NEW JOB!!!

I am so excited to finally get to share this great news. I got the job at Nike. So what if it’s taken almost 6 months. God had a plan. A great plan with perfect timing.

It all started in July, when I heard my company, Aquent, had gotten a call from the Director of Global Brand Recruiting at Nike. He wanted to start a relationship with Aquent in order that we might help him staff contract recruiters. Since the partnership didn’t work out, I decided to call the guy. He invited me to have coffee and we made a great connection. But he told me when we met that he was leaving his position as Director (which he had been in for 17 years) to “travel”. Even thought it sounded like bad news for me, it actually ended up opening up an opportunity. A week later I met with the woman who was soon to take over his job. 3 weeks later I came back in to meet with the woman who would take over that woman’s job. My future manager. We had an instant connection. But she did not know what was going to happen or when…

In October, I got a call from her saying that they had requested approval for a new staff employee in their department. But in mid November she let me know that the approval was indefinitely on hold, uhh. When Ozzy (my buddy and colleague for the past year at Aquent) put in his notice in November I knew that the writing was on the wall for me. 3 other people including my manager had left in the past year, of a team of 5. And the timing was beginning to be very obvious that if I was going to leave my job, I needed to do it at the first of the years. In mid December, I realized that over half the work I had done in the past 6 months was going to result in the contractors going permanent with the companies I’d placed them with. In turn, creating a ton of work for me in 2008. I’d be starting over pretty much.

When I got the email from Nike asking me if I’d be interested in taking on a never-ending contract, I thought, ya. But what I did not anticipate is that they would make me that very offer 2 days later! The offer Nike made me was more than I would have asked for, plus it is a Marketing Recruitment and Research position. What I am passionate about!!!

To make the whole situation even more ironic, I am going to be contracting not through my current company (who had a chance at the contract with Nike) but the staffing company that offered me a position 6 months ago (which I turned down) It is such a small town.

Needless to stay…I'm thrilled! I will be making the jump next week and my first day at Nike is the 28th. WhooHOOO!