If you read my post here, you know that I said that while I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I returned to work, I did know that I didn’t want to go back to doing what I USED to do. And if you read my post here, you know that I amended that to say that I might be willing to go back to what I used to do but on the consulting side. Well, I’ve since amended that again. I have now decided that there really isn’t a reason not to go back to what I used to do. The money is good, I know how to do it so there’s no real training necessary and, well, I did enjoy my job….eventually despite the occasional crazy person who was pissed about their money getting cut off.
Connecticut is the Insurance capital of the US, so it’s not unusual that I ended up working in the industry. I’ve worked in several different types of insurance…long term care, health and disability. But it took until my last job, my FOURTH insurance job, for me to begin to enjoy it. Long term care claims were a bit boring and working in underwriting for a health insurance company got a bit boring as well. Handling disability claims was DEFINITELY the most interesting. The first company I did them for was a small company whose ethics never really sat right with me. I eventually got laid off, not long before the company went under completely (I made out better than the people who stuck it out to the end). After that, I was hired at a major insurance company. Imagine my surprise when I bypassed training and was taken to a locked unit on the 5th floor on my first day. It turned out, I was chosen to handle claims for the company’s OWN employees, hence being locked away (it may seem a bit extreme but in the 3 years I worked there, I was threatened more than once). This development made me even more eager to start.
It was in this job that I excelled. I loved my team, I liked the hands on training (though my mentor was a cocky asshole which later got him fired) and I liked the variety of things I was doing. I was recognized after only a year for smoothing over the many feathers my mentor had ruffled. The recognition came in the form of a handsome bonus which came directly from the head of the office. I was given the opportunity to work from home after less than a year and worked up to working from home four days a week. I had my second daughter and went back to the same team when I returned to work. I continued to be recognized for my hard work and I became a mentor for new trainees. I think it was the first time I could ever REALLY say I enjoyed my job and looked forward to going to work everyday. If the boss I had when we moved hadn’t been such a jerk, I would have taken the job with me and worked remotely from here. That’s how much I liked it.
So now, after MUCH thought, I have thrown my hat back into the same ring. B’s company has a claims office locally and he submitted my resume. I received a call from HR almost immediately and I took the pre-employment assessment and set up a profile on the company’s web site. I will be speaking to the HR representative later today to see what the next steps may be. Even if I don’t get the job this time, jobs open up pretty regularly so hopefully, something will come up soon. In the meantime, any good thoughts, prayers and good juju that you could send my way would be greatly appreciated.