Luck of the Irish

This year there must have been some extra magic in the Guinness that I had for St. Patrick’s Day because about a week prior and then about a week following the Irish holiday, I happened to interview for a facilities management role for Raglan Road pub and restaurant located in Disney Springs. 

The whole ordeal was rather unexpected and began with a phone call from someone named Sean.  When my phone rang, I didn’t recognize the phone number, so I didn’t answer it.  Sean left me a voice message and proceeded to explain that he had found my profile on Indeed.com and wanted to see if I was interested in a facilities management role.  I was taken back at first, but I was also indeed looking for a change in careers; well not profession, just companies.  So I agreed to meet with him.  His next available time was right as we were supposed to leave town to head to St. Augustine for the Celtic festival. 

We had a wonderful conversation and I felt that it went well in terms of me relaying my skillset, attitude, and type of productivity that I can provide.  I was also impressed with him, his demeanor, and the feel I got for his management style.  Sean is one of the executives and is from Ireland, as are the other top level executives at Raglan Road. 

About a week passed and then I followed up with an email to thank him for meeting with me.  A day or so later I received a phone call from him asking if I could do a second interview.  Of course, I was thrilled and agreed to meet with him and this time an additional person named John. 

Again, we sat inside the pub, alone in our own section away from the rest of the staff.  Our conversation was once again good and robust.  I felt that we hit on a lot of various topics, scenarios, and details about the role.  As we were about to part ways, Sean shared with me that it was going to come down to me and one other candidate that they were meeting with later that same day.  He then proceeded to tell me that he would try and contact me within the next day or two to let me know which direction they were going to take. 

Fast forward to the beginning of the next week and I received a phone call from Sean, but I was unable to answer, so he left me a voice message, asking me to contact him.  He had a good poker face with his delivery of the message because I couldn’t tell if he was calling with good or bad news.  Once I called him back he let me know that I was indeed their candidate of choice and that they wanted to make me an official offer for employment.

I was stoked!  This opportunity felt right, and the timing also felt pretty good.  I’ve been seeking employment elsewhere in a smaller company where I can have a greater impact.  Don’t get me wrong, Universal has been good to me.  If they hadn’t picked me up when they did, I would have relocated to Florida unemployed and who knows what that would have done for our situation.  Universal has definitely helped support us and for that I am grateful.  But the time to move on is upon me and this feels like a good fit.

The biggest difference in this new role versus my role at Universal is the freedom, and even expectation, of being hands-on and repairing things myself. In addition to that, I will be a team of one in this new role, something that I have not had as a facilities manager.  I certainly see the reason for it and see the benefits that this environment will bring.

I am excited to begin this next chapter in my career and look forward to the challenges, experience, and new people that I will encounter.  This means saying goodbye to some good people here at Universal and to the parks themselves.  No more free admission or discounts but hopefully still a lot of great things ahead.