7 Years Later…

This month marks my 7 year anniversary with my current employer. It’s amazing how fast 7 years can fly by especially when working in an office environment where things can get a little…mundane. Unlike my friends who are teachers, there are no spring breaks, summer breaks, or winter breaks and thus we have other little milestones to get us through the year. Such as, let’s dress up for no real reason day but because Nicole wants too :-). Or is it someone’s b day so we can have a food day? :-).

We also have various rewards for meeting quarterly cash goals. As with any publically held company we measure our time in quarters. That means every 3 months of the year, we are aiming to meet some type of quarterly cash goal. If you’re in Sales, you want to sell the most by this time. If you’re in Customer Service, you want to meet that call volume marker. If you’re in Finance, like me, you want to collect as much as possible so our Balance Sheet looks good and thus the company looks good.

When I first began with the company I was very “wet behind the ears”. I was the youngest in the dept. (actually I still am due to very low turnover) and I really had no experience in the field. I landed the job by a divine set of circumstances that had nothing to do with that 4 year degree I worked for at Miami University (although it still looks good on my resume). I had such favor with the manager in my interview she actually told me “Nicole, you have that “it” factor. You can do anything you put your mind to!” Now, what interview have you ever had where the employer is telling you how valuable you are before you even work for them?! Most interviews consist of the candidate having to prove their worth. But I had already proven my worth through those divine set of circumstances.

As a 24 year old, I had never had a salary job with benefits and such. I was still under a poverty mentality, and God was going to use this position to establish a prosperity mindset in its place. Over the last 7 years I have cultivated several skills & qualities of which I am grateful for:

1. Dependability (Coming to work every day)
2. Responsibility (Being faithful over various assignments and being promoted due to that faithfulness)
3. Ambition (Achieving my MBA)
4. Time management (Creating a daily system to work through my portfolio and handle any other assignments in a timely manner)

And much more. I have grown a lot professionally these last 7 years. I have established some very important relationships. But even more importantly, I have grown spiritually. It is not always easy for me to submit to God’s will concerning my career. I am even in a place now of having several doors closed and thus continuing to wait for that open door. But I must trust that just as He has given me His provision these last 7 years and made good on His promises, He will continue that pattern for my future. I remind myself of my own testimony in this area, and find rest in the faithfulness He has already shown to me.

If you, like me, struggle with moving on to that next level in your career, I encourage you to rest in His Peace and follow His lead. He has enough grace in Himself that will be sufficient for you to walk out the path He has ordained in your life.

How have you grown in your profession? What are your future goals and dreams concerning your career? How are you working towards making those dreams come true?

This is a pic of my first Christmas with my coworkers in 2007 and my last Christmas in 2013…

 They truly are my work family…

SHALOM