First week of work

laelene Post in general blog，Tags: experiences, food, jobs, pictures, work

13 September 2013

Happy Friday the 13th. 😉

Woo hoo! My very first weekend since starting work is upon me and boy am I pooped! Between adjusting to a new schedule, learning A TON, and trying to get the hang of things, I have been worn out at the end of each day this week. When I got home, I barely had enough energy to blog and crash. I think I forgot to have dinner one night, but it’s all fuzzy now. As always, I think I’m picking things up ok but gosh I wish I could be a natural at it and rock it like none other. I get a little impatient with myself sometimes when I feel like I’m “at par” because it just doesn’t feel good enough. I’ll be glad to recharge over the weekend and pick up again on Monday with a fresh approach. Let me share some random moments from this week!

Monday

cup of dunkin donuts iced tea drink with box of three chick-fil-a chick-n-minis breakfast sandwiches

I started my first day off right with a free breakfast!!

panera bread you pick two combination meal with chicken noodle soup and soba noodle salad topped with shrimp and spinach plus french bread on the side

I spent all day training with my manager and then we got lunch together. I tried the new soba noodle salad at Panera and I’ve found a new fav!

view outside office window of street filled with cars and buildings in background with sun obscured by clouds

Looking outside our office you can see parts of the Reston Town Center.

light wood desk with laptop, wooden framed picture, purple purse, black bag, and chococat mug

I’m trying to keep my desk space simple with just my bag, purse, mug, laptop, and framed picture. I’ve since added some snacks and acquired a phone headset.

first day of work care package items with picture in frame, bottle of coke, bag of chocolates, tube of lotion, twenty dollar bill, pen, note, insurance info, band-aids, and bag of chips

Panda was so sweet to pack me a care package. I knew there were snacks but throughout the day I discovered the note and money, then later on the picture frame, and finally the band-aids right before I left for the day!

bright colorful sunset with clouds in sky and trees to side

At the end of the day, I drove off into a beautiful sunset.

Tuesday

yellow and black slow down geese crossing sign stuck in grass by side of road

My second day, I took a different route and came across this sign warning us drivers of a geese crossing. Please disregard my dusty windshield.

giant hangover turkey burger from be right burger

One of the few girls in the office invited me to lunch and I had this fabulous turkey burger with fried egg and bacon, among other things. It lasted me two other meals as well!

I spent much of the morning training again and learning more about what I’ll need to do. By the afternoon, they let me loose on some of the research so I began digging away. We took a break as a company at one point so the CEO could share some awesome news with us – that we’d landed a very large and important account!

Wednesday

noodles and co pasta rosa with penne, spinach, mushrooms, and cheese in spicy tomato sauce

On Wednesday, I asked the trio in the room next to mine to come out to lunch and my manager made it too. I got the pasta rosa at Noodles & Co and I’ve definitely found a winner for future visits.

I had training with another manager for a couple of hours and continued to do research as I touched base with my manager to learn the ins and outs of my role. I got a company t-shirt just in time for the picture we took to thank the new account we celebrated yesterday. Fun times!

building being contructed lit up at night

When I left that night, I was surprised that the building next door had so many lights on.

Thursday

Gosh, I spent nearly the entire day working on getting my first batch of research compiled so I completely forgot to take any pictures. It was 2:30 before I realized I wasn’t really feeling hungry but boy was I getting tired. I spoke to Panda briefly, wondering if I should even bother to get lunch at that point and he encouraged me to do so. I checked in with the folks next door again and the two who were there were such sports that they happily accompanied me out. I decided to repeat my Panera meal and I gobbled it up without realizing I was hungry. I guess tired and hungry are hard to tell apart sometimes. A few times I thought it was Friday already, yikes!

Good news came again as another fantastic account closed a deal with us, so the CEO pulled us all together to share the details and congratulate the efforts of the lead and team.

Friday

The day started off with free bagels the CEO brought in! I helped myself to one, but felt kind of bad when I didn’t see others coming too. Apparently I’m the only one who doesn’t eat breakfast.

bowl of wonton soup at busara thai restaurant

Today I had a wonderful bowl of wonton soup at Busara Thai while chatting with our marketing guy.

green curry chicken dish with bowl of jasmine rice at busara thai restaurant

I tried something different and got green curry chicken, yum.

My morning kicked off slowly when we got me set up with a phone number and headset. Since they’re transitioning to a new system, and I’m one of the first, it took some time to figure out what we needed to do. Lunch ran a bit long so I came back in the afternoon to a ton of work I wanted to do. I hope I did alright performance-wise. I stayed late to make sure I delivered decent results, but was it great? I’m learning what types of lunches are long so I know when to refuse them in the future so I can work through busier times.