30th of July 2012 saw me start my new role as a solution architect at Sainsbury’s and I was pretty hot and sweaty as I walked through the front door at their offices in Holborn. This was mostly due to having to wear a suit and tie in the middle of the summer that had finally arrived and partly due to nerves. Yes, I was actually nervous even though I have been in the workforce now for 17 years. My main concerns were that I don’t know anybody and I don’t know anything.
My fears will no doubt prove to be unfounded as it should not take long to get to know people and part of the reason I am here is to learn new systems and processes.
The first couple of days were quite difficult as I did not have a pc or a desk so was forced to use the communal hotdesk machines. This at least allowed me to login and start using email.
Then it came to be introduced to the first few projects that I will be involved with. Small amounts of involvement to start with but this is good as I know nothing of the technical details of each of them. I am being asked to provide Solution Outline documents which are initial options and Solution Architecture documents which go into a bit more detail. I have not produced these kind of documents before but fortunately they have a well documented structure and lots of help into how to do them so this will a good learning experience for me.
In my first week, I also got to go to Aston for a “Petrol Innovation Day”. What? Well, a number of sessions from suppliers around the Sainsbury’s Petrol Filling Stations. What do I know about petrol? I just about know where it goes in the car but that about sums it up. It was surprisingly interesting though and given none of the other Solution Architects know anything about petrol either and they are all too busy on their existing projects it looks like I have been volunteered to become the resident expert. Yay.
So, after 8 days in the office, it is time for a break. Holiday time! Off for a week in the sun in Mallorca. Lovely.
Hasta tardes…