I started thinking how each job I’ve had has impacted me positively in ways that go beyond just financial benefit that I am truly grateful for! Here we go:

Part-time job bagging groceries while in school (1996-1999): I was fortunate to meet a lot of great people. A lot of them didn’t speak English well. As a result, I got practice speaking French. Not only did we have fun together, I learned the value of a dollar. Now, I don’t mean disrespect to anyone reading this post. However, there were many adults working full-time as cashiers and grocery baggers. I saw how they struggled to make ends meet. This was enough to convince me to work hard in school because I wanted to experience a better financial situation as I got older.

First job out of school (1999-2005): I worked for an investment company for 5 years. I loved it so much! In fact, this became proof to me that you can actually love your job if you find the right match. They also gave me an opportunity to move to Barbados for 1 year with my fiance. They gave her a job in her field too. It was an amazing experience until the company shut down! We were forced to move back home with no jobs or a place to live just 2 months before our wedding. Guess what. We landed on our feet and became stronger for it. I also met amazing people on this job. We still see each other 1-2 times per year and always have a blast. I learned from them that you can make great friends with your colleagues and have lasting friendships.

I found another job quickly after losing the previous one and once again I met more amazing people whom I still see 5-6 times a year. I really didn’t enjoy the job however. This prompted me to launch an ecommerce website on the side, with the dreams of owning my own business and living off of it. Well I never made it that far, but that site still gives me enough income to cover my monthly expenses till this day. Back to the job itself, I ended up losing my position in 2009 during the financial crisis. The timing couldn’t be worse. There were no jobs in finance anywhere and we had a baby on the way! Going into work everyday and hating life because I hated my job taught me another valuable lesson that I’m grateful for. You can hate your job too and if you do, your performance will suffer. If you don’t perform well the company isn’t going to keep you. Therefore if the situation can’t improve move on before it’s too late.

I remained unemployed for 1.5 years with no money coming in. At this point my ecommerce site was still not generating money. It was a stressful time but guess what, we landed on our feet again and became stronger for going through it. I then received a call one day from a company who saw my CV on monster.com. They wanted to know if I was interested in working for them as a product manager. This was so different from my area of expertise, in fact I didn’t know what a product manager even did. Well, 10 years later I still work in this amazing field and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to transition careers. The reason being there are no Finance jobs in my city anymore so had I not lost my job, I would have continued to have trouble getting and maintaining employment or have to relocate in order to stay in finance. In started the new position in 2011 and realized I loved this exciting field! I learned so many new skills and was able to build a new career. I stayed in that position until 2016. I cherish that experiences, friendships and all the wonderful memories I shared with my colleagues.

By mid 2016, I began my second position in product management. What a shock, it was completely different. I learned so many new skills! It was stressful at first but was so worth it! It turns out that I ended up meeting such a special group of people on this job. We all agree that this was the best job we ever had and the bond we shared was like no other.

By mid 2018, a company reached out to me with a wonderful opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. While I loved this job a lot less, I learned (from mistakes) a ton about leadership, how to manage people and how to manage up. It was a rollercoaster ride here, but I’m still grateful for the salary I received, the nice people I worked with, the chance to practice French again, the chance to manage people. Overall, I gained a lot of experience that has helped prepare me for my next challenge.

In the new year I will be starting a new opportunity. I’m so grateful for landing this dream job. I’ve actually wanted to work for this company for almost two years now. I can’t wait and I know it will go well.

Ian