Work Day 2

Bad Habits. So the day began at 7am with the typical scurrying out of the house, trying to get dressed in my only suit and (effectively) only tie. At least the only tie I ever wear.

Here is a shot after work.

Somehow, I woke up 10 minutes before the alarm. I was quite impressed, actually. But anyhow – today was the big meeting day. Rich Fairbank, CEO, was addressing 300 some associates in Plano, TX. Mostly the Auto and Mortgage folks.

Double fail. I arrive at the hotel just in time to park on the roof, and stuff my face with a 3/4 of a bagel and slurp coffee with juice all in under 5 mins. And then I try to get my name tag, but realize that I forgot the one thing that the HR lady stressed 5 times yesterday - the ID! Fail.

Anyhow, I sort of expected a couple hour speech and the rest would be all the support executives. Not quite. The guy spoke from 8:30 am until basically 3:30pm with an hour lunch break. That was intense. Unlike any lecture back in college. It also didn’t help that the AC seemed to be set at 50F… and this was the day I resumed my 4+ caffeine consumption habit. But overall, the overview of the industry and the company was much needed.

Networking. Good thing was the opportunity to meet all of the big wigs and the mid-level guys. I’m surprised less kids actually used the opportunity… I, however, was determined to meet Rich. As the end result, me and a handful other eager first-timers managed to shake the CEO’s hand on our second day. Success. And I was the only person at the conference to have a full suit. Didn’t want to conform to the rest of the guys who took the tie off, when they realized that it may have been a bit overkill. I figured if I am going to overkill, I might as well do it right. On a random note, Rich’s mother and father were both physicists… probably explains why so many candidates for my position are engineering, math, and physics backgrounds, with a few economics exceptions.

Bizarre Encounters. I interviewed with Capital One TWICE. Not like two rounds, but like in 2009 and 2010. The guy that failed me out of first round in 2009 was sitting a couple of rows behind me… hopefully he didn’t recognize me, because I doubt I will be introducing myself to him. In the crowd were several mid-level guys that interviewed me in 2010, all of which seemed like they recognized me. Win.

Happy Hour 1. After the hotel, we ended up going to some nearby pub for drinks. This is becoming another bad habit I suppose… but still in moderation. After meeting several Finance Rotation Program kids, finishing off a Stella Artois, I decided to head out. It seems like there is quite an interesting breakdown forming in our ranks. The wild single socialites and the responsible married/engaged kids. And then there is me… not quite one or the other. Hopefully, us moderate kids will be able to chisel out some middle ground. But at this point, I’m trying to straddle all loops.

Now, finishing up my kabob platter
at the Sidewalk Café, also on Addison Circle, stealing Pastazio's internet (I still can't get over the name), I will be flying back uptown to meet up with a dozen ADPers (people in the program) at Wine Therapist, a wine bar with live music. Should be interesting.

Tomorrow is my first day of actual work. Well at the very least I meet my supervisor… if he is not in training. At least I’ll meet some coworkers, see my desk and building. Pretty excited.

Ah well. That’s it for now. Off to see first live music show in Dallas.

//A