMI (Project Management Institute, the industry-standard for project management certifications) that shows you have all the knowledge you need to manage with the Agile Framework in mind. As I had been working in the Product Owner capacity (bascially the project manager) for a couple years at my job with no formal training, I decided getting official certification when I was off on my own would be important. So I did some research to see what this would involve.

In order to take the test, one must first apply for it on the PMI website, and meet a certain amount of qualifications:

1. A high school diploma, secondary degree or associate’s degree
2. 2000 hours working in a team in projects
3. Worked for 1500 hours on teams that used agile methodology
4. 21 hours in approved training on agile practices

Once you apply and fill in all the information (this is quite tedious), you then wait to see if you get accepted, or audited. Right now I am waiting to be accepted. When you do get accepted, you then pay for and schedule the test.

There are different online self-guided training courses a person can take, or live online leader-lead course, or even in-person classes. Most of them take up about two days of classes, and cost goes up depending on your choice. For me, I am trying the most low-cost option first (self-guided) to see if that is enough.

I currently have two days planned of training (to meet my 21 hour requirement, I already checked that the training I selected is approved by PMI), then I plan to study a few more days, take a couple batches of “test” exams, and then hope to take my exam a few weeks later.

The exam is a three hour, in-person or online exam with 120 multiple-choice questions, and costs $439 for members of PMI (which I am). Yikes! Wish me luck!