A new job plus a global pandemic equals…

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Starting a new job is one nerve-wracking thing. Starting a new job during a worldwide pandemic is quite another. Integrity’s new Marketing Manager Kelly tells us how it’s been.

Ready, steady…

I was so excited when I found out I’d landed the position at Integrity. But as my first day approached, the COVID-19 situation was getting grimmer. By the time I was due to start, everyone was pretty much working from home – though not my husband, who’s classed as a key worker – and my children had stopped going to nursery and primary school.

Friends kept congratulating me while invariably adding, ‘Starting a new job during all this… Good luck!’.

…go!

Day 1. I got set up on the infamous MS Teams and Zoom, created an ‘office’ at my desk in the conservatory (surrounded by toys) and was all set. Lots of useful sessions had been booked in my diary that first week, giving me plenty of opportunities to meet different team members and start working out what my priorities would be.

And like a lot of us, I have children at home. Luckily the Integrity team have been very welcoming and understanding about me working round the kids. Thankfully I’m an early-morning person so I’m able to fit in work before the children are awake, during naptimes – thanks to my toddler for still having them and the ipad for entertaining my eldest – and after my husband gets home.

Since I started, I’ve been involved in the company re-brand and new website launch, joined inspiring strategy and pricing sessions (with thanks to Debbie Richardson, Grant Leboff and Mark Peacock) and got to grips with new content planning. It’s been a whirlwind beginning and I’m really enjoying it!

Pros and cons

Obviously this isn’t how I would have chosen to start off, but I’ve taken some real positives from the past few weeks. It’s been interesting to see how everyone in the team has responded and adapted to working from home. And how the company has tackled moving events online, working with clients to create not just practical but appealing virtual alternatives to already-planned events.

On Zoom calls, I enjoy watching people check in with each other, finding out how everyone’s doing. It’s good to see and makes me realise what a lovely team I’ve joined! I can’t wait to actually be in the office with them soon.

And so far…

It’s been a crazy few weeks – and it’s definitely a very different way of working. But I can see a routine developing and the work is always interesting. By the end of each day, the combination of work and running around after two very active children means I’m pretty tired. But it’s a good tired. The kind where you feel like you’re adding value to an amazing team and company.

And though I never want to see anything like this awful virus happen again, it’s been wonderful to discover what Integrity are made of during this time. I’m happy to be part of it.

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Friends kept congratulating me while invariably adding, ‘Starting a new job during all this… Good luck!’.

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KellyNewJobImage

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Though I never want to see anything like this awful virus happen again, it’s been wonderful to discover what Integrity are made of during this time. I’m happy to be part of it.

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