51. What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
• during high school and college I had a couple of customer service jobs, which really did not suit my inherent personality. However, the one that I liked the least was one of my graduate assistantships. My contract was split among four (?) professors, so there was little opportunity to get much detailed work done, much less to develop a relationship with any of them. The point of being a G.A. is to make a lasting connection while providing a truly useful service--neither of which I could do, in that situation.
52. What originally got you interested in your current field of work?
• "interested" is a strong word. I was pulled into this field by my 2-bosses ago manager. She had essentially eavesdropped my resume from the desk of the HR head, and set out to scavenge me. Although on paper it is a 'better' position, it suits me far less, is nowhere near as interesting, and is probably making me physically sick. The one thing it has going for it is that it is less ethically questionable--which is saying a LOT.
• during my last year of undergrad, I was taking more than a full load of classes and working three jobs. Does that count?
54. What’s your favorite part of the workday?
• the END.
55. What’s the best career decision you’ve ever made?
• that depends on the definition of 'best'. Most lucrative? Most surprising? Happiest? Most comfortable?
I have not had all that many jobs. Looking at it purely in terms of the places: the store, the first school, the restaurant, the business, the second school, the third school, the library, and the current one. There were a couple of true side gigs in there, cash jobs or whatever, that have never made their way onto my resume.
Most lucrative? Library. Most surprising? Current. Happiest? Business. Most comfortable? Library.
56. What’s the worst career decision you’ve ever made?
• Current. I would not go back in time to trade it, not even for all the gold in Fort Knox or the best job in the world, though.
57. Do you consider yourself good at networking?
• this question made me snort aloud. There is a certain segment of the population that would say, "Heck yeah, you're good at it!" And then the other 70% would say I am useless - complete shit.
58. What career advice would you give to your younger self?
• a. If you're getting graduate degrees - get the right ones, i.e. those in the jobs you actually want to do.
b. Always ask for 20% more than you think the job is worth.
c. Bring your own pen.
• quite the opposite, my motto - if I have one - would be closer to "don't get attached to the plan"
60. How do you separate your work life from your home life?
• I try, as much as possible, to loathe my job. That's doing the trick for the time being.
No, really--I am such an over-thinker that there will always be an inevitable leaking of one to the other. Being salaried probably made it the most "fair," because then I worked until the job was done and any extracurricular thinking was paid time anyway. That is not going to happen in the current gig, which is absolutely fine with me. They can have my time, but not my soul.
61. When will you know you've "made it"?
• I am not on an improvement plan, with a map and destinations in mind. I have not even mapped out the retirement situation yet, because it is so fucked up anyway (both financially and emotionally). I am much more a "wing it" than "worry about whether I've made it" person.
62. Are you looking forward to retiring, or do you plan to work as long as possible?
• if I could retire today, I would - and be glad of it. I have no great love for working, as such. There are plenty of ways to keep busy besides punching a clock.
63. Have you ever had "imposter syndrome"?
• nah
64. What do you think about workaholics?
• some of my favorite people are workaholics, though the one that I am thinking of disguises himself very effectively. as a lazy, silly, scatterbrained fuck-up. In reality he is one of the hardest and most perpetual workers I have ever known.
65. What qualities do you look for in a boss?
• my ideal boss is a combination of two early ones - the First School and the Business. Flexible, intuitive, trusting, trustworthy, personable, ethical, fun, capable of doing the job themselves (i.e. a Leader, not just a Boss), demanding but fair.
66. Do you have a professional mentor? If not, do you want one?
• I have different ones for different purposes, and nothing formal
67. Do you have a work best friend?
• yes.
• not as such. Back in the good old days when these things were possible, I adored our pre-game tradition.
69. How do you motivate yourself in your career?
• money. I like to eat, hence the job. I own a house, therefore I work.
Someday I would prefer to get past that, to be motivated by something internal again.
70. What's the best career advice you've ever heard?
• last day of 9th grade, one of my teachers wrote in my yearbook: "Remember History." I never had the chance to ask how exactly he meant that - the class that he taught? the subject in general? the topic? or the idea? - but it stuck with me. It eventually turned into a college major, and then a decade's worth of very intensive study. Since then, it has broadened into a more general philosophy for life. Enter the George Santayana quote from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Remember history. Learn from it.
71. What's the worst career advice you've ever received?
• ironically, someone once told me that I should go on to get a graduate degree in History, and for some dumbass reason I believed them and decided it was a great plan
72. When you started your current job, what most surprised you?
• how much goddamned MATH there was. I told them that I cannot do math, and apparently they thought I was kidding. Was not kidding.
73. How do you pick yourself back up after making a mistake at work?
• depends on the mistake. Some of them roll off; everybody has a bonehead move now and then, right? Some of them leave a mark, and some of the marks are permanent.
74. How do you deal with work stress?
• not very well, lately. I am sore, tired, anxious, quick to take offense, worried, extra prone to headaches, not sleeping well.... Short term, I need some time away, a back rub, and some help with a couple of projects. Long term, I need a different job. Period.
75. What energizes you about your career?
• theoretically, I am energized when I am doing good work (quality) that has good results (positivity), and being paid fairly for my time - and am left alone to get the job done with a minimum of intrusions
76. What's one work-related thing you want to accomplish in the next year?
• find. a. new. job.
77. Who has had the biggest impact on your career choice?
• I read that question and laughed out loud. Most of the important people in my life have had little to do with my career trajectory. This is probably due as much to my seemingly random approach to job-searching (see "wing it," above) as to my stubborn unwillingness to ask for or accept help.
78. What does your family think of your career?
• again, laughing. I have been a licensed attorney for 21 years, and working in estate planning and settlement for a little more than three - but no one in my family (or elsewhere) has felt compelled to name me as a fiduciary in their estate plan. I would not welcome the role, so it does not make me sad in the least. But I do find it funny, and indicative of my family's inability to see me as ... who and what I am, in this sense.
79. What's the best thing you've learned in your current position?
• the best thing I learned in this position has zero to do with the job
• yes, because working for this company changed my life in ways that I would not trade for anything
81. How much time do you spend with your family?
• I have not spent more than 10 minutes with any family member in the last three months. I see my parents usually once a week for a few moments at a time. My brother has been by the house (to take care of outside projects for me) a couple of times.
82. Who do you most like spending time with and why?
• in my family? They each have their moments.
83. Were you close with your family growing up?
• yes
84. How do you define your family now?
• I try not to spend much time 'defining' anymore. It is one of those old habits that seems to be more trouble than help.
85. What traits are most important to you in your family members?
• My mom is a really good problem solver. She would have made a great project manager. She is a phenomenal cook, though she does not like to do it as much as she did when we were all living at home.
• My dad can fix pretty much anything, and he is also really good at showing and explaining how someone else can work through fixing things, too. He can be startlingly intuitive, so secrets have a vexing way of burbling to the surface in conversation with him.
• My brother, the man of few words, has become a uniquely good friend. We have a specific sort of relationship, where we do only a few specific things, but we have also made room for a close, dear bond. Our text messages are a thing of beauty.
86. Who are you the closest to and why?
• is this the same as #82? Well, to broaden it - outside my family, there is a very small group of people with whom I share much of anything. A couple of elementary school friends. Two from high school. A few from college. Some from the library. And probably mostly, one from the current place. For many reasons, and for no good reason at all.
87. Do you want a family of your own?
• I already have one. (How insulting is this question?!)
88. What’s your favorite family tradition?
• at the moment, I am still thinking about those text messages with my brother, and in particular the ones on our birthdays. Classic.
89. If you could change your relationship with a family member, would you? If so, with whom?
• there are family members with whom a relationship ought to be different, yes
90. What was it like growing up as the youngest/oldest/only child?
• an unanswerable question. How would I know anything different? Birth order is all over the relationship that we all have with each other, and I do not think I would change that.
91. Does your family take vacations together?
• God no
92. What’s your favorite family memory?
• one favorite family memory? This is totally ridiculous: not too long before my wedding, I went out to my parents' house, along with one of my dear friends at the time. He happened to be one of the people who was going to sing in the wedding. No clue why we were out there, and I think it was the only time he was there. My mom was there, but Dad was away. The three of us were talking and telling stories, and got kind of silly. It devolved quickly and before long we were laughing so hard we could barely speak. Then the phone rang (my parents' landline). There must have been some reason to think it was important, or she would not have bothered, but my mom picked up the phone to answer. However, before she could do so, she realized she was still laughing too hard - so she handed the phone to me. I managed to maintain long enough to say Hello, and to listen politely for the first moment or two, but then I lost it again. I distinctly recall that it was a male salesman from Sears, cold-calling to sell something. I also remember that I could not stop laughing long enough to respond to him, and it was excruciatingly awkward and hilarious. My friend caught on, though, and pulled the phone out of my hand. He affected a higher voice and blurted, "We're not interested" before hanging up on the poor guy. That sent us all into another bout of hysterics. I do not think that I have ever laughed that hard in my life. It was glorious.
93. What TV family most reminds you of your own?
• no family like my family
• sure, is that not the same for everyone? I had no curfew and relatively few rules, but I also had to go without some things that I believed to be absolute necessities. And suffered through the indignity of hand-me-down everything!
95. What’s the best piece of advice a family member has given you?
• my maternal grandmother died when I was in high school. She had 6 kids and each of them had at least 3 children of their own, so the family was huge and our gatherings were chaotic. There was not much time for a heart-to-heart with grandma.
After she died, I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. Among the choices was college, which had not been done by my family before. It was, however, all that I truly wanted to do. I felt very conflicted about going for it; I was afraid of it financially, socially, and practically. Would I even be part of my family anymore, if I did something so selfish and strange?
The night before the final deadline for...something, I do not recall exactly what, but some "do it or give up" moment, I had a dream. Among other things, my grandma and I had a (brief) conversation, during which she told me to go for it. Much of the detail is lost, but I know that she said, "Listen to your heart." Totally not a Grandma thing to say, but, you get what you get, right? And so I did, and thus began my adventures in postsecondary education.
96. Do you wish you had more siblings? If so, why?
• nah, what I have is quite enough
97. Did you ever hide anything from or lie to your parents?
• yup
98. If you had a family business, what would it be?
• funky little alt-Christmas trees
99. Do you and your family have any nicknames for each other?
• not so much now that we are old. My brother still calls my mom something that the rest of us do not. I think that is the only one?
100. What's your favorite way to spend time with your family?
• eating warm bread with butter, and watching old movies or playing board games
[from here; the title quotation is by Ray Bradbury, from Dandelion Wine]
No comments:
Post a Comment