My New Job

And in other news ... more details about my new job =) Just as I did with my last two jobs, I won't go into too much detail about the company I will be working for nor will I divulge too much about my co-workers. That's only because I don't want to get into any potential legal trouble (these days ... you just never know!). But I can share a little bit about what I'll be doing and general things about my new job.

Basically, I will be working for an academic institution and I will be working in the Career Development group. My job can pretty much be divided into two parts. Half the time, I will be working with students. I will be helping them develop career goals and objectives. I will be giving individual coaching and facilitating group workshops on resume writing, interview preparation, job searching, networking and general business etiquette. I will be helping them draft business letters and helping them transition from the academic to the corporate world. The other half of the time, I will be meeting with local businesses. I will be making presentations about the school I work for and presenting to them the profiles of our students. My networking will hopefully lead to getting jobs for the students. I will also be organizing career fairs, open houses and informational interviews.

The reason I wanted this job ... well, it met a lot of the criteria I had set:

1.) Career-wise, it is doing the three things I love most. First, I still get to do coaching and training which I absolutely enjoy. Second, I get to work with a lot of people (students and professionals). And third, I get to do sales and marketing which is my background.
2.) I feel that it has a sense of purpose ... I love the fact that I will be helping / mentoring students. Through the years, I have had several mentors that have helped me at different points in my life. When I was in college, I had a professor, Alex Puente. At UC Berkeley I had my adviser, Bill Hess. During grad school I had a professor, Catherine Sim. Professionally I had Carol Segrave and Marshal Backlar who showed me the ropes and shared career advice. All of them had such a profound impact on what I wanted to do with my life that I am so glad to have the chance to get to do this for other people too.
3.) I know the third reason may be a bit more shallow but it is pretty important to me. The commute is really awesome. My new job is a 5 minute drive from where we live.
That's pretty much it ... for now.

Now, here are the things I had to compromise on ... although "compromise" may be a strong word because, in all honesty, I do not really mind all that much.

1.) Compensation ... it is definitely less than what I used to make at my last job. But really, and I don't mean to sound self-righteous here, it does not matter all that much to me. I can't say it does not matter at all ... because of course, I like money just as much as the next person ... but at the end of the day, it is not my number one priority at this time.
2.) Schedule ... is a bit more erratic. The department is open Monday to Friday from 8:00 AM till 9:00 PM and on Saturdays till 5:00 PM. We have to rotate our shifts so that we have all those hours covered. Which means I will sometimes have to work afternoon-to-evening shifts and come in on some Saturdays as well (Monday would then be my day off). But really, since it is so close to home, I don't think it will be too much of a problem. Plus Jojo is giving me his full support and has promised he will be taking over dinner duties when I have to work late.
I think that's about it regarding my "compromises" ... but of course, we shall have to wait and see!