Ominous Velour

I don’t regret any of the promotions I’ve applied for at work, even though interviewing is one of my least favorite things on the entire planet.

Prior to my current job, I spent several years as a very part-time freelance web designer, and before that, several years unemployed while taking care of family obligations. So my work history was not the strongest.

I knew I’d have to start at the bottom of the totem pole, and neither the AD4K nor the commensurate salary would allow me to stay comfortable in one place for very long. However, I was lucky enough to start out at full work-from-home in 2015, well before the ubiquity it’s achieved more recently.

So I started at the lowest position in 2015, and within 10 months had been moved up to the intermediate role. That job was a while different animal than the first one, but after 2 years, I felt like I’d mastered it as much as one could so I applied for an opening on the top-tier team and landed it first try.

I spent 3 years there and would have loved to stay with that department but I was well aware I’d climbed a far as possible without moving into management and… ew. People. Then I heard about a position on another team that was, I guess, a diagonal move. Both lateral and upwards? And sort of a happy midpoint between the department I’d been in and the web design work I’d been doing before.

I started there just around my birthday last year and I’m absolutely loving it. It’s work I’m more comfortable with as well as having way more variety to keep my squirrel brain engaged. And the fact that I have full medical, a retirement plan, shares and bonuses, and have more than doubled my starting salary doesn’t hurt either.