Career Transitions
We were wondering, what do you actually do?
Jan 22nd
I rocked my red pumps (the female equivalent of a power tie), my pencil skirt, and my perfectly pressed white shirt. I greeted everyone who came within a first down marker of me. I said the right things during my meetings and introduced myself to the right people during my down time.
Perhaps this getting back to work thing would be not as difficult as I imagined.
This perspective changed quickly, though, towards the end of my second day when I was hit with the question. Yep, the question.
“We were wondering,” the most vocal member of a group of women who were getting ready to call it a day said to me, “What do you actually do?”
There were many things that I was hoping to hear from this group of women. “We are glad to have you on board.” “We are excited to have your skills on our team.” “We cannot wait to work with you further.” These all would have fit the bill.
“What do you actually do?” does not have quite the same ring to it. The irony, of course, is that I thought re-joining the workforce would answer this question, not perpetuate it.
Joining an organization or holding a title, I quickly learned, does not mean that your purpose or your goals instantly become clear. A job does not define a person. A person defines a job.
The question the women posed to me is a fair one – what do you actually do?
And, I answered as truthfully as possible. “To be honest,” I said, “I am still trying to figure that out.”
This original post, and other twenty-something ideas, can be found on my blog: http://twentysomething-tryingtofigureitout.blogspot.com/
Learn more about Lindsey by accessing her bio at: http://humanelementblog.com/about/about-lindsey-schantz/
Just Ten More Minutes, Please
Jan 14th
Why are people so quick to equate success with waking up early?
Consider the fact that those who work late into the night should reach their goals before early risers even knock the alarms off their bedside tables. Does this make you think about the early bird in a different way?
As you may have guessed, I am a night person. I can work and innovate and create at all hours of the night. Ask me what my name is before 8 am and I will have to “check on that and get back to you.”
Some people are allergic to peanut butter, some to wheat, and some to milk. Me, I am allergic to morning. Since peanut butter is banned from school cafeterias to protect those with a sensitivity to JIF and wheat free products are made to ensure the health of those who react poorly to gluten, why can’t similar concessions be made so that I do not suffer through my attempts to wake up before the sun rises?
How, in the working world, is my allergy to the morning being considered?
As I move back into the office-based working world, dealing with my allergy to morning has been one of my biggest challenges. And my very biased observational research indicates that I am not alone in my disdain for those early hours.
People I pass on my walk to work have tears in their eyes and it seems likely that something more than blustering winds is behind their unhappiness. People I enter my building alongside have looks of despair on their faces and I have to believe that more than the few-too-many drinks imbibed the night before is at play.
This is definitely one of those “generational differences” people talk so much about. Twenty-somethings were not raised to think of nine-to-five jobs as the path to success. And, as organizations look to re-engage employees in a post recession economy, it seems the twenty-something concept of a flexible work schedule needs to be considered more seriously.
Not only do flexible work schedules serve as a perk at no financial cost to organizations, but these schedules also allow people to work when they are at their best.
If the goal at any organization is to do just that – to get people to do their best work – does it matter where the big and little hands are pointing when this work is being done?
This original post, and other twenty-something ideas, can be found on my blog: http://twentysomething-tryingtofigureitout.blogspot.com/
Learn more about Lindsey by accessing her bio at: http://humanelementblog.com/about/about-lindsey-schantz/
