Mary Stenhouse (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
laughingstone) wrote2011-01-19 11:09 am
laughingstone) wrote2011-01-19 11:09 am
Entry tags:
New Job Directions
The writing is on the wall. I've begun dusting off ye old resume. But before I can get my laser focus on and begin to manifest my destiny, I need to search my mind. There are doubts, detritus, questions.
I've done so many different jobs, in so many different industries, to varying degrees of success and happiness. I keep trying to get closer and closer to something that will be sustainable for me. Even though sustainability is, in many cases, a thing of the past in our job industry.
And for all the jobs I've done, I've wondered about tons more. I've read that NYC garbage workers are reportedly some of the most satisfied with their jobs.
I've also worked for myself a fair bit. I like the flexibility. And I love working with and for friends. It's so fulfilling to work in community.
Soome cataloging is in order. Starting from the beginning.
Things I've gotten paid to do:
Retail: Always meet new people. Active. Physically tiring. Fast-paced. Low wages. Have boss, but they are usually peripheral.
Self employment/marketing & writing: Challenging to keep a full pipeline. Relationship-building. Project based. Feels helpful. Unsteady pay. No boss. Flexible.
Self employment/house cleaning: Active, project-based. Satisfying. Good pay. Physically tiring. Love doing it for friends. No boss. Flexible.
Self employment/house renovation: Loved the physical part of it. Loved the problem solving aspect of it. Gave me a new confidence in my abilities.
Self employment/music: Just started getting paid to sing vocals for a musician's recordings. I love it so far! The pay is good.
Higher education/student services: Typically boring with lots of paperwork. Only occasionally interesting. Non-flexible hours. Offices usually have fluorescent lighting which I hate. Okay pay.
Preschool/parent involvement: LOVED speaking Spanish and working with Latino parents. They're such sweet people. Hated my corrupt supervisor. Low pay.
Digital newspaper/video producer: Still my fave job so far. But I felt the company was moving too slow, lacked accountability, and sales employees were being treated unfairly. Didn't feel like the company listened to me. Creative. Relationship-building. Believed in the product. Flexible. Low pay.
Yahoo!/Online editor: Lots of flexibility. Not an editor type, so didn't quite fit with the group. Boring work. Didn't believe in the product. Like working for a technology company.
Current company: Company does listen to me somewhat. Have lost faith in product. Social environment is tense, which is harder when there are so few employees. Can't get funding. Like some things I do: creating webinars. Don't like others: cold-calling. Generally like working around social media and in technology though. Somewhat flexible, but that flexibility is frowned upon by the CEO's daughter, who works harder than everyone else, but probably has hella stock. Sucky pay.
So my doubts right now are:
1. Will I ever find anything I enjoy and that pays well?
2. Should I keep trying to create a "career" or should I try to work for myself?
3. Should I write a book on my endless career search and make a lot of money? :)
4. If I feel that my purpose is to add beauty and spread happiness to the world, what is my career?
I've done so many different jobs, in so many different industries, to varying degrees of success and happiness. I keep trying to get closer and closer to something that will be sustainable for me. Even though sustainability is, in many cases, a thing of the past in our job industry.
And for all the jobs I've done, I've wondered about tons more. I've read that NYC garbage workers are reportedly some of the most satisfied with their jobs.
I've also worked for myself a fair bit. I like the flexibility. And I love working with and for friends. It's so fulfilling to work in community.
Soome cataloging is in order. Starting from the beginning.
Things I've gotten paid to do:
Retail: Always meet new people. Active. Physically tiring. Fast-paced. Low wages. Have boss, but they are usually peripheral.
Self employment/marketing & writing: Challenging to keep a full pipeline. Relationship-building. Project based. Feels helpful. Unsteady pay. No boss. Flexible.
Self employment/house cleaning: Active, project-based. Satisfying. Good pay. Physically tiring. Love doing it for friends. No boss. Flexible.
Self employment/house renovation: Loved the physical part of it. Loved the problem solving aspect of it. Gave me a new confidence in my abilities.
Self employment/music: Just started getting paid to sing vocals for a musician's recordings. I love it so far! The pay is good.
Higher education/student services: Typically boring with lots of paperwork. Only occasionally interesting. Non-flexible hours. Offices usually have fluorescent lighting which I hate. Okay pay.
Preschool/parent involvement: LOVED speaking Spanish and working with Latino parents. They're such sweet people. Hated my corrupt supervisor. Low pay.
Digital newspaper/video producer: Still my fave job so far. But I felt the company was moving too slow, lacked accountability, and sales employees were being treated unfairly. Didn't feel like the company listened to me. Creative. Relationship-building. Believed in the product. Flexible. Low pay.
Yahoo!/Online editor: Lots of flexibility. Not an editor type, so didn't quite fit with the group. Boring work. Didn't believe in the product. Like working for a technology company.
Current company: Company does listen to me somewhat. Have lost faith in product. Social environment is tense, which is harder when there are so few employees. Can't get funding. Like some things I do: creating webinars. Don't like others: cold-calling. Generally like working around social media and in technology though. Somewhat flexible, but that flexibility is frowned upon by the CEO's daughter, who works harder than everyone else, but probably has hella stock. Sucky pay.
So my doubts right now are:
1. Will I ever find anything I enjoy and that pays well?
2. Should I keep trying to create a "career" or should I try to work for myself?
3. Should I write a book on my endless career search and make a lot of money? :)
4. If I feel that my purpose is to add beauty and spread happiness to the world, what is my career?
no subject
In reality, I think a combination of your music (now with inconsistent pay) in conjunction with house cleaning/renovation and freelance writing marketing sounds like a plan that will keep you moving and busy. It'll involve being creative to add beauty and cleaning to add god(ess)liness which will make people happy and physical exercise. I think with the hydra approach, there will always be something to do and many ways for you to actually get money. The downside which most self-employed people find as not being a downside necessarily is that you will have to work a lot harder to maintain contacts and keep bookings for all the different things coming in and managing the different hats in your head-space. If you go the route of self-employment head first it will be your career.
I have a really hard time imagining you working in an office for an extended period of time and being happy there.
no subject
Yes, I like this amalgam approach and do see myself enjoying it. When I am busy, I am happy. The downside is the time it may take to steadily accrue my income and build my channels.
I guess it's the same for a start-up, except I could ideally learn more if there are experienced business people running it.
no subject
One problem for me with getting my own business going is my organizational skills are shit and I'm horrible at charging people for my services. i.e. I didn't realize my contractor fee I've been charging is about $60 an hour less than what I should've been charging. But at the same time my inner self has a really hard time raising that price because the work I do comes so easily to me it seems criminal.
no subject
The part that seems particularly attractive to me is not doing the same old thing day in and day out. That's one of the things about Corporate America that shits me the most.
The unattractive part, for me, is the schmoozing requirement. I wish I could hire somebody to do that for me. I guess that would be a contracting company, though, who'd then effectively be my boss instead of vice-versa, which wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't the pressure to work the hours I'd rather avoid.