I had a really exciting day yesterday. I slept in a bit which was nice
(Ben gets the bus to school at 7AM so I do get up at 6 to get him
ready but then I go back to sleep). I got up at 8:30 and received a
phone call from a number I didn't recognize. Sometimes I don't answer
those, but I think I will from now on!
About 6 months ago, I got back in touch with a close friend from
University. Patrick and I used to get into trouble together, failed
first year together, etc. I recall one night after the bar had closed
at the University, we decided to drive to Montreal for the weekend...
except it was only Wed (well, early Thursday). Pat taught me how to
drive standard – or rather had me drive his car home from the bar
because I was drunk but of course with my drinking ability, I would
still blow under the limit, whereas he was well over. Enough said.
There are many more stories over the course of several years, but I'd
rather not repeat them, especially in such a public fora and one where
my family are also reading. In catching up, I mentioned to Pat that I
was going to Burkina Faso. Pat had moved to Germany after university,
then to South Africa about 10 years ago. He told me that he regularly
visits Ghana and Burkina Faso as they are expanding into that area.
Pat is now the Director of Sales for that company (Lincoln - they sell
lubrication systems for machinery). Pat asked me about how well I
speak French and intimated that they might be looking for someone to
open an office in Burkina for them. I figured he wouldn't be
interested in me once he saw my CV since I really don't have any
experience in that area.
So to make an already long story short, I got a call yesterday from
Pat's business partner, Steve who is located in Ghana. He asked if we
could meet to discuss a potential position. I met him 45 min later, I
brought Loren with me because I figured if I couldn't help him, that
Loren very likely could. So Steve laid out for me something of what
the company does, where their clients were located across Burkina,
mostly mines, and an outline of the position. Having worked for the
government for 7 years, I'm not accustomed to working at the speed of
business. He offered me the position right there and I accepted. The
salary is good, about $2500USD per month, it comes with a car and
computer, and as long or short a contract as I want. I have to travel
occasionally but it's not more than a few days per month where I would
be gone overnight. Steve has young children too so understands my
concerns about working long hours and being away a lot.
Essentially, the job is to open an office here. Steve laid out the
requirements, where they were at in terms of opening their business
and infrastructure – bank accounts, I need a working visa, staff,
technical support being provided from Ghana, travel, they have
accounting and invoicing systems in place, I just have to learn them.
There of course is a huge learning curve here in a number of ways.
Some are probably thinking that I've gone to the dark side working for
manufacturing and mining from my usual environmental framework, but
they also carry environmental products for cleaning up hydrocarbons
like in-situ soil remediation products which have been of interest to
me since I worked in environmental consulting about a decade ago. So
there is an opportunity for me to do technical sales on those products
as I develop product and service knowledge. Pretty cool all around in
my opinion.
I'm dizzy with happiness but this is of course tempered with the
reality that this is going to be REALLY hard – lots of learning, lots
of challenges and it's so totally different from what I'm used to and
yet still has an element of what's important to me. I was very clear
with Steve that I felt there was a large gap between what he was
looking for and the experience I actually have. He didn't seem
concerned. He was largely looking for someone he could trust, who he
could train. Not sure if it's what I came here to do, but I suspect it
will lead me in the right direction – the next stepping stone as it
were.
I have a long history in my life of times where I felt like I was
waiting for something to happen and then just as I was getting
impatient, something would appear miraculously as an answer to what I
really hoped for. This is an example of that. The irony that I have
been (not so) patiently waiting to buy a car so I can go look for a
job, a task I was not really looking forward to anyway, and here a job
lands in my lap that comes with a car and so much more. I was also
recently working out my finances and figured out that if I want to
come home next August without debt that I needed a salary of about
$2500 (Cdn) a month to do that and here I get a salary that is more
than I need. I would say someone is watching out me.
Still, wish me luck!
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