Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work We Go!

Well, it's been almost four months since I started working at DealDash, and I must admit that it's gone by really fast. I'm amazed at how much I've learned, adjusted, and managed to contribute in such a short amount of time.

While I choose not to bore you with all the details about what my day entails, I have to mention what a breath of life it has given me. Another purpose in my life other than wife and mom.

My colleagues, although most younger than me, are a really great group of young, ambitious and talented people who are as motivated as I am to build something amazing with this company. My boss William, the CEO, continues to amaze me with his knowledge, determination and drive. And the other managers are really great team members who challenge, encourage and support me in fighting the fight.

One of the most glaring differences between Canadian and Finnish working life is the stress of the trial period. In Canada, people usually get some sort of probation period, but from a legal or financial standpoint, it doesn't hold a lot of meaning or accountability to it. In Finland, there are laws discussing the mandatory four month trial period for all Finnish employees. If you've worked at a company for less than four months, the company can get rid of you without any severance or notice. After you've "passed" the four month trial period, the laws change and it becomes more difficult to fire someone.

I can't speak about other Finnish companies, but at least at DealDash the four month trial period is taken very seriously. As a 5 year old company who brings in the same revenue with 35 employees as our top competitor with 200 employees, we aim to hire outstanding and extremely motivated team members, not just adequate colleagues.

I guess we'll see how I'm doing in two weeks, when the verdict is in :)

I'm Still Alive...

I think it's been more than four months since I last posted on my blog. In my defense, I have been a little bit busy juggling some new things in my life.

For starters, I got a job! I will post more on that later, but has taken a pretty big chunk of my time, energy and efforts. As a result, the kids have adjusted to a new lifestyle and Charlie has started going to school. I'll post more on that later as well.

However, I have officially completed and graduated with my MBA and thankfully it has given me part of my life back :)

I have lots to post, but wanted to assure you all that I am still alive. And now that I've created a bookmark to my blog on my work computer, I hope to be better about posting.

Now to trace my last four months...