Some interesting opportunities have opened up, and I want to document some of the choices I've made and why. In another fit of "Maybe I'll just apply for some OTHER crazy job!" I put my hat in the ring for a position as a developmental editor with a curriculum development company in Seattle. Remember, I wrote a ridiculous letter and put in for a position that a hundred people had already applied for? Well, I got a call back the next day (Ha!).
The call was from the director who confessed that he was too swamped to hire a developmental editor because they were behind on writing. It's a growing company with some very interesting projects, and the just need some extra hands right now. Would I be willing to take on a writing contract?
My feeling on writing contracts is that they are a good way to make money, but not really a career. When you work off-site, you don't hear about things like new openings, or extra work or other things that would make it easier to advance your position. They are a growing company, but will I get a chance to grow with them? And frankly, I find working off-site boring. I miss having awesome coworkers. That being said, I've also come to realize that contract work is what is developing my CV these days, and frankly I do like the work. And the money.
So I agreed to take on a 5 week writing contract. But it sounds like a 40 hour/week position. (Oh, and I'll be paid hourly, unlike my work with Words and Numbers where I bill per task). I consider contract work one of 3 jobs I juggle currently, and so I knew I'd need to push back on the other two. I notified my internship I was going to be away, and that I am planning to send them a status update this week. The scary conversation was to tell the bank I was going to need some time. I'm just a teller, so I didn't figure they would be interested in making concessions for me- but for a 5 week contract, it seems stupid to walk away from a steady pay-check.
I thought a lot about how to have this conversation- I knew I needed to ask for something, so I tried to ask in a way that made them feel like they were generous to offer (not that they OWED me this- Here's to negotiation training!). And I also tried to be really clear about what was already decided, and what wasn't. I have accepted a contract. It is a great opportunity for me. It will take up all my time. I don't want to leave you guys in the lurch, and I am not sure how to do that best. To his credit, my manager was very excited for me, and was able to give me everything I need to make this work. I'll be at the bank for 2 more weeks, and then I am going on a leave of absence. In August, I'll get back in touch and get my old position back. I may be at a different branch when I come back, but I shouldn't have to reapply for my job. I'm glad that I asked for that, because it makes taking this contract much less intimidating- as I said, it's a contract, not a career.
Showing posts with label bank. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bank. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
In which my grad work might have helped someone...
Something weird happened at the bank the other day- a client came in to make a withdrawal, and happened to mention that a family member was suffering from a rare disease. He said it in a way that had no expectation that I would know what he was talking about, but would empathize with his distress. He could not have possibly known that in my previous work, I was one of the few people on the planet looking for a cure for this rare complication to an already devastating disease. I didn't tell him that either, because seeing him upset about it made me feel like a quitter.
Much like the area manager who smokes, who I can't bring myself to berate about it even though I know all kinds of miserable things about why smoking gives you cancer, and the bad kind at that. What am I supposed to say? "I like you enough to let you know this, but not enough to find a cure for you when you need it..."
The conflict stems from the powerlessness of being a job hunter. When I was doing research, I could at least say I was making an effort to change the world, to cure disease, to save us all from suffering. Now I count people's money all day and try not to think about all the nasty chemicals that are on my hands. But, this is apparently the best I can do. It seems... unfair? is that too cliche?... hard to manage the emotional baggage of the job hunt. I know I don't miss doing research, but I think I miss doing something for the greater good.
The job market is at least 10 times better than it was in January, so my every free minute will be spent pursuing a job I don't have to feel guilty about, or will be too embarrassed to mention to my old boss.
Much like the area manager who smokes, who I can't bring myself to berate about it even though I know all kinds of miserable things about why smoking gives you cancer, and the bad kind at that. What am I supposed to say? "I like you enough to let you know this, but not enough to find a cure for you when you need it..."
The conflict stems from the powerlessness of being a job hunter. When I was doing research, I could at least say I was making an effort to change the world, to cure disease, to save us all from suffering. Now I count people's money all day and try not to think about all the nasty chemicals that are on my hands. But, this is apparently the best I can do. It seems... unfair? is that too cliche?... hard to manage the emotional baggage of the job hunt. I know I don't miss doing research, but I think I miss doing something for the greater good.
The job market is at least 10 times better than it was in January, so my every free minute will be spent pursuing a job I don't have to feel guilty about, or will be too embarrassed to mention to my old boss.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Corporate Job
Some phrases about the working world get bandied about so much I think I know what they mean, but often don't. You know, like how being a grad student meant you don't have benefits, or how if you went corporate you might get perks. Yeah. What does that mean anyhow?
I'll just compare grad school to my job at the bank- no two jobs could be easier to contrast, so here we go. As a grad student, my health insurance was paid for and I felt pretty righteous about pulling in a modest stipend. No amount of working more or less, taking time off or not would really influence my pay. I didn't pay into social security, unemployment or have any retirement benefits.
As a entry level teller, if I worked full time, would make the same modest income. I could get health insurance, and I automatically get a 401K (with 2% matching. It's like they pay me 102%!). I pay into all those entitlement programs like social security and unemployment, so my modest salary is a more modest take home. Oh, and I work for bonuses- I get referral bonuses, and we get quarterly performance bonuses. I can request Paid Time Off- I say I am not coming, they keep paying me, and no on makes me feel guilty for not working for a couple days. This is probably less total time then a grad student can get away with taking off before you have to have some serious talk about it though. My hours are set. There are on-boarding training programs to complete, and further training I can opt into to move up the promotion scale. At the bank, I dress nice every day.
In grad school, my hours were whenever, and the training I did was up to me. I dressed nice for talks, and I dressed like an Eskimo for the cold-room. And however hard all that failure was, I was expected to find my own way to whatever student services I might need (health center, counseling, advising whatever).
At the bank, something bad, of an abrupt, illegal nature happened. I fully expected my coworkers to be really supportive with each other about it, but I was surprised that lots of people from corporate have gone out of their way to make sure we are ok. They sent a counselor on-site, there is a 1-800 number to call for anonymous counseling services 24 hours a day. Sure, it might just be part of their soul-less corporate strategy to put caring-like tools in place to support their employees in their growth. It makes me think that taking a corporate job wouldn't be all bad in the long run...
Oh, and since my branch is also the site of the regional training center, I still get occasional post-workshop free food too.
I'll just compare grad school to my job at the bank- no two jobs could be easier to contrast, so here we go. As a grad student, my health insurance was paid for and I felt pretty righteous about pulling in a modest stipend. No amount of working more or less, taking time off or not would really influence my pay. I didn't pay into social security, unemployment or have any retirement benefits.
As a entry level teller, if I worked full time, would make the same modest income. I could get health insurance, and I automatically get a 401K (with 2% matching. It's like they pay me 102%!). I pay into all those entitlement programs like social security and unemployment, so my modest salary is a more modest take home. Oh, and I work for bonuses- I get referral bonuses, and we get quarterly performance bonuses. I can request Paid Time Off- I say I am not coming, they keep paying me, and no on makes me feel guilty for not working for a couple days. This is probably less total time then a grad student can get away with taking off before you have to have some serious talk about it though. My hours are set. There are on-boarding training programs to complete, and further training I can opt into to move up the promotion scale. At the bank, I dress nice every day.
In grad school, my hours were whenever, and the training I did was up to me. I dressed nice for talks, and I dressed like an Eskimo for the cold-room. And however hard all that failure was, I was expected to find my own way to whatever student services I might need (health center, counseling, advising whatever).
At the bank, something bad, of an abrupt, illegal nature happened. I fully expected my coworkers to be really supportive with each other about it, but I was surprised that lots of people from corporate have gone out of their way to make sure we are ok. They sent a counselor on-site, there is a 1-800 number to call for anonymous counseling services 24 hours a day. Sure, it might just be part of their soul-less corporate strategy to put caring-like tools in place to support their employees in their growth. It makes me think that taking a corporate job wouldn't be all bad in the long run...
Oh, and since my branch is also the site of the regional training center, I still get occasional post-workshop free food too.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
I'm not sure customer service is for me
One cool thing about working as a teller is that it is giving me a chance to explore a professional identity I hadn't had the chance to consider. Like it or not, banking is a LOT about sales and customer service. I took the job because I figured, what the heck, I'd like to be around people more. And I do like that part of the job. We have regulars come in, we get to chat with them about lots of different business; I get to learn about the challenges of retail, or accounting or consulting from our clients. That's cool.
But not all of our clients are like that. Sometimes they are having a bad day, some of them are jaded with the banking industry, sometimes we really screw things up for them. And I am supposed to be nice, positive and helpful will all of them. I don't have much of a problem smiling and saying, "Why don't I have you speak with my manager about this?" but it really makes me wary of who is coming through the door next. Sometimes they don't want to speak with a manager, they are busy and believe *I* should be able to deal with their problems, or they take offense that because I can see enough of their financial identify, I will suggest products to them. (In their defense, might not be very good at this part yet.) This isn't the major interaction I have with people, but it really dampens my enthusiasm for seeing other clients walk through the door.
Much like my thoughts on research, I either need to figure out a way to deal with the downside of this job, or accept that customer service and sales are not for me. This possibly doesn't seem like a major leap, but Clontech is currently trying to recruit a Ph.D. to a sales position in my region. I was contacted by a recruiter on LinkedIn about the position, and am very confident that No, that's not where I want to take my career.
On the other hand, as a teller I get to learn more about what is called Operations, which is a job I might be more interested in pursuing.
But not all of our clients are like that. Sometimes they are having a bad day, some of them are jaded with the banking industry, sometimes we really screw things up for them. And I am supposed to be nice, positive and helpful will all of them. I don't have much of a problem smiling and saying, "Why don't I have you speak with my manager about this?" but it really makes me wary of who is coming through the door next. Sometimes they don't want to speak with a manager, they are busy and believe *I* should be able to deal with their problems, or they take offense that because I can see enough of their financial identify, I will suggest products to them. (In their defense, might not be very good at this part yet.) This isn't the major interaction I have with people, but it really dampens my enthusiasm for seeing other clients walk through the door.
Much like my thoughts on research, I either need to figure out a way to deal with the downside of this job, or accept that customer service and sales are not for me. This possibly doesn't seem like a major leap, but Clontech is currently trying to recruit a Ph.D. to a sales position in my region. I was contacted by a recruiter on LinkedIn about the position, and am very confident that No, that's not where I want to take my career.
On the other hand, as a teller I get to learn more about what is called Operations, which is a job I might be more interested in pursuing.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Related to the last post
I've finally updated my voice-mail on my phone. I've been told that while not saying anything inappropriate, my old outgoing message made me sound unbelievably young. So, it's been updated. I'm also having a friend come over to take some profile pictures for LinkedIn- nothing fancy, but slightly better than you can take yourself with your own laptop computer. And since I am still wearing my work clothes from my job at the bank, I think I look reasonably well put together.
And speaking of the job at the bank- working is good. Training is good. Learning new things is always great, and getting to interact with society it refreshing. I'm wearing slacks everyday, testing out my wardrobe for professionalism and practicing doing my hair and make-up. It's nice to do this in the context of an entry level job, I can figure out what works and doesn't without ruining my whole career. But I do need some new shoes. And I don't think I should wear mascara to work. See? I am learning new things all the time.
I'll probably be back to the bank job in future posts, but if there was ever any worry about whether or not I might just settle at the bank, don't worry. Whenever it gets out that I have a Ph.D., the kids who are working their way through college until they can get a 'real' job laugh their heads off at me. No one means to be mean, but I always get asked "Why don't you get a job as a biologist?" Ha. As if it were that easy.
It's a little harder to balance my time with apply for jobs, meeting people and meeting my other obligations for volunteer and contract work now. But I feel so much better about doing it that I am sure it is worth it.
And speaking of the job at the bank- working is good. Training is good. Learning new things is always great, and getting to interact with society it refreshing. I'm wearing slacks everyday, testing out my wardrobe for professionalism and practicing doing my hair and make-up. It's nice to do this in the context of an entry level job, I can figure out what works and doesn't without ruining my whole career. But I do need some new shoes. And I don't think I should wear mascara to work. See? I am learning new things all the time.
I'll probably be back to the bank job in future posts, but if there was ever any worry about whether or not I might just settle at the bank, don't worry. Whenever it gets out that I have a Ph.D., the kids who are working their way through college until they can get a 'real' job laugh their heads off at me. No one means to be mean, but I always get asked "Why don't you get a job as a biologist?" Ha. As if it were that easy.
It's a little harder to balance my time with apply for jobs, meeting people and meeting my other obligations for volunteer and contract work now. But I feel so much better about doing it that I am sure it is worth it.
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