I’m nearly a month into my tenure at Bisk. I’m still the New Guy, but I already can tell I’ve found the right place for the next stage of my career.
I know that because the people I’ve met have been open and generous, and the onboarding experience was thorough — and incredibly useful.
I could not have asked for a smoother re-entry into office life.
For two years, my office was any place I could plug in my laptop and place my coffee mug within easy reach. I took care of my two sons after school and during the summer.
That wonderful work-at-home parenting experience was made possible by a steady flow of freelance work and by my wonderful wife’s salary. It was a sweet situation for our family. We were fortunate to revel in it for a while.
In fact, it took a lot to convince me to return to office work. I wasn’t going to go back to commuter life for just any old job.
Enter Bisk.
The Right Job, the Right Time
I knew a few things about Bisk. I knew about the company’s mission to help people improve their lives through online education, and I knew a number of former co-workers from the Tampa Tribune had successfully made the transition from newspapers to digital marketing at Bisk.
These were appealing qualities.
I wasn’t job hunting, but I always stayed alert for career opportunities. When I saw an opening at Bisk for a marketing position, I applied.
My recruiting contact alerted me to another opening, digital content specialist, which was an even better fit for my skill set and experience.
The recruiters and managers at Bisk treated me well through a series of interviews. In August, I gladly accepted an offer to join the company.
I felt pretty good about returning to office work after two years as a home-based freelancer. Even so, I didn’t know what to expect.
The best companies make the onboarding experience for new employees as smooth and informative as possible. Bisk gave me the kind of welcome every new worker would appreciate.
My supervisor, a former Tribune co-worker with some serious editing chops, laid out my onboarding schedule. It was a two-week crash course in all things Bisk, including:
- Seminars on the Culture of Bisk and the Business of Bisk
- Plenty of time to independently familiarize myself with the online education websites that Bisk operates
- Time to study relevant industry surveys and annual reports
- Lunches with fellow digital content specialists, the social media team and my boss’s boss
- Meetings with members of every team connected to ours: paid search, video, paid media, SEO and marketing automation
- Half-day “shadow” sessions with two fellow digital content specialists
- An explanatory session about how Bisk implements various elements of digital content to meet the needs of its client schools and students
Every meeting, lunch and shadow session shed more light on how the digital content team fits in with the rest of the marketing department. Each day, I left the office feeling more informed, more a part of things, better grounded and more confident.
My co-workers and managers made it easy. Through casual conversations, we found common ground. I was invited to participate in an office fantasy football league, which I fully expect to dominate.
So far, so good. Except …
A Moment of Mild Panic
There was one small hiccup. It was totally my fault.
On my third day at Bisk, I left my ID badge on the kitchen table at home. This was a problem. At Bisk, ID badges unlock the doors.
When I realized I had forgotten mine, I felt my face go red.
I was half-way through my morning commute. I checked the clock and cursed the rush-hour traffic. Too late to turn back.
Wonderful. Less than a week into my new job, I’d spend the day as the shady, unfamiliar character loitering by the door until someone happened by. Or I could just text my new boss and ask him to come let me in every time I came to a door.
I’m sure he’d be just fine with that as I moved from meeting to meeting all day.
Either way, not the first-week impression I hoped to make.
I needn’t have worried. I arrived that morning for a new employee orientation session and knocked on the door at the HR office. My new best friend du jour, Audra of the HR department, let me in and issued me a temporary badge.
Self-made crisis averted. Lesson learned: Leave my ID badge where I won’t forget it in the morning.
Naturally, questions remain.
How will I fit into the company culture long-term? How will I contribute value? How will I spend my fantasy football winnings?
All in good time. Four weeks in, it’s enough to know I made the right decision by coming to Bisk. Through a well-planned on-boarding experience and genuine warmth, they’ve made me feel right at home.
Written by Carter
