New Jobs and No Headsets

When deciding to move from Utah to Washington, D.C., I knew there would be a chance that because of how much it costs to live here, it would be better to return to a full-time financial services position rather than trying to find a full-time photo/video related position.  I spent a month looking for an open "creative service" type role with any company in the area and either I never heard back or the pay offered was so little, it would be hardly worth the metro fee I'd have to pay to get me to the office.  It was fairly discouraging.  Rejection sucks.  Silent rejection sucks even more!  I was applying to at least 8 jobs a week, and very rarely would I even hear back a "thanks, but no thanks."  Companies must be getting so many applicants, that rejecting every one individually takes too much time.  I had one interview to work as a video editor in Alexandria, but the pay was incredibly low, and it was Republican Propaghanda.  (Although, a side note:  Editing ads to promote replubicans probably woud have been a good exercise for me personally!  Learning to edit "the other side of the argument" from my own personal views.) 

In the mean time, I was also applying to positions in the financial sector.  I didn't necessarily want to take a step back since I have worked both as an Assistant Branch Manager for a credit union, and also as a Licensed Investment Rep with Fidelity Investments.  So I was looking for anything requiring a Series 7 and/or 63 License.  For those unfamiliar with what that is, the investment/securities industry is highly regulated, and you have to pass certain tests administered by the watch dog company FINRA in order to sell/solicit/etc stocks and mutual funds and other investment products.   It's sort of like getting a driver's license though--as long as you stay working in the industry you never have to take the exams again.  And they give you a window of around 18 months or something like that if you do something like I did and leave the investment world for a while.  Lucky for me, if I could find a position with an investment firm, I would be in that window of time and wouldn't be required to retest. 

I had been talking with my friend Mark, Ex-Wells Fargo Manager Superstar/Ex-DC Resident, and I guess Ex-Utah resident too!  He told me a little about the job market in DC.  What to look for, what to avoid, etc.  He sent me a referral for a position with Wells Fargo Advisors.  It was essentially perfect for my background, and I jumped on the opportunity.  It was literally two days later that I heard from the Branch Manager requesting an interview.  I scheduled the appointment, dusted off my suit, and a week later made the trip up to Friendship Heights to meet Sin.  Yes--his name was Sin.  Interview went well, I was able to dodge the bullet of being out of the financial industry for a year well, and pleased to remind them that my 7/63 licenses were still active.

We shook hands, I left, and the following day I had an offer. 

Here's the thing.  I've always liked the stock market and how money moves in and out of the market.  It's exciting and is always changing.  I remember visiting my grandma in Palm Desert and she would have the TV set to CNBC all morning and afternoon so she could be checking how her portfolio was doing all the time.  I loved that, and wanted to do that.  I get numbers -- most of the time they make sense to me.  I thought working at Fidelity would be the pathway to doing what my grandma got to do all day, but that's not in their business model.   I can wrap up why my experience at Fidelity was less than perfect:  PHONE CENTER.  I was attached to a headset all day.  Now, I get from an operations perspective why you have to manage a phone center with such strict time policies about breaks, lunches, how long you are actually in the phone queue, etc, but this type of work environment was toxic for me.   

I swore I would never go back.  After the refreshing change that FitFlicks brought, I swore I would stay in the creative services arena forever.  So, I guess plans change, ideas evolve, and maturity tries to settle in.  I'm back in the financial sector, but this time -- I think I'm finally in the right position and the right direction.  I'm doing more with my 7/63, working closely to support three Financial Advisors and their books of business.  It is essentially taking what I loved about the credit union and what I loved about Fidelity, and merging them together while taking a few steps forward.  No headsets and no calls holding.  No red lit days! 

Ultimately, as a military spouse I have to be prepared for frequent and most likely inconvient moves and transitions.  I hope that one day I can work for myself independantly--one step towards that goal is working here with Wells Fargo Advisors.  And for the first time in a long while, I'm excited to come to work everyday.