something Good for something Great

   I feel like I talk a lot about my job lately, but being in the office (or work related things) from 9am-6pm everyday (and sometimes on the weekends) there's rarely other things in my life worth talking about. (Which is sad.. I know, I know.)

  What has been swirling in my mind lately is how often I get job "offers" while doing things for the job I currently have. I get to meet very interesting and influential people who somehow fall for my smoke and mirror tricks of thinking I'm a competent young professional.  I've been offered "job security" here and there, and one particular gentleman has jokingly placed bids on my future salary with my boss over a couple drinks.

  I'm aware that those are not official job offers and I'd be stupid to jump into any conclusions from these simple matter of fact statements. At the same time, though, people don't need to say those things to me, and I'm tempted to find that there is something true in those words, that they'd at least pay a little more attention to my resume if I decided to send it in.

  But then I remind myself that I'm leaving for London in 15 months to pursue my dream of living there and getting my master's, which is what I've wanted forever. I don't want to accept an awesome job that I'll have to quit shortly just because I have something awesomer (sorry, I know) coming along.

  In the confused mental state that will last all of my 20s (and probably continue from there on) it is a hard choice to be faced with, specially in the occasions when things at my current job aren't as pleasant as I'd like them to be, and my novelty seeking personally is already yearning for a new city and new faces.

 It would be great if all the world's problems were as terrible as my own.

But I'm interested to know, how often do you guys have to give up something good for something you know is better, specially when that thing might be in the not so near future?

M.

Business Etiquette of the Digital Generation

   I have recently been reprimanded by a former boss about not thanking him/her properly after he/she helped get my current and very exciting job.

   I was very puzzled by this, for I made a point of writing him/her an e-mail literally as soon as the interview was over. I was so thankful for this opportunity and I felt like I expressed that on a very well thought out e-mail. Only to learn, months later, that he/she was expecting a hand written card and flowers.

  Now, here's some important details to this story. I live in a different country than this former boss, I have also just graduated college so it is universally known that I am broke, and to top it all off, I am 22 years old.

  So my question is, when was the last time you hand wrote a letter?

  I could get into the point of how we communicate only electronically now and things lose their values etc. But the point I'm trying to make is that I didn't send them an email because I didn't care, on the contrary, I meant to express my gratitude as fast as I could.

  Is my generation missing all the lessons of business etiquette or have the practices just changed and some people haven't adapted to it? I find it antiquated to send them flowers that will die after two weeks of serving no purpose, but maybe I am in the wrong and should have bough a card, hand written it, then posted it so they could get my thanks 2 to 3 weeks later?

What is your take on this?

M.