work update
back in june i posted that work at the nursery was going well and that i had an informational interview coming up with someone at the national park service. to pick up where i left off...,
the informational interview went well. it was very helpful to find out more about what they do and how they work. however, it led me to believe that i'm rather unlikely to break into eco-restoration monitoring. the way the national park service runs their monitoring program is to have one person who does the data analysis, another person who does the communication piece, and a full-time botanist who hires seasonal help to do the inventory work. i am certainly not qualified to be a botanist and have no plans (or desire) to go back to school, spend more money, and get yet another degree. i have enough of those, thanks. and unless the data guy or the communications person quits, there's virtually no way to get in there. aside from that, the eco-restoration industry is small and i know i do not want to do the seasonal manual labor part of it either. so, all of that got me to thinking about what's next for me.
i know i don't want to do landscape design for a living. and though i really enjoyed working at the nursery at the end of spring, the summer months are pretty boring. july was a real test for me. not only was it the hottest july on record in the DC region, there is simply very little foot traffic in the garden center in the summer. without customers to help, the day drags on very slowly. at times, it was mind-numbing.
i also feel a bit lonely there. i'm an overacheiver by nature and i take work pretty seriously, so i tend to just work, work, work, and don't really take many breaks to chat with coworkers. i water plants in one section while someone else waters plants in another section. our paths cross occassionally, but it's pretty solitary work.
throw on top of that the extremely low pay and lack of benefits.... yes, it's low stress and at times very fun, but in the end, i think i need more stimulation and frankly a higher salary to pay for some of the things i really enjoy doing (i.e., traveling!!!).
so despite the fact that just a few weeks ago, i said that i'm not ready to leave, i am starting to lay the groundwork for moving on this fall. i'm trying to keep my options open and not miss good opportunities if/when they come along.
the things i really enjoy about the work i've done to date include SAS programming and conducting trainings/public speaking. (i love helping people who want to be helped.) and i believe i'm very good at both, so those are two avenues i can certainly pursue.
just as i started getting bored at work and began thinking about next steps, some opportunities presented themselves. there is one job prospect on the horizon that i'm excited about, but don't want to go into too many details about publicly just yet. truth be told, i don't have a lot of details right now, but it's potentially lucrative and hopefully rewarding too! that one would be SAS programming.
the other opportunity that has come along is actually with my old job. this is a temporary thing, but will be great to bring in some extra cash. basically, one of my last projects was doing quite a bit of data analysis on trends in hours worked by physicians. i left before the work was finished. they're drafting an article to submit to a journal, need some additional data work done, and i'm in the best position to do it. so it looks like they'll make me a temporary employee, i'll go in maybe one day a week to do some data work, and will give my feedback on the article. i'm already a co-author, given that i did much of the work, and am excited to be able to finish it up (especially without getting dragged into staff meetings and what-not!).
in related, but different news, i had dinner at my old boss' house a couple of weeks ago (not my supervisor that i had difficulties with, but my boss with whom i enjoyed working). he and his wife just had a screened in porch renovation finished and want to hire me as a consultant to give them some ideas for their yard. now granted, i already said i don't want to do landscape design, but i see this as a little bit different. i'm not intending on giving them a detailed drawing to scale. this is more like talking with them about plants that might work in various places and what plants won't work. i think that'll be kinda fun. not sure when i'm going to fit that in since i'm essentially booked for the next 4 weeks, but eh, i'll figure something out. hehehe
so, as you can see, i have lots going on at the moment career-wise. it's exciting to have prospects, especially in this crappy economy. i'll keep you posted.
the informational interview went well. it was very helpful to find out more about what they do and how they work. however, it led me to believe that i'm rather unlikely to break into eco-restoration monitoring. the way the national park service runs their monitoring program is to have one person who does the data analysis, another person who does the communication piece, and a full-time botanist who hires seasonal help to do the inventory work. i am certainly not qualified to be a botanist and have no plans (or desire) to go back to school, spend more money, and get yet another degree. i have enough of those, thanks. and unless the data guy or the communications person quits, there's virtually no way to get in there. aside from that, the eco-restoration industry is small and i know i do not want to do the seasonal manual labor part of it either. so, all of that got me to thinking about what's next for me.
i know i don't want to do landscape design for a living. and though i really enjoyed working at the nursery at the end of spring, the summer months are pretty boring. july was a real test for me. not only was it the hottest july on record in the DC region, there is simply very little foot traffic in the garden center in the summer. without customers to help, the day drags on very slowly. at times, it was mind-numbing.
i also feel a bit lonely there. i'm an overacheiver by nature and i take work pretty seriously, so i tend to just work, work, work, and don't really take many breaks to chat with coworkers. i water plants in one section while someone else waters plants in another section. our paths cross occassionally, but it's pretty solitary work.
throw on top of that the extremely low pay and lack of benefits.... yes, it's low stress and at times very fun, but in the end, i think i need more stimulation and frankly a higher salary to pay for some of the things i really enjoy doing (i.e., traveling!!!).
so despite the fact that just a few weeks ago, i said that i'm not ready to leave, i am starting to lay the groundwork for moving on this fall. i'm trying to keep my options open and not miss good opportunities if/when they come along.
the things i really enjoy about the work i've done to date include SAS programming and conducting trainings/public speaking. (i love helping people who want to be helped.) and i believe i'm very good at both, so those are two avenues i can certainly pursue.
just as i started getting bored at work and began thinking about next steps, some opportunities presented themselves. there is one job prospect on the horizon that i'm excited about, but don't want to go into too many details about publicly just yet. truth be told, i don't have a lot of details right now, but it's potentially lucrative and hopefully rewarding too! that one would be SAS programming.
the other opportunity that has come along is actually with my old job. this is a temporary thing, but will be great to bring in some extra cash. basically, one of my last projects was doing quite a bit of data analysis on trends in hours worked by physicians. i left before the work was finished. they're drafting an article to submit to a journal, need some additional data work done, and i'm in the best position to do it. so it looks like they'll make me a temporary employee, i'll go in maybe one day a week to do some data work, and will give my feedback on the article. i'm already a co-author, given that i did much of the work, and am excited to be able to finish it up (especially without getting dragged into staff meetings and what-not!).
in related, but different news, i had dinner at my old boss' house a couple of weeks ago (not my supervisor that i had difficulties with, but my boss with whom i enjoyed working). he and his wife just had a screened in porch renovation finished and want to hire me as a consultant to give them some ideas for their yard. now granted, i already said i don't want to do landscape design, but i see this as a little bit different. i'm not intending on giving them a detailed drawing to scale. this is more like talking with them about plants that might work in various places and what plants won't work. i think that'll be kinda fun. not sure when i'm going to fit that in since i'm essentially booked for the next 4 weeks, but eh, i'll figure something out. hehehe
so, as you can see, i have lots going on at the moment career-wise. it's exciting to have prospects, especially in this crappy economy. i'll keep you posted.