Thursday, November 16, 2006
The word is out
I gave notice at work today. I'm both sad and relieved at the same time. It's good to have the news out--it's been wearing on me, especially the past couple of weeks. Last week was filled with a bunch of team meetings, author conference calls, and the like--all of which made me more and more conflicted about my plans to leave. Or rather, about my not yet disclosing my plans to leave. I told a friend last week: "I'm tired of living a double life!"
Last week, one author specifically asked for me to work on his book, other authors were uneasy and asking for reassurance about transitions on our team/with the company as a whole, my new editor mentioned a couple times how grateful he is to have my help...and I felt increasingly guilty about leaving people in the lurch.
Our editorial team has been short-handed since July. Right now, the team consists of a new editor (as of October), a new editorial assistant (as of August), and me (who's been on the team for three years). There's also an open position which is under a hiring freeze until January. Hey, at least I'm staying till mid-December...
I was going to wait until after Thanksgiving to give notice (three weeks felt reasonable), but after last week, and an incident of the news being "leaked" to yet another coworker at a party over the weekend (Rebecca is SO Typhoid Mary), I came into work this week with the feeling that it was time. I told my manager and my team today, and they were all sad about me leaving, but really supportive. I knew it would be fine, and it was, I was just dreading doing it. But it's done. All out in the open, and I can move on and do what I need to do before I leave without all this inner conflict.
I know that many of my coworkers (especially the former ones) have been quite dissatisfied with the company in recent months, but I've really enjoyed my job, my team, my coworkers, and my authors over the past three years. It's bittersweet for me to be leaving. I really am gonna miss the Wad, as we so affectionately called it in days of yore. It's what brought me to the Bay area, and I wouldn't trade my time here for anything.
Last week, one author specifically asked for me to work on his book, other authors were uneasy and asking for reassurance about transitions on our team/with the company as a whole, my new editor mentioned a couple times how grateful he is to have my help...and I felt increasingly guilty about leaving people in the lurch.
Our editorial team has been short-handed since July. Right now, the team consists of a new editor (as of October), a new editorial assistant (as of August), and me (who's been on the team for three years). There's also an open position which is under a hiring freeze until January. Hey, at least I'm staying till mid-December...
I was going to wait until after Thanksgiving to give notice (three weeks felt reasonable), but after last week, and an incident of the news being "leaked" to yet another coworker at a party over the weekend (Rebecca is SO Typhoid Mary), I came into work this week with the feeling that it was time. I told my manager and my team today, and they were all sad about me leaving, but really supportive. I knew it would be fine, and it was, I was just dreading doing it. But it's done. All out in the open, and I can move on and do what I need to do before I leave without all this inner conflict.
I know that many of my coworkers (especially the former ones) have been quite dissatisfied with the company in recent months, but I've really enjoyed my job, my team, my coworkers, and my authors over the past three years. It's bittersweet for me to be leaving. I really am gonna miss the Wad, as we so affectionately called it in days of yore. It's what brought me to the Bay area, and I wouldn't trade my time here for anything.
Labels: editorial
| posted by Barbara | 3:27 AM