Jake's Days #15: The one from the first day of work

First off, let me take this opportunity to thank all of you for reading our blog.  We have already accumulated almost 1,200 page views, and it's great to know we can share our journey with so many of you.  We have a great time writing our respective posts, and we hope you enjoy reading them just as much!

I've come to understand that there is a certain subset of the general population that get excited for a first day of work or school.  Let me make it clear.  I am not one of those people.  As I've expressed to many of you, by biggest point of anxiety related to the move came from starting work with a completely different group within EY. I am joining the Capital Markets group in our EMEIA (Europe, Middle East, India & Africa) sub-area, where I will be focusing on US GAAP compliance, related to cross border accounting transactions.  [Welcome back to all of those that fell asleep reading the last sentence, hope you had a nice nap!]. Or at least that's what I think I will be doing.

Monday morning for me started about 3 hours earlier than I would have liked.  The 6:45 alarm clock was quite a rude awakening.  This may not be early for some of you, but for those of us that have been leisurely treking around London for the last two weeks, it was quite the eye opener.  We were still at the Corporate Housing apartment on Webber Street (about 15 minutes from the office), so I had given myself plenty of time to get up and around. I had laid out my 'first day' outfit the night before, consisting of my new navy blue suit, baby blue button down, and red power tie.  I was shooting for an early Gordon Gecko - sans the slicked back hair & penchant for greed. I had a meeting set up with our group manager (Anna) and the other newly hired member of the capital markets group (Joseph) at 9:00am. Luckily our first day induction training did not begin until 10:00am.  I was cleaned up and ready for my first day with plenty of time to spare (thanks to my beautiful wife!) and decided to head out early, just in case the morning rush hour was a little heavier than anticipated.  Of course I was not allowed to leave the house before a 'first day of school' type photo shoot.  Nothing says 'new corporate tycoon' like posing for a dorky portrait before heading out the door.

Well I ended up at the office a good 40 minutes prior to my 9:00am meeting.  I took the opportunity to walk around the office buildings, and get my bearings of the local surroundings. Our office (known as More London Place or M.L.P) is located on the south banks of the Thames river, right next to the tower bridge.  Quite the scenic area.  I killed some time, and met Anna, Joseph & Jake Plumer for a coffee; then we headed down to begin our first day induction training.  The Brits love to use the word induction. The next 7 hours consisted of me getting to learn about the history, values and vision for Ernst & Young. I would say that all in all, I picked up maybe 2 pieces of original content, with the rest a repeat of almost everything I have heard for the last 5 years.  So did I gain much from the day?  No.  Was I glad to be getting paid once again?  Yes.

Joseph and I were treated to lunch by Jake P. and another member of the Capital Markets Group (Lou) as part of our first day welcome.  We also sat for our professional portrait session, so that our pictures can be included on proposals.  Yes, this was my 2nd dorky photo shoot of the day.  Our group training session ended around 4:30pm, and we met a partner from our group (Dan) for a drink.  We got the run down on some of the major projects that are in the works, and some of the specific other service offerings that our group is trying to provide to clients.  It was great to hear about the broader vision for the group.  I caught up with Jake Plumer shortly after, so that he could take me over to our other offices here in London (Becket House) where our Capital Markets group is based.  I got to meet a few more members of the group, and still left the office before 7pm. I could get used to that.  I made my way towards Angel, and met Shayner for little dinner at the Keston Lodge (just down the street from our house).  We popped on the internet, and had a few pints to celebrate the big first day.

All and all, it was a pretty easy first day. I don't think the anxiety will hit until I get a better understanding of what exactly my specific assignments will be, and the exact focus of our Capital Markets group. But I can't complain, I'll take a free lunch & some redundant EY knowledge any day.

Lesson(s) learned:  1) Wearing a suit to work everyday is going to take some getting used to; 2) Tube stations during morning rush hour are a whole different ball game.