He's Kind Of a Big Deal

Here's to taking chances...again.

Joe did it again.  He is officially the luckiest person I know (and also one of the hardest working).
Joe's adventures started in September...

Since last January, Joe has been doing technical support for Verizon.  He worked as a  regular employee for about two weeks, then moved to supervisor, then moved to trainer, then he asked to be a regular employee again because he missed the interaction with customers and his friends.  Joe loved his job.  But then in September, I would come home from work, and Joe would already be home.  "They have cut everyone's hours," he would say.  "I tried to stay as long as I could."  He could see the panic in my eyes.  We both had to work at least full time.  We still had a wedding to pay for.

So his hours were uncertain for the next few weeks.  I didn't have to remind him of our credit card statement; he already knew the dillema we were facing.  And then one night at dinner, I had what I thought to be a brilliant idea.  "What about just going in on your day off and asking your boss for more hours?  Maybe he doesn't know our situation, and if you just talk to him one-on-one, he will see you mean business."  And Joe did.

The month of October, Joe had a regular schedule (thanks to his boss).  What I mean by regular schedule is that he worked full-time, but had to agree to come in whenever to pick up the hours.  His schedule was uncertain, but his paycheck wasn't, and for the time being, we could both accept that.

And then on one of Joe's pick-up days, he was approached with what we both now see as a life-changing opportunity.  His boss (the one that gave Joe a full schedule) approached Joe and asked him if instead of working for a project, he would like to work for the company itself in global technical support.  "Am I guaranteed forty hours?"  Joe asked.  The answer was yes.

Joe was selected along with two managers from the Verizon project to "try out" for the position of global technical support.  In this job, Joe was required to fix all the technical problems that impacted the 1,000 Teleperformance buildings in the world.  This department did everything from forgotten passwords, to servers are down, to an outside source that threatens security.  And they do it all from endlessly watching ten television screens and working simultaneously on two computers.  The major technical support offices are in Salt Lake City and India.

The perks of this job were endless: his own office, working 9-5 Mon-Fri, free drinks, and he gets paid to do something he thoroughly enjoys.  But there were some drawbacks: He was only "trying out" for the job, he was trying out along with two of his very good friends, and the interview process was rigorous.

Not only did he have to take multiple tests on the technical side of things, but he also had to take listening tests, leadership tests, and even tests where he would have to translate a random language into English.  Each day he went to work, he didn't know what they would have in store for him.

Three weeks into the "try out," Joe was asked if he wanted to apply to become the manager of Tier 2.  Tier 2 are those employees who deal with the bigger issues such as broken servers and building threats.  Tier 2 is as high as it goes.  This would mean Joe would be the third guy in the entire world in charge.  The main guy splits his time working in Salt Lake and India, the second guy works in India, and Joe, if hired, would be based in Salt Lake.

His interview lasted three weeks.  He had to be interviewed by every major building in the company including: Salt Lake, New York, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and his sister-city, India.  His tests were more rigorous, but the training and knowledge he acquired along the way was priceless.  The drawback was is that Joe was the "new guy" and he was competing with professionals who had been in this world for years.

It started out with four applying for the job, and then the company narrowed it down to just two: Joe and another guy who was based in Salt Lake.

I would often ask the loaded question, "When do you think they will make a decision?"  Not only did we want to know if he got the manager job, but we just wanted to know if he was going to be in that department permanently because his former Verizon project was dissolved.  "I just don't know what is going to happen,"  Joe would reply.  I could see all of the wheels turning in his head, and they just didn't stop.

On December 16, Joe was told to, "arrive early, we have an announcement to make."  A manager from the UK was supposed to be flying in to meet with Joe, but due to weather, Monday came and went, and no announcement was made.  On Tuesday, Joe was called in to "the big office" and was officially offered the job, not only in the department, but as the manager.  Nearly seven weeks later, Joe found out that he was officially the luckiest guy in the world.  He is now Man #3.  His official title is Tier 2 Global Technical Support Manager.

It only has been about five days, but things have changed a lot.  Joe has to set up a home office, so there is a lot of configuring as to where this home office will be located in our pocket-sized home.  He has two other offices in Salt Lake, one in the Teleperformance building, and one in an undisclosed location (of course, I ask the most questions about this location).  The main boss, now comfortable with the decision, is heading to India early, so that means it's Joe and only Joe in North America for right now.

Joe now has multiple telephones and computers where some travel with him at all times and others remain stationary.  He has an expense account where he just "buy all the things you need to make your transition smoother."  Of course, we could only find one thing he needs: a $29.99 laptop bag!  Yes, we are frugal!  Joe is permanently on call and his hours are all over the place.  He was also told to not dress up and wear a tie.  He is to "blend in" at all times.  The person training him is Man #2 in India, and they have become really good friends in the process.  I told Joe I've never been to India before, and my passport is up-to-date (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).  Joe even told my mom that, "who knows, maybe your daughter will be able to retire early." 

As for his two friends who he originally applied with, one was hired permanently for Tier 1, and the other one is a temp worker, with hopes to be full-time at the beginning of the year.

I asked Joe, "does this mean you're like kind of a big deal now?"  "I don't know," he grumbled.  I'll take that as a yes. Congratulations, Joe!

He's kind of a big deal now.