Job Gratitude...

You know, one of the things that I always tell myself if I have a bad day at work is that someone always has it worse than me.

This is not to say I had a bad day at work today. In fact, it was pretty decent. I may have just got another candidate a job if everything goes well. I like working with good candidates; they make it fun. Now I’ve been doing this job a while, I’m learning the way I like to do things. My strategy is simply to get to know the people I’m working with. I was taught in my early training that building relationships is important and I’m finding that to be true. I have one candidate who is going to start a new job with us in a week and he’s so comfortable working with me that he tells me the contents of his freezer. This sounds odd but it’s actually kind of endearing, believe it or not. In a job like mine where there’s a lot of completion to get the good candidates, it’s nice to have that type of relationship with your candidate. It means they trust me and feel like they know me which is exactly the way it should be. Changing jobs is a big decision in life and I like to make it easy for people by making sure that it’s the right thing for them.

I’m sure I’m a bit of a sucker. Some of the other recruiting companies out there are all about the resume. They pull thousands off Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com each day and just call the people, promising good jobs, high pay and benefits. However, they have a bit of an impersonal approach. Even if the candidate doesn’t really fit, they’ll try to shove them in a job anyway because they have a quota, they need the revenue and their client needs an employee. It’s a quick turnaround.

I could work this way but I don’t. I try to find out what the person behind the resume wants. Are they fed up of their job because they’re bored? Is the commute too long? Do they work overtime and they’re missing their kids sporting events? There’s always a reason and I like to find out. This way, it’s easier to find them jobs that actually fit rather than trying to make them fit the job. My way is slower than the ‘resume farm’ companies but it means I build up relationships and my candidates remember me. In turn, they recommend me to their fellow IT job seekers. It’s a nice feeling to hear that I was recommended because I did my job well.

Granted, hearing the contents of someone’s freezer is a little extreme but it’s all part of a day’s work. It’s nice to have days where I really get to work with people.

As I said before, working with people was one of the reasons I left my last job. I didn’t get to work with people unless you count my coworkers and, well, I really didn’t. Certainly, there were some good people there but it was such a cliquish, awkward atmosphere that the rather insane quiet of the cubicle farm where I worked was just not a healthy environment for me.

Now I have my own office and the buzz of my coworkers is around me. We communicate here. We have meetings. We have gatherings. We chat. We laugh. We do our jobs. It’s the way things should be in an office.

So, I’m not blogging today to whine about my job. My original intention was just to say that I’m quite lucky to have the job I do and I’m thankful for it every time I see someone doing a job I most certainly would NOT want to do.

One of the jobs I find the most baffling are the sign-holders on street corners. They hold signs advertising a store or restaurant. Sometimes, the more interesting sign-holders get bored and do a series of spins and flips with their sign to get attention. Of course, this means you can’t actually read the sign but, well, it’s sort of fun to watch.

I don’t look down on the sign holders. They’re clearly doing it for the cash/paycheck at the end of the day. Instead, I question the need for sign holders. If there’s a big neon sign visible during daylight and darkness only 400 yards down the road for a business from a sign-holder, what’s really the point of the sign-holder? Am I really more likely to go to Bob’s Furniture Emporium because there’s a guy on the corner holding a sign and pointing me there than I would be if I drove by it?

I suppose some people might pay attention to the sign- people who, say, didn’t know Bob’s Furniture Emporium was there. But, really, it seems a little silly.

I’m always amused by the Chick-Fil-A cow too. Someone dressed as the cow is often outside our local Chick-Fil-A trying to get cars to honk at him. I suppose those that recognize it as the Chick-Fil-A cow as they’re driving by may suddenly think, “hey…cow. It’s the Chick-Fil-A cow! Oooh, Chick-Fil-A!!! MUST STOP, TURNAROUND AND GO BACK TO CHICK-FIL-A RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I WANT A #1 COMBO WITH WAFFLE FRIES AND A COKE!”

Most likely, however, people can see there’s a Chick-Fil-A right there and a waving cow isn’t likely to make them decide to detour through the drive through any more than seeing the restaurant might.

Other jobs I’ve noticed lately that I’m glad I don’t have are being a salesperson on those carts at the mall. More specifically, those that sell the lotion-type stuff. If you don’t know what I mean, you’re lucky. They are usually manned by pushy salesmen who have some type of ‘miracle’ lotion and they’re rather aggressive as people pass by, trying to get people to try their free lotion sample. This also applies to the hair straightener sales people and the mineral makeup that isn’t the name brand stuff. What I’d like to see is a stand for something like, cupcakes, where the salespeople chase you down to eat their free cupcake samples. Alas, the closest I come to this is the person standing outside the cookie place with teeny samples of cookies on toothpicks. These people are NOT aggressive and often give you a look as if to say, ‘cheapskate. You know what a chocolate chip cookie tastes like. Just buy a damn cookie instead of eating my free ones.’

I’m also glad I’m not a furniture salesperson. In the extreme heat that we’ve been having, I’m very thankful I don’t have to work outside and I feel bad for people who do.

Though the list of jobs I am glad I don’t have could go on for pages and pages, I won’t bore you any longer. Just watch “Dirty Jobs.” I don’t want any of those jobs. Nor would I want “Billy the Exterminators” jobs because he deals with dead animal corpses, bugs and alligators. You get the idea. What it comes down to is that even when I have bad days at work, I’m still grateful to have the job I do. It doesn’t involve chasing people with lotion, flipping a sign or crawling into a basement to pull out a rotted raccoon corpse.

I admire the people who do those jobs because it means that I don’t have to and, for that, I am immensely grateful to them. I’m also appreciative that I have the job I do. And though sometimes I do have to remind myself of that, all it takes is the sight of the Chick-Fil-A cow outside on a 95 degree day to drive that home.

Happy Thursday!

Playing "Office"...

When I was a child, one of my favourite games to play was "Office." My dad had this old, old computer from work. It was before the days of quick loading computer software, USB's and flash drives. It didn't have a mouse. It was an all in one machine that didn't have an operating system. What it had was its own special language and nothing but green text on the screen. I was too young to know what it really did but I did manage to make up games on it. I'd sit and turn it on, typing away as if I was actually doing something. Nothing every happened except I made it beep. Yet, I had a fine old time typing and pretending I was in my very own office.

Other times, I'd sit at my desk in my room and pretend I was sitting in an office, my pens ready to go. I had a child's typewriter and I would type Very Important Things on it. It was one of the old school typewriters, no correction tape and an old ribbon that would dry up if you didn't ink it.

Office was one of my favourite games to play by myself. I think I attempted to solicit other players but it was hard to get anyone interested in writing letters and things.

You might wonder why I'm telling you about yet more of my rather odd childhood games. The reason is that, today, at my new job, I managed to finally accomplish that which I'd only pretended to have as a child: I have my own office.

It really isn't the first office I've had. When I was a legal secretary, I had an office but it wasn't really mine. It was a room they stuck me in and I was across the hall from our grumpy office manager who could watch my every move. When I was in my international market research job, I had an office but, again, this was just a room they put me in and we had to swap constantly. It wasn't really mine.

The office today is mine. I'm finally in a job where I don't have to be administrative support as I have in the past. I don't have to type memos for anyone. I'm in my very own office doing my very own job. I have my own supplies and even have the freedom to order more supplies if I'm lacking anything. I have a new computer with the newest versions of Windows and Microsoft Office on it. I can close my door. I can decorate my office.

It's an exciting thing. I think if I hadn't been so...deprived in my last job, it probably wouldn't seem like such a big thing. However, when you used to have to take whatever office supplies were available or bring in your own and you didn't get new software, even when you needed it....it's the small things that make a new job all the better.

Better yet, I'm getting training.

(Private aside to one of my readers, known as Raindancer...YES, Raindancer, there IS such thing as training in a job! It is not a myth! It exists. I am living proof that it is possible!)

This, again, may not seem that unusual but...it actually is compared to my last couple of jobs. There was no training in those except to possible read a handbook. In this job, I'm sitting down with my boss and learning things.

It's exciting. I won't lie and say it was a perfect day. First days are always awkward. It's a strain to have to keep taking in the new information and to get to know the coworkers who have been working together for years. Yet, they all seem so nice. I'm a bit alarmed by that. It's a bit like the first time I went to Chick-Fil-A. That is the first fast restaurant where everyone in there was happy, genuinely friendly and seemed to like their job. I thought it was creepy at first, being used to the typical fast food experience of having someone take your order without making eye contact and being as slow and unfriendly as possible. Then I realized that it was a good thing. I like going to Chick-Fil-A.

My office is a bit like Chick-Fil-A. My coworkers have been there for years. They like their jobs, the office and one another. They're willing to share knowledge without trying to steal credit for each other's work. They don't gather in each others' offices, close the door and whisper.

It's a change and a welcome one. While my first day was exhausting, I'm pretty sure I'm going to like it a lot.

If you've ever seen the movie, "Working Girl," there's a scene at the end of the movie where Melanie Griffith's character gets a promotion. She goes in and sits down at the secretary's desk only to discover that it's not her desk, she actually has earned an office.

Today, I felt like that. I felt the inner child in me rejoice at the actual realization of what used to be my imagination.

And, this time, I didn't just randomly hit buttons on a computer and pretend to do something. I actually hit real keys and did something. Also, I have a mouse and the screen isn't just green text.

I've come a long way, baby.

Happy Tuesday!

Fighting Ennui....

I'm very glad it's Friday tomorrow. I know I say that every week but this, by far, has been the longest work week in a while.

The problem is that while I no longer feel seething resentment towards my job, it's also stopped being as busy and hectic as it has been for the past two months. I have a project I'm working on and I like it. It's just...boring. I don't mind having the project to work on during downtime and slower periods but it's the kind of project that when you work on it for eight hours a day, you start imagining different ways to beat yourself repeatedly in the head.

I've been working on this project for three days without any other projects rearing their heads to give me a welcome distraction. Yesterday, I honestly felt I was going to split in two with insanity and start running through the office, waving my hands above my head and speaking gibberish. I felt as though I were trapped in a cage and there was no escape.

Of course, the end of the day came and I did escape. It was fine until today. I didn't feel so insanely trapped today but I felt the waves of ennui start to sink in and I found myself finding ways to distract myself.

I can't surf the internet like I used to before we became a CORPORATION. When we were a not-for-profit, owned by the university, we had freedom. These days, they log our internet useage and block a lot of sites. Last week, I googled for an answer to a Microsoft Access/SQL query question that I had. I clicked on one of the sites that came up and I was given a blank screen with "This site has been blocked because it contains pornographic content."

I found myself having the urge to shove myself back from my desk, stand up and put my hands in the air and yell, "I'M SORRY! I WASN'T LOOKING FOR PORN, I PROMISE!"

Apparently, I'm not the only one. Two other coworkers have had the same experience when searching the internet for a work-related issue/question and they, too, had the same response.

Anyway, with messages like that when searching for Microsoft Access information, it does add a certain level of control over us humble employees because you never know when you're accidentally going to find a site that contains pornographic content.

So, because my time to surf is limited/curtailed, I'm having to find other ways to amuse myself when I simply can't work on My Project any longer. My Blackberry comes in handy. I can access the internet on there. I've noticed that several coworkers are bringing in their little mini laptops to surf/do web-stuff. I could do that except my Dell Mini currently lacks memory and if I try to do anything, it crashes and refuses to let me. I need a new memory stick for it. It's on the 'to buy' list when I become a wealthy woman.

Since that's not likely to happen in the near future, I have to do away with the Dell Mini idea and rely on the Blackberry. This is a fine way to surf the web except it's quite hard to be subtle with it. Of course, I often walk in on my boss when he's playing with his phone under his desk. I don't quite know why he plays with his phone by holding under his desk so we can't see it since, you know, he is the BOSS. However, I have to admit, a couple of times I've walked in and he has his hands under the desk and he's fidgeting and, well....it looks like he's doing something else. Use your imagination. If it goes to the right place, you should be getting a "this site contains pornographic content" type of message.

Anyways...my other way of amusing myself is through our time-tracking system. It's a newfangled device my boss and fellow programmer modified that pops up every 20 minutes and says "So [Captain Monkeypants], What are you doing now?"

It's supposed to be a way for our boss to see how much of our time we devote to the different areas of our job. We enter in issues that we're working on or, in my case, components of the software I'm testing or documenting.

Except, my boss should have known not to put a program on the computer that says "so, [Captain Monkeypants], what are you doing now?" Because, I tell it. Oh, yes, I do.

Most of my coworkers enter in mundane things like "testing issue X" or "Working on documentation for X software."

Not me. I tell the software, named Time Buddy, exactly what I'm doing at that time. Not every day but, on days like today when my brain is leaking out of my ears with ennui, I do.

Today's entries contained things such as "Hi, Time Buddy! I'm currently pondering why they just posted a placard featuring a picture of a fire extinguisher above the real fire extinguisher because, well, it's baffling me. Also, I'm working on X".

And, "Time Buddy, you are very glad you don't have ears because they're currently sawing so much that my teeth are hurting and it turns out they're sawing to make a hole to put up a placard that features a picture of the fire extinguisher. Also, I'm still working on X."

I use Time Buddy as my outlet. Today, I told it that I was annoyed because it always asks me what I'm doing but I never get to ask it a question. I said "Knock Knock, Time Buddy!"

Time Buddy, obviously, did not answer.

I feel bad for my boss if he ever logs into the web site to where my entries on Time Buddy are fed. Some days, I seem like a normal employee and other days... I have days like today. Sometime,s I tell Time Buddy what I'm currently drinking- usually coffee, tea or a soft drink. Sometimes, I share the music I'm listening to on my iPod. Sometimes, I tell it that I just walked down the hallway in a zombie pose- arms outstretched and a lurching gait- which is, actually true for the record. No one noticed. It felt right, somehow. I did feel like a zombie. I walked like a zombie today.

I don't think my boss is likely to read my Time Buddy entries. If he does, I think he'll probably be rather entertained. I did warn him that I could be quite literal so if Time Buddy asks me "what I'm doing now," I will tell Time Buddy.

It's not like I don't tell it the work I'm doing. I also share some of the other things that I have going on because I'm big on multi-tasking. For example, if it comes up while I'm eating my rather naughty once-a-week breakfast of a Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuit, I'll tell Time Buddy what my thoughts on the sandwich are. Note to anyone- don't leave a Chick-Fil-A breakfast sandwich wrapped up in it's foil package for long because the heat from the chicken tends to steam the biscuit and make it go soggy.

Time Buddy knows this because, well, I told Time Buddy. It was bothering me and, well, Time Buddy did ask what I was doing then. Since I was internally grumbling as to the dampness of my breakfast sandwich, I made sure that Time Buddy knew it.

I have a feeling my ennui may stretch through tomorrow. I think tomorrow, I will continue my overly-honest answer to Time Buddy's question.

Hey, if it doesn't want to know what I'm doing at that moment, it shouldn't ask...right?

Happy Friday and have a good weekend!