Hopefully clever comments about life in Vancouver, B.C. as lived by a French girl from Montreal
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
New job starting July 25
Well, once again, things moved rather quickly.
In anticipation of my current contract ending July 15, I had done some research into other opportunities, both permanent and contract. Today, I signed my offer papers for a permanent position as a Technical Writer for a company that does Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. The company is located downtown (a short 8-minute bus ride from my place), which will be great for my daily commute. The work seems challenging enough and so far, everyone I've met on the team (during interviews) was really nice.
So, I'll get a bit of time off after the contract (hopefully, it all depends on how well I can wrap things up before I leave). I will start looking for cheap flights to Montreal, I'd love to spend a couple of days at my parent's chalet. I miss swimming in the lake. You can't really swim in the Pacific ocean, it's always cold!
I've tried sitting down and writing a post in the past week, but haven't found anything blogworthy to write. Feels like I'm just living life, busy with work, busy after work...
As I might have mentioned in a previous post, my contract ends July 15 and I am actively looking for something to do after that date. I spoke to my current manager today about the possibility of extending or getting a perm position, but the company was acquired recently and is right in the middle of redefining its product portfolio within the new business model. Lots of churn, people being moved left and right, not a good time to have a clear view of which group might need a technical writer. So, I'm applying elsewhere, interviewing, and keeping my options open. I have an interview tomorrow morning with a company downtown, looking forward to chatting with the team over there. It's been presented to me as an interesting opportunity by someone who doesn't work there.
What else... Well, my friend Kevin is in town for a few days with his girlfriend Lucie. We're probably going to have dinner together tomorrow night, along with Lara, Charles, and Tucker. Sushi and beer at my place, a lot cozier than a restaurant :-)
Then, Tucker has a company BBQ on Saturday, I might go but it depends on the weather. It's supposed to rain. Then, we have a party Saturday night for a friend of Tucker who is moving back to Ontario. I guess there are lots of things going on, I'm just too busy to sort them all out in my head in some sort of coherent story.
Going back to school investigation, first contact with UBC
Before committing myself to a program and letting go of any free time I might have, I thought it would be prudent to look into the various options in Vancouver. There are two main universities offering MBAs: the University of British-Columbia (UBC) and Simon Fraser University (SFU). Both have downtown campuses where the business courses are thought.
Tonight, I went to an information session at UBC, but not for an MBA. Continuing Education has a Project Management Certificate that caught my attention. My office roommate is a student in this Certificate program and his feedback on the program is very positive.
The program is indeed interesting, but I see it more as a specialization, something you would do when you have several years of experience as a project manager and you want to refine your skills with some additional training. I don't think it's the right kind of program for me at this time. What I like about the MBA programs is that they are very general. They cover many aspects of a business, not just project management. Although project management is something I'd be interested in, I feel I would get more out of program that also covered marketing, HR, accounting, economics, and so on.
I have another information session on July 7, for the MBA at UBC. I still haven't been able to get any response from SFU regarding upcoming information sessions... Hopefully, I'll hear from them soon.
Last Friday, work organized a scavenger hunt around downtown Vancouver. It was a bit like the Amazing Race but we didn't get to travel around the world. We had a list of clues and had to find something related to each clue, take a picture of the team (mascot included) on site, and move on to the next clue.
Here's my team, in front of the Vancouver library. I am holding the mascot, a white stuffed bear. Our team name was Spirit Bear, named after white black bears that can be found in British-Columbia.
I've posted pictures from Germany and our last few days in Amsterdam. You can find the pictures here.
Life has returned to normal after the late return from Europe and the busy work week. It feels good to be back in somewhat of a routine, working, going to the gym, chilling at home on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. The weather has not been very pleasant since we returned, usually 11-15, and some rain. Yesterday was nicer, which was a relief, since work had organized an "amazing-race" style team building activity and we spent most of the afternoon running around downtown. It was fun!
Now, I'm looking ahead and looking around for other work opportunities as my current contract ends on July 15 and for now, I have no idea if an extension or a permanent offer is in the works. Better be prepared with alternatives.
I'm also doing some research on the various MBA programs offered in Vancouver. I had started my MBA in Montreal and had to stop the program to move to Vancouver. Unfortunately, my previous job has been so time-consuming, I couldn't even fathom the idea of going back to complete the program until now. My GMAT results are valid until September 2006, so I wouldn't have to redo this exam to apply to a local program. And I bet some of the courses I have completed in Montreal could be credited.
I have come to realize that additional schooling will probably be required if I want to move from technical writing to other functions within a company. I enjoy working in high tech, it's an environment that I understand (even if it's quite chaotic). SFU (Simon Fraser University) has a Management of Technology MBA that looks quite interesting. One career move that could interest me is project management. It's not such a far-fetched move from technical writing, where you are required to have a global view of products rather than focusing on a specific area. Good communication skills are required to succeed in project management, I think that is already one of my strengths. I've got more thinking and soul-searching to do, the MBA a major commitment in time and also quite expensive ($25,000 to $40,000).
I've posted the first pictures from our trip on A Frog in BC Visuals. You'll find pictures of our first few days in Amsterdam, immediately after we landed. Next up, nine days in Paris. That album might contain a few more pictures...
Yes, we are finally back home. The trip back was painful, we were originally scheduled to be back in Vancouver yesterday (Saturday) around 7 p.m. and we made it in just a couple of hours ago (12:30). Our flight was delayed and we ended up waiting at the airport for three hours just for vouchers to get a hotel room. Fortunately, Air Transat set us up in a pretty nice hotel. This morning, at 4:30 a.m. (Amsterdam time), we woke up to take the 5:30 shuttle to the airport. Our flight left at 8:25 a.m. and we had an additional delay in Calgary, where the flight did a stopover. Needless to say that we are both tired and unhappy about having just half a Sunday to recuperate before going back to work tomorrow.
Lots of pictures being downloaded on the computer right now. I'll put some up online as soon as I have a chance to go through them.
Back to Amsterdam, colder weather and living on a houseboat
This is it, the last leg of our trip, back to our starting point: Amsterdam. We gave back the car (much to Tucker's dismay) and moved in to a lovely houseboat on one of the canals. Our hosts are really nice, we're basically sharing their place with them. It's amazing how a little floating box can be so cute and functional. And we're away from the city center so it's really quiet at night, except for a couple of ducklings calling their mom for food in the morning. Rough life!
Today, we visited Rembrandt's house where we could see how he lived and see a demonstration of how he did his etchings. The museum has a large collection of his etchings and even some original copper plates he used. We then had lunch in a tiny Italian restaurant and walked over to the original Heineken brewery to do the Heineken experience. It's a dynamic and interactive exhibit around beer :-) You also had many chances of tasting the famous beer.
Tomorrow, we plan to visit a couple more exhibits and do a bit of last-minute shopping. The end of our trip is fast approaching, it's sad but at the same time, something we're looking forward to. It's been a good trip but now it's time to go home. When I get back, I'll post some of my pictures on the web for everyone to enjoy. We've seen some truly awesome things!
