A few months ago I realized that I wasn’t really enjoying my work anymore. Something was bothering me, and at first I couldn’t clearly identify what it was, so it was a great relief when I found out what it was: being an advisor to financial institutions at Ernst & Young isn’t my cup of tea after all. I really had to get used to the idea of the possibility of applying for jobs and leaving Ernst & Young. But the longer I thought about it, the more enthusiastic I became about finding a job that really suits me and already makes me happy when only thinking about it.

In November 2010 I started applying for jobs, which was a bit difficult while being in London. Luckily I had some flexible time on Fridays, so I used these days if I had an interview or assessment. In January I came across an advertisement for an Online Marketing Coordinator at VisitDenmark, the Dutch branch of the Danish Tourist Office. The job description really appealed to me, I had never thought of making a career in Social Media a year ago. I had a very nice interview with 2 ladies from the company in Leiden, and after the weekend I had a second interview over the phone from London. Unfortunately I wasn’t hired for the job, but luckily they liked me and saw some possibilities of creating a new position that was going to focus on the MICE market, where most of the activities of VisitDenmark mainly focuses on the Leisure market.

A process of writing a proposal and getting approval from all kinds of different people from Copenhagen, Denmark started. Every now and then I called with the office in Leiden to show my enthusiasm and to inform about the progress of the approval. Finally, at Friday April 1st I was called with the great news (and relief ) that the office in Leiden got the approval to hire me as of May 1st. Immediately I informed my boss and asked if it was still possible to transfer as of May 1. After discussing with my direct colleagues it was soon clear that May 1 wasn’t going to be a problem. And on top of it all, I was also able to take the 3 weeks holiday I had left. That meant that Friday April 8 was my last day at work! Suddenly time was flying like crazy!

Last Monday I already had a day on the job for VisitDenmark, visiting a congress on MICE with my new boss (Mathilde), organized by MPI, “Meeting Professionals International”. It was a great day with lots of interesting speeches and inspiration for the business of event management. It was also a very nice opportunity to get better acquainted with Mathilde. On top of it all, we signed my contract during the lunch break, on a bench in the sun. Life is good!