This week may go down as one of the less eventful weeks in
my life, but it was a week.
Career
I have continued to network and network and network in hopes
of maneuvering into a more visible position to apply for a job. I have found
that once I get into a certain groove, I can ask for help and a lot of people
are excited to help. It’s really difficult to find this groove though. I find
myself questioning in a social setting whether I should talk about my
work-seeking struggles. But then I do and I’ve been surprised that instead of
just nodding along people have put me in contact with new people.
I have to say that one thing I did not understand about
networking this much is how exhausting it would be. It’s a lot of cognitive
load to me to always be hustling for connection. Another thing is when I get it
to develop the right kind of filter on what information to share. Do I disclose
that I’m married? Do I share where I’m originally from? Do I talk about
spending half of my college career as a Theatre major?
I recently found myself talking about my leadership position
within my synagogue and then reflected back with mild horror about whether or
not it’s appropriate to talk about religion when I’m trying to get a job in
science. It was relevant, and it’s worth sharing that I hold a position of
power somewhere, but I still doubted myself.
When I just moved to The Golden State and lived with some
relatives, they often made fun of and critiqued my lack of filter. I feel this
commentary haunts me, especially as I try to have a more “grown up” job, but
don’t feel like a “grown up”. It takes a
lot of effort for me to understand what’s appropriate information to share in
any given situation, a major shortcoming I’ve been trying to work through. I
deeply value the friends and mentors who have explained ways for me to either
pick up cues better or just helped me practice what’s appropriate in work
situations.
My present solution has been to try to turn the conversation
towards the people I’m speaking with. When they ask about me, I’ve worked on
articulating what I want in a job in a way that would actually match a job
description. Some of the comments I’ve gotten from people I’ve networked with
have been that I need to highlight my work in certain areas (like how I helped
design a geochemical leachate study) where previous supervisors have told me
that work was irrelevant.
I’ve been working through understanding that the advice I’ve
been given within academia may only work in academia. Even there, the “advice”
might have been self-sabotaging because several people in positions of power in
previous jobs have tried to take my agency or credit from my work. I’m
beginning to see that that’s their problem; but it’s hard to let myself reclaim
seeing work I’ve done is worthwhile when I’ve been told it’s not.
Another problem I’ve encountered with the sheer amount of
advice I’ve been getting lately is that those dispensing it seem to not
remember I’m currently unemployed. I tallied up all the suggestions that people
have put forward and they currently add up to $1300. It’s good practice to set financial goals and
proceed forward in a clear path. But honestly it’s overwhelming at times as
well.
One thing that’s really bugged me several times are the
mid-level professionals who advise I get something because that will make me
look like a “go-getter”. This bothers me on multiple levels:
- It indicates that my academic and professional choices thus far are that of a slacker. I put myself through the best public university in the country and came out with honors; it really hurts to be called a slacker.
- It validates credential creep and sets a soft rejection such that I can’t overcome the rejection to actually move past it.
- It is difficult to not view this comment as sexist when I know men from the same exact program as me have gotten jobs in the areas I’m applying to. From the limited information I have seen (on social media, etc), men from my program with lower grades and less credentials than me have gotten jobs with regularity while I’ve been told I need to be more of a “go-getter”.
There have been several pieces of advice that I have and will act upon. One is going to more meetings where likeminded people, particularly people interested in water policy go to congregate. I am attending a meeting for the local branch of the Groundwater Resources Association this Wednesday. They were understanding of my unemployment situation and were flexible on pricing. I sincerely and truly appreciate that.
Health and Exercise
Another piece of advice I have received from multiple
sources is that I start working out. Ironically, professional advancement is
one of the very few motivators that actually work for me in a sports sense. I
generally detest any kind of workout that involves being alone and not part of
a team. But the few times I’ve done it with the goal of being more able to do
my job…BAM! I show up, I do well and I’m fine with it.
I don’t look like someone who can naturally lift 50lbs out
in the field all day, and truth be told: I can’t really. When I was back in the
Big Scrapple I did heavy lifting for a day and it exhausted me for a week and a
half. And that’s OK! It’s OK that I’m at the level of physical fitness I’m at
right now, especially as I’ve been working on endurance and basic maintenance
for quite a while.
But now is the time in my life when I need to step up. Now
is the time in my life when I need to get stronger. And that’s OK too. If I get
an offer for a job that requires I regularly lift 50lbs around a field site, I
am going to be ready. ^___^
Weight Lifting
PartnerPenguin was an absolute all star of a partner and is
so committed to supporting my decision he helped me out with finding a personal
trainer. We went to a mutual training session and the guy was just great! He went through three different lifts for
each of us and made sure we understood what proper form looked and felt like.
He broke down how important recovery was and exactly how we should approach
sleeping and eating. It looks like I’m about to get VERY familiar with a
million different ways to cook a chicken breast as I need to eat A LOT more
protein.
The three lifts I worked on were the squat, the bench press
and the deadlift. I appreciated learning how to do a squat properly because it
stretches and strengthens my shoulder in a way that’s been lacking in prior
workout routines. My initial weights are:
·
Squat: 33lb
·
Bench Press: 45lb
·
Deadlift: 85lb
I’m proud of my deadlift because when I did CrossFit for a
hot minute my maximum deadlift was 95lb. It seems like I’ll be able to reach
that weight again soon.
The program this trainer adheres to is the StartingStrength program so I will read up more on that method and also maybe teach
myself the overhead press somewhere down the line. PartnerPenguin got a lot of
good critique on his overhead press so he should be an expert at that soon!
Chances are high I’ll go back to the trainer before I try to teach myself
anything new because I’m terrified of hurting myself. But, in the words of
Todrick Hall “This shit’s expensive.”
Short-term job
I’m still doing temp work and honestly it’s been really
really great at teaching me some of the stuff I discussed earlier. My job this
past week was an interesting contrast with someone who was very open with her
sexuality and discussing wanting to get a boyfriend from the event compared to
my silence. Sometimes it helps to learn from other people’s mistakes.
The job was very physically demanding because we were
standing outside in direct sunlight and wind for 8-9 hours a day. It was an
interesting experience because the contractors for whom we were working were
international and didn’t really understand our work laws. At some point, our
direct supervisor’s boss commented to the supervisor that the Americans were
“lazing around” in the break room. I really admire the way the supervisor
handled it, which was come to us and ask us about our labor laws. We let her
know that we’re entitled to a ten-minute break every two hours and one
thirty-minute break within every five hours. It irked me though. Especially
since the event was an HR conference and generally HR folks are versed in the
most obscure labor laws.
Something really productive happened at this conference, and
I need to tell you! After Day One of conference I was pretty beat but followed
a lead to apply to a company as a mapping technician. It was for a
driverless car company and they could use my technical skill set without
the job relying on too much emotional labor, sign me up!
On Day Two of the conference, I was walking in to take my
break and I saw the office manager from the car company! I went up and
introduced myself to her and her colleague who works in manufacturing. She said
she would pass along that she’d met me and put in a good word for me. I was so
proud and surprised that I actually got some relevant networking out of this
conference. I really didn’t think there would be any relevant overlap at an HR
event!
I’ve also put my name in for an internship with a State
Agency that’s just been born. The pay will be what it is, but the social
capital opportunities would be excellent with that gig. We’ll see how it turns
out, but I’ll report back on that soon.
I think that’s about it on my end. I hope you’re enjoying
this beautiful summer weather but staying cool enough not to turn into a
puddle. Here’s a photo of my most recent
manicure, all sparkled up and ready for summer.
And to close out, with a song as always… I’m feeling silly
and nostalgic today, so here’s a little thing called “I Believe in a Thing
Called Love”. Saw this band in concert when they were a thing and they were
just as preposterous in person, it was magnificent.
And for those of you following along at home, remember that
I have a playlist with all the music I post on this blog. I also have
other playlists that are fun too.
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