A Tale of Two Jobs

Quite a week at work, what with my boss' announcement that he is leaving to take another job, at another school, in another state.  We were not caught unaware after he left the confirmation page of a fax to have his transcripts sent to another HR department.  After he took an unexpected day off, telling one of the cashiers who he used as a reference (!) that it was for a second interview.  After years of him saying he had no intention of staying here beyond five years.  Still we dutifully expressed surprise at his announcement during Wednesday morning staff which is always a stretch for me, who is known for having absolutely no poker face whatsoever.

I had expected it and spent some time pondering my own situation and what my next step would be.  Given enough time to ponder, I can turn most any scenario into a path towards destruction.  In this case, I decided that the former Bursar, now employed at the technical school, would be desperate to return to her roots and become (GASP!) my new boss.  I also decided that I would be unable to remain in my current position if she became my superior, given the weeks and months I spent cleaning up the accounting mess she made at that school and that fact that I still have to monitor her work.  I don't know where I planned to go, but I knew I couldn't stay.

In reality, I was approached to fill my boss' position by his boss, the Director of Finance.  He asked if I was interested (I was) and said he would like to see if HR would give clearance to just promote me in order to avoid the time and expense of a search.  I was blown away, because that scenario just never happens.  Today he told me he spoke with HR and they said although we must post the position, we can limit it to internal only, and he hopes it will be for as short a period as they will allow so we can move on to filling my current position.  I guess that means I will have to apply but the pool of applicants will be very small. Maybe just me.  And possibly the former Bursar now employed by the technical school -- ha!

For the past two days I have been alternating between glass half empty and half full, worrying about the prospect of learning another new job (at my age) and feeling like I may have a lot to offer.  Last night R had to rub the stress out of my feet and keep my spirits buoyed.  Today I felt better and decided I'll have to accept the fact I'll be a little up and down with it for a while.  I told the Director I was both excited and scared and he told me that if he didn't have 100 percent confidence in my ability to do the job, he would never have asked me outright but would have simply posted the position and allowed me to apply like everyone else.  Wow.  Really, that's saying something.

So now we just have to hang in there and see how it goes.  Keep you posted.