In chapter 15 of my book Get Back Up a lot changes for me and my wife. Monday, February 26 would be my first day as a full-time employee at Ashton-Tate and on Saturday, February 24th our first child, Nicholas, was born.
During this time I was working two jobs. I was transitioning from a contract position at Ashton-Tate to full-time and I was also working at Power Up Software on the weekends testing printers. That was where I was on that Saturday when Suzie went into labor. Suzie was also working as a temp at another software company and was at work that day. The baby was due in two weeks and this was her final day before taking some time off. She was only working a half-day on this final day and was off at noon. She was looking forward to having the next two weeks off to prepare for the baby’s arrival. That didn’t quite work out, however, as her water broke while she was walking to the car. This certainly wasn’t her plan, but as was her way, she took it in stride.
She drove herself home, took a shower, and then drove herself to the hospital. She wanted to call me but she couldn’t remember where I was working, and since there were no cell phones yet the only thing she could do was leave a message on our answering machine telling me where she was.
I put in a full day of work and arrived home at six. When I saw the light flashing on the answering machine, I listened to the message and learned that Suzie was at the hospital having our first child. As I drove to the hospital I tried to remember all we’d learned in our Lamaze classes. We had a plan for this, and I was ready to help in every way I could when I got to Suzie’s room. However, by this point Suzie had been in labor for over six hours, and she had no idea where I was and when or if I would arrive. So, when I walked in the door all smiles and said, “So who’s ready to breathe?” I was greeted with a very stern “where have you been?” I replied that I’d been at work, but I’m here now, ready to help. The reply I got wasn’t as pleasant as I’d hoped.
Suzie had a plan for the last two weeks before the birth of our first child, and we both had a plan for what we would do in the delivery room, but as they say, man makes plans and God laughs. In any case, our first son was born a few hours later and we couldn’t have been happier. As we were holding our newborn son all I could think about were the number of ways over the years I had tried to make a living. I thought about the failed real estate ventures, the unsuccessful sports bar, and the bankruptcies. Now I’m not one to dwell on the past. I always believed that you learn from your mistakes and move on, but I knew none of these things could happen again. I then thought about my new job and decided right then and there that I would do whatever it took to make it a success.
So on Monday morning I was at work bright and early, and when I saw Bob I was quick to tell him I was raring to go. Bob, being the nice guy he is, started with the standard pleasantry of asking if I enjoyed my weekend. When I told him I’d become a father he was shocked that I was even there, but I told him there was no way I could miss my first day. He told me my first day could be tomorrow and sent me home.
I was glad to get to spend another full day at home with my new family, but between Suzie and her mother they had things well in hand. Suzie had wanted to be a mother for a long time and though I didn’t share her enthusiasm at first and was able to postpone the inevitable by bringing home three puppies over the years, the time had finally arrived. We couldn’t be happier and I knew I could throw myself into my new career without worrying about things at home. The next day I was back at work eager to make Bob very happy that he’d taken a chance on me. I also wanted to see how far I could take this career; after all I had a family at home that was counting on me.
I quickly learned that software testing was very similar to device testing. You still used the product like a customer would, hoping to find areas that didn’t work the way they should. I also knew you had to stress the product, trying to find problems that might occur when the product gets used in ways it wasn’t intended. For instance, if you were testing a phone you wouldn’t just make calls. Chances are that would work since the developer writing the code might test for that, but what would happen if you started hitting numbers while you were in the middle of a call? That shouldn’t disconnect the call. It was in these real user scenarios we’d find the fun bugs. Soon I was finding plenty of these fun bugs and Bob was indeed happy he’d hired me.
As the project progressed, we got to the time when we would have to start testing my favorite devices. My old friends: printers, plotters, and cameras. As on the last project, we’d be hiring contractors to do this testing. Bob came to me and said that he’d looked at my résumé again and this time he liked seeing all that fast food restaurant management experience and wanted to know if I would like to hire and manage these contractors. Of course, I was happy to, as moving into management was always my goal and really played into my strengths.
I called the agency that had placed me at Ashton-Tate and told them I needed to hire some people. They were thrilled to hear that I was doing so well and were happy to take some of the credit for placing me there in the first place. I reminded them that they’d done so without ever seeing my résumé and that I would appreciate it if they made sure they saw the résumés of the people they were going to send to me. We both certainly saw the irony in this.
In the next couple of weeks I hired three testers and while I now had the people I needed, we didn’t have the devices. Ashton-Tate was beginning to struggle financially and didn’t have the money to buy this equipment, so I told Bob I would call the printer companies and see if we could borrow the devices we needed to test. At first the companies were resistant to loan us the product they were in the business of selling. This took me back to my days as a salesman, where I’d learned that a “No” doesn’t always end the conversation. I had to show them the benefit in loaning us their product instead of selling it to us. I was able to convince them that by loaning the devices to us and having us support them with our new product, they would be able to sell more products over time. They were convinced and soon we had plenty of devices to test.
My career was going well over that first year. I had developed my skills as a software tester, moved into management and hired a team, and built a very well-equipped device test lab without spending any money. Things were going well at home too. Suzie was thriving as a new mom and at the end of that first year we were even talking about having another child. We thought that having the second child soon after the first may increase the chance that they would have similar interests and therefore be closer. Besides, I had a great job with great benefits so the timing felt right, and soon thereafter Suzie was pregnant with our second child.
The good times didn’t last, however. I guess I should have figured that something was up when Bob told me the company couldn’t afford to buy the printers we needed to test, but I was too excited to see if I could get them for free to think about it. But when I tried to buy an eight dollar cable for one of those printers and was told to wait until the next quarter, I knew something was up.
Soon after that the rumors began that we were being sold, and soon after that the layoffs started. Bob told me he’d keep me around as long as he could and he did just that until he was laid off. I was really starting to get worried, but I thought I should continue to do the best job I could as I knew some people would have to stay around to run things until the merger. So while other people were working on their résumés and interviewing for other jobs, I continued to do my job well. Every week more people were laid off, and each time I was asked to pick up the slack. I was happy to do so thinking that not only would I keep my current job, but maybe even have a job after the merger.
I was wrong, as soon I found out that only the people on the product support team would be retained, and on Monday, October 14th—only two days before my second child was due—I was given the news that my time at Ashton-Tate was done. Thankfully, I was given three months’ severance pay, and my insurance would continue for the next three months. Good thing, as two days later and right on time, our second child was born.
Suzie and I now had two sons, Nicholas and Steven, and I was once again unemployed.
Lessons:
- Even the best-laid plans will have to be adjusted as unforeseen circumstances occur.
- Don’t dwell on your mistakes. Learn from the past and move on.
- When somebody takes a chance on you, put in the effort to make them glad they did.
- In sales, when you hear a No, find out what the real objection is and work to overcome it.
George A. Santino helps people who want to break down barriers, including self-imposed barriers, to success. Check out his Amazon bestselling book, Get Back Up: From the Streets to Microsoft Suites.