Рассказ о карьере - часть 3

На английском языке взято с блога http://moneyandsuch.blogspot.com/

My career decisions during business school left me working for a small start-up (новой компании) in Denver, Colorado. The CEO (исполнительный директор) of this company trusted (доверял) and respected (уважал) me. I earned this respect (снискал (заработал) уважение) by getting the company its first multi-million dollar deal during my summer internship (стажировки). Within a month (в течение месяца) of starting full time employment with the company I was promoted to (меня повысили до) Chicago Branch Manager, and shortly thereafter (вскоре после этого) I was promoted to VP of Operations and joined (присоединился к) the company's management team. As part of that latter promotion (в связи со своим последним повышением) I was also responsible for (я отвечал за) managing about 80% of the company's staff (персонала). There I was, just a few months out of business school, running (управляя) a 50 person team. Of course, I was woefully underprepared (ужасно неподготовлен) for this role. I had never managed a team of that size (размера) and complexity (уровня сложности). I made some pretty big (довольно крупных) rookie errors (ошибки новичка). However (однако), the nature (сущность) of the company was such (такой) that I was more qualified (компетентен) than most members of the executive staff (руководящего персонала). Yes, that IS bad.

Within months, it became apparent to me (за несколько месяцев мне стало очевидно) that the company was going to run out of cash (у нашей компании заканчиваются наличные). We had a couple of incredibly large contracts (пара невероятно крупных контрактов) for a company our size (для компании нашего размера) but we did not have enough working capital (оборотных средств). You see, working capital is the money that you need to spend to deliver goods (на доставку товаров) and services. Unless your customers pay up front, you use your working capital before your customers actually pay you (если клиенты не расплачиваются заблаговременно, вы используете оборотные средства пока клиенты не рассчитаются с вами). We had clearly grown beyond our ability to finance our operations (очевидно вышли за пределы возможностей финансировать операции). I raised the alarm (поднял тревогу), and pushed aggressively for a resolution (активно требовал решения), but in the summer of 2002 it became clear (стало ясно) that I was fighting the tide (борюсь с течением/лезу на рожон). I resigned (уволился) and later found out (узнал) that two months later, the company had to let go of about 70% of its employees (пришлось распустить порядка 70% сотрудников).
I am not proud of my track record (я не горжусь результатами деятельности/достижениями) in this company, but this was one of my most important learning experiences: I learned to accept the limits of my skills and experience (научился признавать ограниченность своих навыков и опыта). I learned I needed to be forceful (волевым) and vocal when I spotted a critical problem (обнаруживаю важную проблему). I also learned that the most important thing about a company is its management team - if the management team is not qualified for its job, the company will fail. Always.

Now, I was unemployed (безработным). I also had a newborn son (новорожденный сын), and was facing the dismal prospect of (столкнулся с мрачной перспективой) looking for a position in Silicon Valley. After a few months on the job hunt (после нескольких месяцев поиска работы) I was discouraged (обескуражен). I was starting to doubt (подвергать сомнениям) my decision to resign my former position. I was even entertaining (лелеял мечту) going back to being a lawyer... but only briefly (в течение короткого периода). That profession was simply wrong for me.

Instead (вместо этого), I decided to open my own business. My reasoning went as follows (я рассуждал следующим образом): I know how to do deals (совершать сделки), big and small. In my previous (предыдущей) company I was able to get a multi-million dollar deal signed within months (я мог в течение нескольких месяцев добиться подписания сделки на несколько миллионов). I could repeat the process as a consultant. I would hire out my services (буду предлагать свои услуги) to a certain kind of high-tech company (технологическим компаниям определенного типа) and help them find their first customers, for a small monthly fee (ежемесячный гонорар) and a large success based fee (гонорар за успех). I ran my business (управлял собственным делом) for about 2 years. My revenue (выручка) increased every single month (увеличивалась каждый месяц) of this two year period, but still (тем не менее), my overall income (итоговый доход) was much smaller than what I could be making as a full time employee. More importantly (более того/что еще более важно), I realized another something about myself (выяснил о себе еще кое-что): I hate working on my own (СА по себе/самостоятельно). I need the company of co-workers (коллег), team members and managers to feel happy. Working alone from my home office was not working for me.

Once again, it was time to make a change.