The saga continues. I think that the last thing that I wrote on the topic of a potential international relocation for the Tembys was The Boy Who Cried Wolf. I think that we need a little recap on the way that things have gone so far.
Back in October of 2005 I received a phone call whilst on holidays that resulted in my being asked if I was interested in a position overseas … Qatar, Oman, maybe Canada. We said yes and then waited for something to happen. At that time there was someone lined up to do my job. He pulled out, we got on with life.
Then, out of the blue, some time in about May I found out that discussions had continued with that person and had in fact progressed to the point that he’d signed a letter and would be starting on the 31st of July, shunting me into a temporary position until such time as something came up for me.
About three weeks before that date, I was informed that once again, he’d decided not to follow through. Back on the merry go round we hopped.
Those who rule the realm of my work from above continued to recruit off and on in an attempt to provide sufficient resources to either release me or provide options for expansion of the business.
A couple of weeks ago (from present day) I found out that that they had narrowed the target down and were talking seriously to some one with another in reserve. Of course, the first one fell through.
Then I received a call from the CEO of our international operation. He wanted me to tell him when I could be released from my current contract and a copy of my resume that they could put before our potential client on the other side of the world.
Gears clicked and things started to get serious.
Fast forward 2 weeks (last Thursday) and I get a call from my boss telling me that the back up guy had signed up, it had been discussed with our main client and he’d signed on the dotted line. Holy crap. Suddenly it was getting very very real.
At this point, I started to try and track intelligence down on the likelihood of us actually winning the work in Canada as it is one of those kind of important things as no one has quite got around to mentioning what happens to me if we don’t win the bid and there’s someone here doing my job. Its not really something I want to consider too much.
It was also about this point in time that I found myself at a cocktail function for one of my clients. A client who at that time didn’t know that I was looking to move on. So I was what one might refer to as moderately surprised when someone that we’d done some work for a couple of years ago, but whom I hadn’t seen since came up to me and said, “Dave! You’re off to Canada!”
After a quick clarification as to who he’d heard the news from, I discovered that the person running their tongue off and putting our client relationship at risk was my bosses boss! Never mind that neither he nor my immediate boss had thought to tell this particular client and then started spouting such information at an event they were hosting, I just set about picking up the pieces and informed them myself as I departed.
There was something about having told my direct reports and a client that suddenly made this twisted and warped process actually seem like it could result in something real. Real enough that sleep became a memory and focus something that eluded me regularly.
And that’s pretty much how things are now. I’ve discovered that we’re likely to find out if we’ve won the work or not on the 13th of December, 2 days after my new replacement starts. There’s still no word on things like money or packages or departure dates or anything that matters …but hey, how much fun would it be if it was all straight forward.
Oh and did I mention that there was a moment of insanity back in that process somewhere that had me apply for a job in India, working on the New Delhi Metro? Well not to worry, it fell through.
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