A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum

Eleven months ago I started working at Vision Critical, on a six month contract. When that expired, I got another six month extension. As the end of that contract came near (meaning now, in case you’re having trouble following along at home) I started to dust off the ol’ portfolio, update the ol’ resume, and start up the ol’ networking in order to land myself a new gig. Well, this past Friday I was quite suddenly given permanent full-time employment status at VC, given a raise, and some company share options, effective immediately. Obviously the look-for-work duties have stopped.

I’ve come to realize a couple of things over the last two or three weeks. First, had my job at VC ended and I’d moved to something else, that would have put me at four different companies in the last four years; not really a career I can be proud of. Related to that is the realization that I should find more reasons to enjoy the job I’ve got rather than looking for greener grass on the other side of the fence, because that attitude is probably why I quit two of the last three jobs I’ve had. And almost every time, the grass was only green for about half a year before I started thinking it would be different somewhere else. History has shown me that, for the most part, the things that irk me about my line of work are not different anywhere else. I’ll still complain about outside influence and subjective opinion no matter where I am, because it’s inherent in graphic design. So essentially I’ve told myself to buck up and start looking for positives in my current situation rather than daydreaming about what’s essentially the Holy Grail (psst - it doesn’t exist). Besides, the job I have now is actually pretty decent compared to some of the previous places.

History’s also taught me that employment can’t be taken for granted either, though, so having an up to date resume and portfolio is still a good idea.

Speaking of history, work, and the Holy Grail, please enjoy this clip of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.