Milestone of sorts...

Completed 7 months in the new place now... I guess after 7 months, shouldn't really refer to it as new!

When I joined, I was quite numb to the whole organization. Wanted to do my own thing, didn't care too much for the organization beyond it offering me good work and the opportunity to leave office on time, and of course pay me well!

But, it has been 7 months, and here's taking a look back at time gone by.

Some of the ups:

• The much-coveted 'work-life balance'. Have managed to create and maintain that much needed LIFE which doesn't have work anywhere in the equation!!!
  Work-wise, very challenging, very new and very exciting. There have been days when I've felt (much to my pleasure) my brains being stretched to the utmost! (They had been getting a little rusty!). Also the flexibility to pretty much pick up any piece of work that is not necessarily in my job profile, but is of interest.
• All the initial/doubts/apprehensions about ability and interested and now I feel quite lucky to have landed this profile. (I wouldn't be me I didn't have any doubts, (:)) so I obviously still doubt many things, including long-term plans w.r.t this place, but for now, doubts about this being the right thing for now and my own ability to do this have settled down)
• Also realization and confirmation of what I like and what I absolutely hate doing (work-wise), and what I don't want to go back to doing EVER (Read: ID reviews!!!)
  

The not-so-good parts:

• There's quite a bit of my old organization that I see here -- largely, because most people in this division are also 'exes'. That combined with them spending 5-6 years in a place that had a very set way of working has added the level of rigidity, I guess. Thankfully, my work doesn't require me to deal with them much.
• Not very friendly to a new comer.... people are extremely territorial, and want to continue working in their silos.
• The rules and regulations imposed as a result of the whole BPO culture. For example, not having fixed workstations/having workstations only for a particular shift, restrictions on Internet access, paranoid security measures....
• Dress code!!! Have to wear formals Mondays - Thursdays... for someone who practically lived in jeans, not being able to do so on days except Friday is torturous like never before!
• Last but not the least, 60 kms a day travel! I sorely miss the days when the best and worst case timings for commuting between home and office used to be 20 and 30 mins, respectively! Also the horribly unpredictable traffic jams that I have to encounter!
  

However, all said and done, it has been a pretty good 1st phase.... hopefully, the good parts sustain.