Stasis

Not a great deal happening ‘at the crossroads’. The meeting with my boss last week went OK. She indicated that a secondment to New York *is* a viable option and I think she was reading between the lines – which is that I’ll leave if the status quo remains – because I need change. She wasn’t keen on a 12 month secondment but wants me to settle for 6-9 months. The upside is she said I could come back to the UK, do another stint in London, then go out again – perhaps to Sydney or Hong Kong. All of this is subject to director approval which is by no means a given at all. She’s meeting the UK MD on Friday so I guess I’ll know more next week when I meet her again.

The interview at the other company went OK. I was more nervous than I was expecting to be. It’s more than two years since I last had a job interview. But it went fine. Two women, one of whom holds the Global role, who I would report into. I’m daunted by the role I would have because it’s big. Leading Europe (for my function), though based in London. Annual meetings in New York (which is the global HQ), extensive meetings and time spent at the European offices, principally Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam and Munich and there are another nine or so offices in Europe in addition to those. I started a bit nervously but was on good form about 15 mins in and the meeting lasted 1.5 hours. We laughed, joked, nodded with recognition at one another’s war stories. I noticed they were quite active in using “you would” rather than “the successful candidate would.” A small thing but it struck me at the time.

So we’ll see. In my current job I’ve been so up and down, constantly yo-yo’ing between thinking how lucky I am because I love the people, the role and package are good, the job is what I make it, etc. But the other part of me – the part that craves change and new experiences – knows that 2.5 years in I need change. So if change is assured and New York (and later Sydney) become viable options – part of me thinks it would be crazy to leave.

The role at the other firm is bigger – a lot bigger with a package reflecting that. I’ve never been motivated by money so I’m not sure. It’s a platinum brand but I have doubts about my own ability – do they just like me because I interview well – do I actually have the gravitas to do what they’re calling a Director (?!) role, aged 34. It feels like a jump two moves upward. I am my own toughest critic which doesn’t help, something that colleagues have told me even in my current role.

I’ve still not had feedback on the external job interview as I’ve been playing telephone tag. But the second message left for me today did say they want to discuss “the forward timetable” which is a fairly strong signal that I’ve passed ‘stage one’ and they want to progress.