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advice requested

June 28th, 2007 at 04:13 pm

Had a very short job interview this morning. It would be as a project coordinator for a translation firm.

PROS
- Free parking
- Something new and different
- Diversity of projects (10-15 juggled at one time)
- About $5,000 more per year
- End-of-year bonus
- Everyone in the office seemed happy as they walked in, which is unusual
- Pretty much the same commute
- No two days are the same
- Casual, pleasant work environment - jeans!
- Some proofreading, more Quark experience
- Small office, everyone around my age

CONS
- The person who would be my boss hardly spoke to me at all - she was more interested in checking her email
- They stressed how stressful and chaotic the job is
- I'd have to track down translators and beg them to finish projects on time, and then dock their pay when they don't, and explain why (yuck, I hate confrontation)
- They want me to do a 1/2 day (4 hours!) job shadow before they even offer me the job, just to see if I like it (unpaid, and I'd have to take time off of work)

So - more money, more stress? Is it worth it? I can't decide.

My job now is not very stressful, not even remotely challenging, pretty much the same every day (boring), and I haven't been happy with it since the second month on the job.

Decisions, decisions.

Posted in Job | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “advice requested”

  1. pretty cheap jewelry Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 04:40 pm 1183048858
    1183048858

    That job try out sounds worth it, can you call in sick at the current job?

    (ps I have an etsy shop too!)

  2. kashi Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 04:44 pm 1183049088
    1183049088

    I have plenty of vacation time I can use. Four hours of job shadowing seems a little excessive to me, though, without a job guarantee...but I guess I'd know if I liked it or not.

  3. mbkonef Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 04:59 pm 1183049975
    1183049975

    I would definitely recommend the job shadow. Even though unpaid, it should give you a real feel for what the job is all about and I am always a fan of more information when making a decision like that. Some people thrive on stress/change etc. and would love it, others would hate it. Hopefully it could help you to get a better sense of where you would fall. Good luck either way!

  4. fern Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 06:37 pm 1183055820
    1183055820

    My take on this is i think you should pass, and keep looking for something more interesting than your current job.

    The fact that they stressed in the job interview how stressful and chaotic it is is NOT a good sign. That means they may have had other employees who couldn't deal with it, and left.

    On top of that, they want you to shadow for a half day, which as you realized is very unusual, and again suggets they've had trouble in the past keeping this position filled.

    This job is basically a traffic manager, which means a lot of headaches chasing after others to do their job. I don't think you'd be happy at this job.

    the nicest thing about the job aside from better pay was the fact that everyone was closer to your age, which could be fun, but i don't think that will outweigh the other things i've mentioned.

    If you still want to check it out, try the job shadow. Not much to lose.

  5. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    June 28th, 2007 at 07:57 pm 1183060658
    1183060658

    That everyone seemed happy speaks very well for the place. I would not make much out of them telling you it is stressful. 'Most everyone thinks their work is stressful. Plus, I recall an employer who advertised his work included heavy physical labor, even though it did not. It was physical, but not heavy. It was just his way of screening out people who were lazy, and he thought it worked. Shadowing is unusual, but so what? I'd like to work with people who do things a little differently because they are capable of seeing things a little differently. They might be capable of a seeing things differently when you need them to.

  6. mom-from-missouri Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 03:01 am 1183086091
    1183086091

    When I worked for the telephone company (for 22 yrs) the last 7 years all new people were asked to shadow. We had several who decided it wasn't for them. I think some employeers have learned that it weeds those out.

  7. reflectionite Says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 07:41 am 1183102870
    1183102870

    any job that pays more is going to have a bit more responsibility and therefore more stress, its just part in parcel with getting higher on the career ladder.

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