Implications of a Job Change

Changing jobs is a pretty huge step in most people's lives, and it affects a lot more than just where your dragging your half-awake body at ungodly hours of the morning.  I'm currently in the grace period of the "two week notice" time, or as I like to refer to it "career senioritis".  Long story short, I found a job that was going to be closer to home, better benefits, better pay, and hopefully more fulfilling while simultaneously feeling less like a continuous lobotomy. 

I've never gone through this situation, so I imagine normal people's experience goes something like this:  Person interviews for other job while working for current company, person receives offer, person gives two weeks notice, person leaves.  Unfortunately things seem to very seldomly go by the book for me, so I've been noticing a lot of unforeseen problems that arise when changing jobs in a professional career.  I think that because  the jobs are more complex, that it makes sense that coming on/off a job makes things infinitely more complex.  That's when I started to realize things like...

1. You have to talk to your boss to tell him your leaving

I knew on some level that I would of course have to communicate my point to my boss somehow that I would be leaving if I got a new job...I just never really knew how that would go down.  I've had experience with transferring to a different project at a different location, but it was within the same company.  When you're leaving the company all together, that adds a whole new level of awkward to a conversation with a boss.

Some of you may have those stereotypical Office Space type bosses, where you see his shitty little face and can barely help but smack it with the closest office supply (preferrably stapler or stool/cabinet). 

What do people even put in these things?  Warm Beer?  Xboxes? GOLD?

But my boss and I have always been pretty cool with each other and he legit did try his best to make this at least a slightly tolerable place to work.  So when I had to go to him with the news that I was leaving it made me feel like I was letting him down, and especially because I was going to be leaving before even finishing the current project I'm on.  This made it even harder because...

2. Bosses don't want you to go

If you Google "leaving your job before finishing a project" there will be all sorts of forum posts and advice columns that you can find where people talk about this.  Sadly, none of them had my specific scenario in mind(more on that later) so I had to make the decision on my own (which I hate doing when it comes to career decisions).  Basically I was in a situation where I was leaving a project that I was the only person who knew the functional aspects of a design (since I was the one who made the damned thing).  I did my best (and still am) doing my best to explain things to the developer who is working on the project (and also leaving the company a week after I am...makes you wonder wtf is wrong with this project right?).  But because of the circumstances, it makes it hard for me to transfer any knowledge to anyone since there are no people who are really free enough to be trained in what I had designed, and the developer will be gone as well.  This kind of made my boss not too happy.

Like I said I had never had to leave a company before, so I did what I knew to be standard protocol for leaving a job-He told me that I was putting him and the project in a lurch because of this and I felt bad since he had always done his best to be a good boss.   But if you search the interwebs, 110% of the responses people say "Fuck them.  You gave them a two-week notice and that's all you need to give.  If the company needed to get rid of you, you'd be lucky if they even gave you that much!"

This isn't very helpful, but at the same time I kind of took that advise since it was in my own best interest as well.  I compromised a bit and gave him an extra day since I had a bit of flexibility in my start date.  Oh yeah, start dates make you kind of think of another thing too...

3.  How much time between jobs can you afford?

Up until start date/end date conversations came up, I never really thought about the timeframe of switching jobs.  When one of my friends switched jobs, he was able to schedule it so he had a few days off before starting.  Of course when I saw that, I was like "Well shit, I want a vacation too!"  I know some people can't afford to be unemployeed for a few days let alone a week, but I luckily am comfortable enough to be able to afford that.  So I did what that 12 year old Ryan would've done- pushed back my start date a week so I could have time to play video games, guitar, build forts, play with action figures, etc.

This is what has kind of made my whole transition a bit more complicated, since I technically could work the extra week, but I just don't wanna.  This is one of those times where I had to decide if it really is professional or not to leave like I am, and if there are even repercussions to it.  So I tried to see if there were any ways it could come back to bite me in the ass, and ultimately since I don't plan on coming back to this company I currently work at ever- the answer was no.  Besides, how can you even do a convincing pro/con list when the  pros include "sleeping in", "not being at work", and "eating all the candy I want for a week"?

4. Endless work required to stop working, and then work again

 When I told my boss i would be leaving, it wasn't all that simple since he was out of the office at the time.  I had to decide on the perfect communication channel (I decided on BET) and wrote him an email.  The email wasn't enough however, so then I had to set up a meeting with him to talk about why I was leaving, when, etc.  Now as a basic rule that I've found, the more the job pays and conversely the complexity of the job, the more complications arise when entering/leaving the company.

Let me give you an idea- two years ago when I started my current job I had to fill out about an hour or so worth of paperwork before I even got hired.  Then upon being hired there was another several hours worth of paperwork involved, not including orientations or trainings (another full week's worth of material, easily).  Later on I transferred projects at which point I had even more paperwork to fill out and at this point I was staying in the same company.

Now, I have to redo all of that similar paperwork again for my new employer, while simultaneously filling out another stack of paperwork for leaving my current job.  This includes stock information, exit surveys, benefits information, not including a whole sleuth of exit interviews.  Yeah, when you work for clients, many times they want to give you exit interviews too (I've already had one and still have another 2 to go through).  The whole idea is kind of ironic in the sense that you're trying to leave the company because they were too unfeeling and inorganic, but yet they bombard you with more robotic touchy-feely hands trying to hold onto you before you can leave.

Yeah, like that.

Video Games and Girlfriends

Throughout all of my relationships I've been in and my friends have been in, girls have made it abundantly clear- they don't like us playing video games.  You'll have a vast array of responses that you may receive ranging from the straight up rage (FUCK YOUR GAMES! YOU'D RATHER GET YOUR FIRST WIN OF THE DAY BONUS THAN SPEND TIME WITH ME!) to the passive aggressive types ("I don't want to interrupt your game, I'll give you space." and then bring it up at some later time with a fistful of vengeance and a lamp through the window.)  The point is, they hate this shit.  So ladies, here is a chance to get a little bit of an understanding on guys and video games.

1. It's in our DNA

The first point I want to make is that we don't hate you, and we're not playing a video game just so we don't have to talk to you.  Since most of us were young, we have been collecting coins and leveling up our scantily clad heroines.  That feeling of gratification we get from getting a new sword or owning noobs hardcore is part of what makes us males. 

Think back to primative man for a second- what traits come to mind?  Aggressive, competitive, resourceful are just a few that come to mind.  Video games satisfy those basic desires we have by always giving us a goal, giving us limited resources, and pitting us against competitors.  When we win our game of League of Legends, Counterstrike, Battlefield, or whatever it is we play it releases endorphins into our brain that reward us for that stressful match and then still pulling out a victory. 

Even through years of evolution we're still programmed to believe "what we see is perceived as reality", no matter how unbelievable the graphics may be.  At a fleeting glance the game may look silly, but to someone who is in intense concentration the brain is registering everything they see as their reality, and they must react to that stimuli.  The level of focus we often times have for these games is comparable to what our ancestors would have felt when they were on the brink of warring with a fellow tribe, town, country, or whatever.

2.  Not all games are mindless and pointless

There have been many studies done over the years to highlight the positive effects of gaming.  Some are pretty basic such as increased reflexes, better fine motor skills, better hand-eye coordination etc.  But those are all pretty basic and not necessarily transferrable to the business world.  The real interesting stuff comes when you start to look at some of the skills that can you know, actually make you a better human being.

For instance, every gamer knows (and girls, this is what you should know too) that there are primarily two different types of games- twitch games, and strategy games.  Twitch games are your platformers, your fighting games, your blowing up people's faces with a grenade games.  The eyes sees a target, it tells the hand to mouse over (or joystick over) to that target and react to it.  Some of the benefits from these types of games include a boost in visual acuity, the ability to pick out objects in a scene, and spatial perception.  Quick, think of when these things would be handy skills to have- driving, packing a fridge, rearranging furniture, spotting that sniper on the second floor of the mall...yeah, you'll thank us when that North Korean Assassin misses you because we did a dive-save for you.

The second type of games are the strategy games.  These are the games with many different factors to consider for each decision the player makes.  Every action has a consequence and a possible reward.  Resources have to be maintained in order to achieve maximum efficiency.  These are the Civilization series type games, the RPGs, the Warcraft or Starcraft series.  Some of the skills that get picked up from these are improved cognitive skills, reasoning, and working memory, and timing.

Do these skills really sound like things that are only limited to video games?  If you said yes, then I'm sorry there's no hope for you and you should probably go find yourself a cardboard cutout of Zach Effron for your new boyfriend.  Because the truth is that these skills all can translate extremely well into a professional life.  For instance, when I'm in the metro station or driving, I can use my spacial recognition in order to maximize the efficiency of my commute in order to avoid cars/people and to get to where I need to go.  Or at work, I can transfer those problem solving and information processing skills to get my work done 20% faster than non-gamers.  Yeah, that means in an 8 hour day, gamers can get done as much work as you in less than 6 and a half hours.

3. A hobby in an otherwise hobbyless world

Say what you want about video games, but at the very least they are an engaging and interactive experience (or are supposed to be- Farmville and JRPGs with 3000 cutscenes, I'm looking at you).  A video game is a way for us to identify with something after work or school, and to just relax.  These days such an activity should be welcomed with ope arms, what with the decline in hobbies people have these days.  A general trend our nation has been going through over the last several decades is that people spend less time on hobbies more time watching television than 40 years ago.  And no, watching tv is not a hobby.  Facebook is not a hobby.  When you factor those things out of your day, what are you left with?  If you're female, more than likely the answer is "errands" or "sleeping". 

So basically what I hope to really convey here is that we're not playing video games out of spite, or to ignore you, or even saying that you're boring.  We're just doing what we feel is productive and natural.  Plus, they're just so damn fun.