Jaded
I remember the first time I got my own cubicle. I was a junior in college and was working as a peer adviser for the College of Liberal Arts. As such, I would frequently need a semi private area to meet with students. I can’t stress how happy that cubicle made me. I felt like an adult. Any time I was on campus and not in class or my boyfriend’s (now husband’s) dorm room, I was in my cubicle, even when I wasn’t working.
Almost a decade later and I can honestly say I don’t feel the same way about cubicles, especially since I got to have the thrill of having an office at my last gig. Coming back to a cubicle now feels a little weird. Am I being a little jaded? Probably, but isn’t that natural?
As we grow in our careers, learning and experiencing new things, the things that once drove us wild with excitement can feel limiting when we encounter them a second time around. Especially if we end up having to take a step back temporarily due to a layoff and a tough economy.
It’s at times like this that you can sit there and lament the injustice of the stumbling block that is slowing the trajectory of your career path. Or you can suck it up like the professional you are, work your butt off, and find a way to move forward. And while you’re there, maybe you should indulge yourself in a little nostalgia, just for old times sake.
May 8th, 2009 saat: 4:55 am
Ugh!!! Let’s be honest it sucks.
So far in my career I’ve gone from a shared office to my own office. I’m probably headed to another shared office and I’m dreading that. I can’t imagine going to a cubicle.
You never realize how nice privacy is until you have it.
May 8th, 2009 saat: 5:56 am
Rachel – I’m trying to be positive! It’s a defining characteristic of mine. 🙂 (But yes, it does suck,hehe)
May 8th, 2009 saat: 7:27 pm
Office. Cubicle. Ahhh yes. Here I am, 15 years into my career and have been in an enclosed office for every moment of my career except the first couple of months. Now, I’m told that we are moving to a great new eco-friendly, green building and I don’t get a private office anymore – even though every moment of my day is dealing with private and sensitive matters.
Sucks. I’m not likin’ it!
But, here’s the silver lining…. I lose a door and walls, but I gain the “cone of silence”!! (You may be too young for ‘Get Smart’ shows, but you can pick up the movie now.) Turns out modern buidings can have white noise shields around the cubes so it is as private as walls.
A cone of silence!!
I’m almost ready to willingly trade in my walls and door for that!
May 11th, 2009 saat: 12:48 pm
Perhaps this is off-topic and I know that this is an employer’s decision, but I’m surprised that so many of our wonderful HR folks are in cubicles? Or maybe you’re in a cube in the middle of other HR folks?
I was only in a cubicle for a few months also in the beginning of my career. Since then, I’ve been office bound for confidentiality purposes. I shared an office for a few months during a renovation a couple of years back, and I literally had a 90% reduction in visits to my office during that time. (although now I’m not so sure that was a bad thing?)
May 11th, 2009 saat: 7:26 pm
HR Good Witch – A cone of silence, funny!
Just another HR lady – I think it depends on what type of position you have and how big your HR department is. The times when I’ve seen HR in cubicles is when they are surrounded by other HR people.
May 26th, 2009 saat: 3:26 pm
My first job out of college, after I went through training in a cubicle, I had an office AND a secretary. I had my own office for the next several jobs, until my last job, when my boss sold us out and let another division take our offices and moved us into cubicles. In a converted warehouse. Thirteen miles away. Without covered parking. In a neighborhood where people got carjacked. I got laid off, two others transferred out of the group ASAP and two others quit. I was not happy about having to take my phone calls to my GYN into a conference room.