downshift

I recently had to make a difficult decision.  Well, in the case of my sanity, it was a pretty easy decision, but emotionally and financially, it was a little more difficult.

If you've been along for the ride with Backside of Forty since... well, since just after I turned forty... you'll know that life came a bit unglued around about that time.  In 2008, after experiencing the joys of the adoption of a daughter (#3) and the birth of a surprise son (#4), the economy decided to take the American housing market (in which I was happily and gainfully employed) and flush it down the toilet... for a historically unprecedented long time.

What does a guy who has an unusable Master's Degree and seven years experience in an unrelated and dead field do when that happens?  Well, initially, about anything he can. 

Drive a Peterbilt...

Sell Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram products...

And, try to figure out where to go from there.

The Peterbilt was intended to be a temporary gig, thinking that the housing market would rebound in a year, or so.  The rebound?  Didn't happen.

Because I couldn't stand being away from my family for six consecutive days a week, I turned in the keys to my truck after a pretty brief truck driving stint and took the next anything that came along... selling cars.  I used the year and a half of car sales to try to regroup and rethink my future.  I also used it as a time of research.  As part of my role as car salesman... er, automotive sales and leasing consultant... I filled out credit applications for customers who purchased cars.  So, every time I sold a car, I learned my customer's occupation, employer and annual salary.  Interesting and eye-opening. 

One summer day in 2010, I sold a Dodge Nitro to an Insurance Claims Adjuster.  That day, I decided that with my background, skills, experience and income needs, I should consider becoming a property claims adjuster for an insurance company.  I did some additional research.  I made a plan.

From that point, I began to target insurance companies within a reasonable commute of my home, and began trying to network (something introverts suck at) with anyone I possibly could in the insurance industry... which was basically my agent and my cousin, Mike... but, hey, it's a start, right?  I rebuilt my resume and began weekly perusing a folder of links to insurance company job listings.  And, I discovered that it is pretty tough to get hired as an adjuster "off the street" with no prior experience. 

After many dead ends, in the fall of 2011, I was hired by a major insurance carrier, not as an adjuster, but as an underwriter.  Foot in the door... stepping stone...

In the spring of 2013, I then interviewed for a property claims adjuster position with my employer and was selected for the job.  It came with a salary increase and much more potential for financially bettering myself in the future. 

It took over two and a half years, but I achieved my new career goal!  I was a Property Claims Adjuster for a major insurance carrier, using my architectural, sales and customer service backgrounds in a position that I was proud of.  It was the best I had felt about myself in five years.

Then...

I crashed and burned.

Now, things crashing and burning are all in a day's work for an insurance adjuster, but those are our insured's things, not the actual career of the adjuster.  And, it was not that I was a dismal failure as an adjuster.  No, I was doing pretty well, and my supervisors, mentors and coworkers were happy with my work and in many cases felt that I was performing ahead of the learning curve.  But, the role was very demanding, fast paced and stressful... very stressful. 

I can deal with some stress.  The past few years have been quite stressful, in fact.  However, being the detailed person that I am, I had difficulty keeping up with the large volume of claims that came across my desk, and I just could not leave the stress at work.  For some reason, the nature of the job caused me to carry the stress with me everywhere I went... many nights depriving me of hours of needed sleep.

It was not just me.  The whole office seemed to be redlining on stress, but somehow juggling it and managing it... evidently slightly better than me.

After a number of discussions with my supervisor, I decided that, although common sense said that time would bring improved performance in my role as an adjuster, I could not see myself being able to handle the high stress levels long-term.  Though she felt that I definitely had the skills necessary to succeed as an adjuster, my supervisor confirmed that I would not be the first to aspire to this role, only to decide that it was not the right fit. 

This spring, underwriting positions opened up and I made the decision to apply.  I interviewed and was offered a position very similar to my previous one.  In early April, after just short of a year as a Property Claims Adjuster, I downshifted and stepped back into my previous department. 

Though they welcomed me back with open arms, and though I know of a number of underwriters who, like me, briefly detoured into the land of claims, it does not make it any less disappointing.  I am proud of achieving my goal to obtain the position, and I am proud of the work I did while in the position.  But, I have to admit that I am disappointed that it did not work out for me.  While underwriting is a noble career, it just does not have quite the amount of opportunity that exists in the claims department. 

Sometimes, though, you have to downshift.  Now, it is on to Underwriter... the sequel.

scary cool

I started a new job this past September in the Underwriting Department of one of our nation's major insurance companies.  It's a new experience for me to be working for a larger company, but I'm settling into the "cuberhood", and striving to excel in my new position.

My company is pretty proactive with various health initiatives throughout the year.  Whatever they are doing must be working.  My health insurance benefits commenced immediately, so I began paying my contribution toward the premium in September.  October was our open enrollment period, so I had to re-select my coverage options, even though I had just made the selections a month before.  Guess what... the premium decreased!  Decreased!  Yes, that's right, it got cheaper!  What the heck...

So, proactive health initiatives look pretty good to me... sign me up!

One of the initiatives is Destination: You, in partnership with GobalFit.  It involves a step tracker that attaches to your shoelaces and records the date, time and number of your steps throughout the day. For incentives to get out and move, my company has established goals, contests and prizes centered around the step tracking program.  Since walking and hiking are among my favorite activities, this is right up my alley!  I signed up and my tracker was delivered to my cubicle last week.

It's a pretty cool setup.  There is a data access point at the entrance of my building.  Every time I walk past this access point, wearing my tracker, the data stored in the tracker is automatically transmitted and downloaded to my account on the GlobalFit website.  I can log on at any time and see my activity and compare it against the average of the company participants.  It's all automated... all I need to do is walk.

Cool... but, scary at the same time!  I find myself wondering how else this technology could be used?  Am I the only one that thinks this way?  With all the technology that we carry around these days, what information about us does it contain, and who could potentially download our information "automatically"?

I'm pretty sure my step tracker is harmless fun... and I am having fun with it.  The main company goal is 2,000,000 steps from July 11, 2011 to July 11, 2012.  Since I was hired in September and got my tracker in January, I'm just a little behind... OK, I'm half a year behind.  So, my personal challenge is to see how close I can get to the goal in just half the time. (I DO like to walk!)

employment update

After many months of unemployment (and a nightmarish 6 month stint of training and working as an over-the-road trucker), I have been employed for the past 2 months in the sales department at a prominent Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealer in my area.

It's not my dream job. I'm an introvert. It's a little out of my comfort zone. But, sometimes that's not all bad.

It's too soon to say how this opportunity will work out. I am giving it my all, trying to learn quickly, and getting good feedback from my managers and peers. The proof, however, is in the paycheck. It is a 100% commission position. I am told that it has good income potential, and I am off to a respectable start. The concern is whether or not I can grow my customer base quickly enough to solely support my family of six. Striving toward that goal!

I know car salesmen do not have the best of reputations... and many times for good reason. Fortunately, my dealership does not wish to hire stereotypical car sales personnel and we are often told that our approach is refreshing after customers visit some of our competition. Good for me... I don't think I could work at some of those other dealerships.

The hours aren't great. Some co-workers complain about them. I have an advantage here, though... I was an over-the-road trucker. Car sales hours aren't so bad when you've spent weeks away from your family and lived in the cab of a truck!

career choice

Zachary informed us, the other day, that when he grows up he wants to join the circus and be a clown! While Zachary is the one of my four children that I could see pulling that off, it's not exactly the path I would choose for him. But, then again, I don't WANT to choose for him.

What I do hope, though, is to help my children explore many career paths, and choose one that they feel well suited for, possibly even a calling toward. What matters to me is not that they choose a path of prestige, or wealth; but that they choose a path that fulfills what God created them to be. As long as they choose a reputable career that meets their family's needs, and they pursue that career with diligence and honor, I plan to be proud of them.

When Dylan was about three, he was obsessed with heavy equipment. His somewhat limited vocabulary included words like, "bulldozer, backhoe, and excavator". He would often say that he wanted to drive a bulldozer when he grew up. At some point, an individual informed this aspiring three year-old bulldozer operator that he should go to college. Having two degrees that I was not using, I defended his choice and affirmed that I would only push him to be the best bulldozer driver he could be. (I also told him he needed to find a way to let me drive the dozer once in a while.) He pondered this and decided that he would own his own "scruction company" and give me a job. His interest in construction has since waned, but the point is, that he was not concerned with wealth or fame, but knew what he loved.

This is one of the life lessons that I have learned the hard way... or, perhaps, I am still learning. I joke that I am still not sure what I want to do when I grow up, but it really is not that funny. I don't deny that my career choices have been pretty misguided, which is one of the main reasons I am currently having such a difficult time marketing myself to potential employers. I don't necessarily fault anyone for this. My parents wanted me to go to college, because they did not have that opportunity, but never pressured me. They did encourage me to explore options, even those not requiring college. I did feel pressure, though. I graduated in the top ten percent of my high school class, and many just assumed that I would go to college and do great things. It was almost as if I felt pressured, by society, that not going to college was to waste good intelligence. In fact, though, there are many professions that do not necessarily require a college education, that are not a "waste" of good intelligence. I recently visited a technical school, at which I applied for a position, and it struck me that I probably would have been much happier and much more successful if I had received a two year degree from that or a similar institute, than I have been with the six years of Bachelor's/Master's degrees that are doing little more than decorating my bedroom wall. If only I knew then what I'm realizing now...

A classic example of a good choice is my best high school friend. He, too, was, and is, very intelligent. But, he decided that he was meant to work with is hands and college was not the route he chose. After high school, he pursued an apprenticeship as a bricklayer, and has since worked his whole adult life in that profession. He is very good at what he does, takes great pride in his work, lives in a brick home that he personally built, an has made a good living from his chosen profession. Could he have been a doctor? A lawyer? Any number of other professions that we commonly think of as having great prestige? Absolutely. Did he waste his intelligence? Absolutely not!

So you want to be a clown, Zachary? While I think you're just "clowning" around, I do hope you will grow to know yourself and the God who created you, and that you will study your options fully and carefully. Then, go be the best you can be at whatever you choose to give your life to... even if it is the circus!