Exciting Career News

Hello to the 6 people who read my blog!  Sorry it's been almost a month since I last posted.  Been busy I guess and not much to say until now. I have a new job....or rather I will in 9 months....but I have the offer now, so it really is official!  This career move has been in the works for a while, but I didn't want to announce it until I got the offer.  However I have accepted an offer letter for a job as a Program Manager with ACS, a Xerox Company starting next June.  I am actually "transitioning" from HP to ACS/Xerox (eventually the ACS name will go away and it will just be Xerox). That means I get to keep my 20 years of service, and my 5 weeks of vacation, but I'm getting a promotion and a huge raise. I am transitioning because we are in the middle of moving all of the work that HP currently does for Xerox - back to Xerox and specifically to the ACS part of Xerox.  When HP bought EDS the writing was on the wall at the Xerox account since HP and Xerox are direct competitors.  Xerox went and acquired ACS which is like a mini EDS and voila - the wheels are now in motion.  I am the Project Manager on the transition project from HP to Xerox, so I cannot move over to ACS until the last work has been transitioned. Thus I have to wait until next June to start my new job. 

Even though I have to wait 9 months, I've been doing the happy dance for a week since I found out that I would indeed be offered the role of Program Manager (PgM)  rather than a Project Manager (PM) that I am now.  The difference is that a PgM manages multiple projects, or a program with many sub-projects, or just really big projects that have a lot of executive level attention/exposure.  I'll be working my tail off, but it's an opportunity that I cannot pass up. 

My corporate career has been sort of on hold / not important / in the backseat for almost 10 years.  I thought I was going to make it big in my Backyard Soaps business and would be able to leave the corporate world - that didn't happen. Then I got married 5 years ago (anniversary in a few weeks), and having a family became the priority, then when Tarzan got the job in Chicago, I really had to keep my current job so that I could keep working at home and be able to move wherever Tarzan's job went.  The awesome news is that I'll be able to keep working at home in my new job.  With Backyard Soaps being majority owned by my business partner (although I still remain hopeful that someday my minor stake will pay off), and with kid dreams gone, I am putting my corporate career back on the priority list. Not that I want to be working 70 hours per week - no thanks.  The good news is that the team I'll be working for are all former EDSers/HPers and they believe very highly in a good work/home life balance.  I've been told the opportunities for growth are plenty, and I'm very happy about that. Of course it's still corporate American and anything can happen, but for now I've got a new job starting mid next year and I'm totally geeked about it!  Saving money will be the priority, but you can bet that I'll be driving a convertible in a couple of years!