I was hired into my new position based on my administrative operations and continuous improvement background and my leadership skills, not on my familiarity with the work my team is doing. This creates a challenge because while I am trying to learn my job, I am also trying to learn my staff’s jobs- not enough to be an expert, but enough to understand. To help with this, it was decided I should attend the NCURA (Nationalread more…
Do you ever have those moments during the day when you stop and think- wow, this really is my job? I have been having those a lot lately. To say I am excited about the new job might be an understatement. A lot has to do with my recent post about being a leader. I am now in a position where I am not only expected to lead my team, I am expected to be aread more…
It is time, once again, to talk about a job high school students have never heard of. This time, we are looking at research administrators. High school students have all heard about actual researchers. They have lab accidents that turn them into superheroes, work with nanotechnology, invent invisibility cloaks, and try to solve the problems of faster than light travel, curing cancer, or finding secret messages in DaVinci’s works of art. (Some of these things mayread more…
When I was going through the hiring process for my current position, we hit a little snafu with the references. You see, my former company, in its decision to do three rounds of layoffs (I went in the second round- the management round), also decided to really push the organizational policy of “don’t provide references”. Managers were told not to provide references and to refer anyone who asked to HR, which would only give them datesread more…
In my previous position, I had a direct report. She was an admin I inherited with the job. In my transition meeting with the person I was replacing, our discussion about the admin was basically “she’s been on a personal improvement plan, but the issue has mostly cleared up, so I’ll close that out before I leave.” That’s not exactly an auspicious start, and truth be told, it was not really an auspicious relationship. Do notread more…
This is my first week on the new job. I am slowly adapting from having a 7-3:30 schedule with a 10 min each way commute to an 8-5 schedule with a 60-90 minute commute. It is not a supremely easy transition, especially considering I had about 8 weeks of not working at all in between. Part of my new schedule it taking public transit. My commute could be slightly shorter if I drove, but it wouldread more…
I know I said I would try and do a stock market post this week. It will not happen. Things are just a little too busy. However, I do have good news to share. On July 1, I will return to the land of the employed. I am very excited about my new job. It will be with the University, where the benefits are great. I will still be marginally in healthcare (School of Medicine), andread more…
I accept that I am current receiving money to look for work- not to actually work, just to look for work. And I accept that even though I have paid into unemployment my entire working life and this is the first time I’ve drawn on it, there are hoops to jump through. I get that, I really do. But when jumping through those hoops, I’d really like it if, when one person tells me to figureread more…
There’s a new study out now that says in 40% of homes where there are children, the wife is the primary breadwinner. According to some pundits, this apparently signals the end of the world as we know it. It will destroy marriage and families and is responsible for the downfall of this country. (Or something along those lines.) Since we added SP to our family one month ago, we are now one of those 40%. Iread more…
You may have noticed that I appear to have lost all of my time management skills. It certainly feels that way to me, even though I know exactly how crazy life has been here, and that I am, in fact, managing to get a lot of things done every day, including all the actually necessary and important items. I love blogging, but truth be told, since it is not how I pay my bills, nor howread more…
