Desk job…oh how I miss you!  It has been six months since I left my job as COO for a successful software development firm.  Why you ask?  Let’s just say it is a long story that results in 90% of my workforce leaving, including myself and our CEO!

I knew leaving was a big risk but one necessary if I wanted the professional reputation that I have built for myself to remain intact.  What I didn’t realize was how hard unemployment would hit Florida’s capital city.

To give you a little idea of what has been going on in Tallahassee let me discuss Big Bend SHRM.  2008 was a big growth year for us.  As of December 31, 2008 our membership totaled 247 people, an increase of 79% over the previous year.  For the first time in our Chapter’s history we had reached 200 members.  With the economic crisis taking its toll we planned to see our numbers drop in 2009, which we have.   We knew that companies would begin reworking budgets and cutting expenses.  What we found was that a majority of our members who did not renew moved out of the area (most out of Florida all together) because they or their significant other was laid off.

With that said, the past six months have been rough.  Not too many human resource jobs in the City of Tallahassee.  Not giving up on the job hunt I quickly realized I had to expand my search, which is now covering most of Florida as well as Cincinnati, Boston and Atlanta.  I am optimistic that I will find something soon.

Now for the craziness that is my life.  At the end of May I made a drastic decision after crunching my budget and moved all of my things out of my apartment and into a storage bin.  A few days later I packed up my Civic with clothes and my dog Scout and embarked on the long voyage up to upstate NY.  I made it in 20 hours and an overnight in Harrisonburg, VA.  The following day my nephew Weslee was born to my sister – 9 lbs 4 oz, one big boy!  As my sister gets everything situated at home I am taking her place working for the family business – a discount wines and liquors emporium. 

My life for the past few weeks has been nothing but lifting boxes, restocking shelves, pricing, organizing and dreaded customer service.   I am completely and utterly exhausted.  My feet hurt, my back aches and I sneeze constantly from dust.  I went to business school so I didn’t have to do manual labor like most of my family!  Manual labor is NOT for me!

Of course I am exaggerating about how much I loathe manual labor (or am I?).  It is a blessing to be able to come back to NY and spend time with my family every day – especially my niece and nephew.  What I do realize from this experience is how much I miss sitting behind a desk processing forms and dealing with employee’s problems.  You may think I’m crazy but I did go to college to study human resources and it is actually what I am practicing.  The moral of my story:  don’t take your desk job for granted!