Resigned

On Tuesday September the 13th 2005, I resigned from the worst job of my life. 

20 days later I started a new job as a contract technical writer at a British fintech company called Worldpay. I'd never worked in the sector before, but I could certainly write user guides, and at 40 was still just about young enough to learn.

Worldpay were an outstanding company to work for in an office of brilliant people and a friendly supportive atmosphere. This isn't just rose-tinted nostalgia either. Look at this blog post from the 15th of March 2007:

It's time to acknowledge the kindness of the team opposite.

Despite my having (officially) nothing to do with them, they constantly invite me to their lunches out, evenings out, and even their corporate fun day (today) which includes a river trip this afternoon.

I declined to join them but they still managed to sneak me into their free lunch just now.

Believe me, not everywhere is like that. 

That contact was initially for three months, and was extended several times. When it finally came to an end on Friday the 28th May 2007 I was unusually upset. I'd asked the manager at least twice if I could join the company as permanent employee, but for whatever reason(s) the answer was no. 

Fast forward to February 2013 - I'd just finished another rather unsatisfactory contract, but in January an agent had contacted me about a permanent job at an outfit based in Cambridge called Worldpay. Would I be interested...? Two tough interviews followed - tough because they were quite demanding, and also tough because I really wanted them. A very nice manager somehow remembered me from six or seven years previously and somehow I got lucky enough to get taken on again. 

The start date was Monday 4th March 2013 and amazingly, but given the culture of the company not that amazingly, I recognised several people still working there after all those years. My new boss was wonderful - a complete natural - the best boss I have ever had. The team of writers were excellent, both as colleagues and as friends. 

I stayed with the company from then until yesterday afternoon. That's nearly nine years. Nine years that included the:

• The best manager I ever had - see above - and later, and the 2nd worst

• Best training course I ever took, and by far the worst

• Best ‘out-of-office’ meeting ever. The taxi driver thought we might be drunk at 9am on the way there and the mood continued all day

• Best business trip I ever had, which featured semi-automatic pistols and a bunch of friends I’d not seen for 18 years

• Saddest day at work, when the team took the day off to attend a friend and colleague's funeral in Liverpool

• Best annual review I ever had

• Two of the most barking barking barking mad colleagues I ever worked with – they were both fired years ago, but not together

• Not one but two takeovers, which occurred less than two years apart. Those are two of several good reasons I had to leave...

The new job starts on March 1st. Let's hope the 'resting time' in between is as pleasant as the last time.