It’s a word you hear a lot in the IT industry.  You hope that it never happens to you, but sadly, in these troubled economic times, it happens more often than not.  Today was the end of my contract with Jack in the Box, and we ended it on a happy note.  We were on a hornblower cruise and we cruised around San Diego Bay for a few hours as we ate and drank.  Well….I did drink a bit.   It was sorta like my senior prom, but with alcohol.  So wait, it was exactly like my prom.  Right, Alissa?

I started working at JITB 6 months ago to fill in a vacancy left by a mass exodus of people that left the Restaurant Call Center (abbreviated to RTS for the rest of this entry), the department of the IT division that deals with restaurant computer issues, such as the registers or restaurant servers not working.  I was lookin’ for a job, so I applied and got the position.  I went through training for a month at RTS call center, then I jumped on the phones afterward. I made so many friends, the supervisors were really helpful and friendly, and by the end, we really felt like a family.  Today….at the end of our last work party, nobody wanted to leave.  One of our supervisors was tearing up(but he won’t admit it),

It’s the supervisor I lost to in the taco challenge.

Unfortunately, we were hired to relieve people that left in advance of an outsourcing.  Our department was outsourced to a call center located in Manila.  From a business standpoint, it makes sense.  For the cost of maintaining our current call center with its current numbers, they could get 4 times the number of analysts working.   However, they’ve just outsourced a bunch of experienced analysts and left the restaurants with a staff that’s entirely new.  So far the new call center has managed to shut down a few restaurants with a few….mistakes.

During work, I had the benefit of being around numerous experienced analysts, and they helped me grow as a IT professional, and as a call center employee.  Our counterparts in the Philippines…they don’t really have that benefit.  And it’s no fault of theirs, it’s just the way things are.

Still, I wanted to end things on a high note, so during our last week of work, I sent out an email to our department that highlighted all the fun things I picked up from working at the RTS Call Center.  Thermogenics, ghost peppers, protein, sandwiches, The Walking Dead, car batteries, and a bunch of other stuff was tossed around during work, and it was fun.  It really was.  I got a lot of thank-yous from people on the cruise that said they enjoyed reading my e-mail.

In the end, I got a ton of practical work experience with a Fortune 500 company in a IT call center, a nice severance package, and some funemployment time.  I’m going to miss working with those guys, but I’m gonna keep in touch with them as best I can.  They made me realize that I made the right choice in going into the IT industry, perilous as the threat of outsourcing is.

So for their sake and everyone else, I’m going to continue walkin’ down this path of the IT guy.  I don’t see a reason to stop now.  As long as there are computers, I’ll be needed.

Though I’m probably not gonna be eating too much Jack in the Box in the near future.  Maybe a taco or two in honor of Ryan.