Phew- these last two and a half years have been a whirl-wind. Back in September 2009 I thought I had the time to get back into blogging but I was wrong. In fact, my 2010 was probably my busiest year yet while the small market research boutique I was working at went through a merger with a social media company and then an acquisition by a marketing company.
The merger and acquisition was an exciting time to be at Intrepid Consultants, especially because the focus was turning to virtual ethnography which was why I ended up at Intrepid in the first place. I did my master’s thesis in translating virtual ethnography from academia into practice and I got to watch it become a true commercial product.
I’ve since left Intrepid. Back in December 2010 I decided it was time for a change. I felt like I wasn’t growing as much as I wanted to in my career. I also realized that virtual ethnography was actually not what I wanted my legacy to be. It was a hard decision to make and admittedly I didn’t have a plan when I put in my notice. Crazy? Maybe. The right decision? Definitely.
Later this month I will start at SapientNitro down in Santa Monica. I’m excited about the new opportunities and new climate.
I’ve realized a few things through this self-imposed sabbatical:
- Job hunting and interviewing is a full-time job- I wasn’t on the hunt for long but properly going through the interview process did take a lot of my focus on many days. I wouldn’t have been able to properly do my job if I was going through an interview process
- I need to learn to balance work and non-work life better. I fell so far behind in non-work things that I’ve spent the last six weeks catching up
- An unemployed anthropologist can easily get involved in things that keep their CV growing. There are a lot of volunteer opportunities with the AAA, SfAA, etc. and these opportunities can be put on your CV
- I’ve taken over as the Communications Committee Chair for NAPA and a lot of my days have been spent re-designing our website from an IA perspective and working with web designers (the new design isn’t launched yet)
- I’ve also put a lot of work into the SfAA Podcast Project and helping the SfAA Office plan for the 2011 Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA later this month
I feel mentally refreshed and I’m ready to get back to work. But I admit I have really enjoyed these six weeks to focus on playing catch up, relaxing, and tending to my projects.
