...that I kinda, sorta, quit my job. It wasn't entirely intentional, nor is it completely set in stone. But, out of some sort of sense of obligation, I felt compelled to tell my boss that I am unhappy and ready to move on. This was in response to a great speech from our company founder about having passion about what you do. Which I don't. Anyway, my bosses response was that he needed at least 2 months notice. While I find it flattering that he seems to think my skills are on par with Jesus, I think he is slightly insane to ask such a thing. So I told him that I could not promise anything because I gots to look out for myself, but if that was the case, consider himself served and I will be gone by early next year at the latest.
A good portion of me says that I am absolutely insane for giving up a paying job that I am good at. The other portion of me says that I've known this wasn't a good fit since week one and sometimes you just have to leap. That's how I ended up here in the first place and it served me well - for a while.
But, now I've got a year of school under my belt and I'm feeling like the cocky little MBA that we all hate. Not really, but I do have a business that I feel is going to be great and I have realized that I want to be more creative and have more control. I don't mind "working for the man" but it has to be in a capacity that serves me as well as the company.
So, I'm officially looking for work. There is so much contract work lying around right now with a certain former employer that I had no doubt I could make the rent. But, I'm also getting to weed through candidates for my current job and that is a startling and frustrating task. Of the 80+ candidates we've received in the last 2 days, I would estimate that:
25% - Did not even read the job description and applied out of shear arrogance and hope
25% - Read the job description and saw a few items that they were qualified for and sent a stock resume and cover letter. If you are not qualified in all areas, fine. But at least TRY to explain to me how you fit the job. If you have spent the last 10 years pursuing your graduate degree in Anthropology and working for the Smithsonian, that's fabulous. But tell me how you think thats going to help you create collateral, plan events and sell copiers. (P.S. It's not. Call the Historical Society).
20% - Are absolutely insane
10% - Are over qualified and I feel bad that they would relegate themselves to a low paying job because they are desperate to feed their families.
10% - Are fresh graduates that I want to take under my wing and explain resumes and cover letter to, or that I want to say "you are too F*cking good to dash your design dreams by working in B2B marketing. Go talk to Weiden or I will kick your @ss."
Leaving 10% actual *mostly* qualified people. And this is me not being picky, I'm being generous and thinking, "Okay, so he doesn't know how to use a computer. We can outsource that."
Oh, and if you know anyone that needs freelance work? Have them check out my new portfolio and call me:
www.katebagoy.com
XOXO,
Peanut
Showing posts with label design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label design. Show all posts
Friday, November 13, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Slacker
It's been brought to my attention that I am seriously slacking on the correspondence lately so here is a run-down of the haps. I'm using a few bits of an email I sent to my dad, so sorry for the regurgitation pops.
Work: I've been planning our sales meeting on Tuesday, which entails finding and securing event space for 150 people, coordinating catering and hotel rooms and building powerpoint presentations. My boss frequently like to change the plan which means I spend a good portion of my time chasing my tail and making apologetic phone calls. I'm also building a new website for our sales team which is really fun but also trying because I haven't done it since college and, wouldn't you know it, the whole web thing has really changed. I'm teaching myself CSS and relearning HTML... it's fun though. Oh, and they've started laying people off so I guess I should be thankful, no matter how much time I spend silently crying in my cube.
School: This term has proven to be more challenging than last but I'm still really enjoying it. I had a paper due last week that kept me up past midnight for a week strait but I learned a lot about Facebook. Yes, I got to write a paper about Facebook! This week I will be working on a financial analysis of Target.. turns out I got some pretty wicked math skills from my dad and I'm not too shabby at the accounting stuff, although I am still learning what the results mean - i.e. is it good or bad if the dividend ratio is high? I guess I'll figure that out Saturday when I sit down to write. The first day of my accounting class I was pretty sure I was going to die a slow death from boredom but my instructor has turned out to be a pretty funny guy and does a really good job of explaining the concepts.
Life: Let's see, Sabine passed in December and I'm still struggling with that - not that I cry on a daily basis, but it's weird to come home to an empty house. I've been thinking of getting a new pooch but know it would be better to wait until after my trip to China in June. I've paid for a little over half the trip and am considering investing in Rosetta Stone language tapes so I can be little more prepared than I was in Korea. We will have tour-guides, but its always nice to be able to do basic items.. like find the bathroom.
I was rear-ended by a cargo van on my lunch break a few weeks ago and he did more damage to my neck and back than he did to my car. He claimed he was going about 5 miles an hour but considering he destroyed the steel reinforcement beam on the back of my car I beg to differ. Anyway, I get to go to the chiropractor and get massages three times a week for the next twelve weeks. I've also started seeing a naturopath/ accupuncturist/ hippy doctor and really like her. The irony of the whole injury is that i was on my way to join the gym when I was hit. R and I were planning to run a 5k next month but it looks like I may be walk/jogging it... I'm still down 35 pounds but stalled and need to lose more so I need to up the exercise.
Still seeing the boy, going on 5 months now, which is a record for me. He is still wonderful - can't complain about a man that cooks and occasionally vacuums your house, even if it is might be because your house is so disgusting he can't stand it.
And that's about it. Have a Christmas party to attend tomorrow (our office party was cancelled due to weather) and might go to the closing party at Jerry's, everyone's favorite wine bar. I'm pretty sad that they are closing. Stupid economy.
Work: I've been planning our sales meeting on Tuesday, which entails finding and securing event space for 150 people, coordinating catering and hotel rooms and building powerpoint presentations. My boss frequently like to change the plan which means I spend a good portion of my time chasing my tail and making apologetic phone calls. I'm also building a new website for our sales team which is really fun but also trying because I haven't done it since college and, wouldn't you know it, the whole web thing has really changed. I'm teaching myself CSS and relearning HTML... it's fun though. Oh, and they've started laying people off so I guess I should be thankful, no matter how much time I spend silently crying in my cube.
School: This term has proven to be more challenging than last but I'm still really enjoying it. I had a paper due last week that kept me up past midnight for a week strait but I learned a lot about Facebook. Yes, I got to write a paper about Facebook! This week I will be working on a financial analysis of Target.. turns out I got some pretty wicked math skills from my dad and I'm not too shabby at the accounting stuff, although I am still learning what the results mean - i.e. is it good or bad if the dividend ratio is high? I guess I'll figure that out Saturday when I sit down to write. The first day of my accounting class I was pretty sure I was going to die a slow death from boredom but my instructor has turned out to be a pretty funny guy and does a really good job of explaining the concepts.
Life: Let's see, Sabine passed in December and I'm still struggling with that - not that I cry on a daily basis, but it's weird to come home to an empty house. I've been thinking of getting a new pooch but know it would be better to wait until after my trip to China in June. I've paid for a little over half the trip and am considering investing in Rosetta Stone language tapes so I can be little more prepared than I was in Korea. We will have tour-guides, but its always nice to be able to do basic items.. like find the bathroom.
I was rear-ended by a cargo van on my lunch break a few weeks ago and he did more damage to my neck and back than he did to my car. He claimed he was going about 5 miles an hour but considering he destroyed the steel reinforcement beam on the back of my car I beg to differ. Anyway, I get to go to the chiropractor and get massages three times a week for the next twelve weeks. I've also started seeing a naturopath/ accupuncturist/ hippy doctor and really like her. The irony of the whole injury is that i was on my way to join the gym when I was hit. R and I were planning to run a 5k next month but it looks like I may be walk/jogging it... I'm still down 35 pounds but stalled and need to lose more so I need to up the exercise.
Still seeing the boy, going on 5 months now, which is a record for me. He is still wonderful - can't complain about a man that cooks and occasionally vacuums your house, even if it is might be because your house is so disgusting he can't stand it.
And that's about it. Have a Christmas party to attend tomorrow (our office party was cancelled due to weather) and might go to the closing party at Jerry's, everyone's favorite wine bar. I'm pretty sad that they are closing. Stupid economy.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Too Awake
I should be sleeping. But I made the unfortunate error of having caffeine tonight and am now jazzed. I haven't had much of the jittery stuff since I started the diet so now I'm losing my mind. All I had was a diet soda but man, I'm wired. I indulged because I figured I'd need it to stay up to pack and prepare for this weekend. My friend L is getting married Saturday, so, tomorrow after work, I'm heading to the coast for two nights. I'm very excited about getting out of town, but also nervous because:
A. It's a beach wedding. In October. In Oregon. I'm going to freeze my ass off.
B. I have a paper due on Monday that is less than 1/2 written
C. I will probably be the only one there without a date. I hate that.
D. Did I mention that I am going to freeze my ass off?
Anyway, a big group of people went in on a house that is in stumbling distance of the beach and the reception. It is bound to be a total blast! I'm taking my laptop so I can do a little work on Saturday morning before the ceremony. Then, I drive home on Sunday to hopefully have lunch with X and her visiting friend J with an H. Sunday night I have a meeting with my classmates to go over our powerpoint presentation for Thursday.
We had to write and present an executive summary on a case study. It's not as bad as it sounds. The article (about layoffs) was actually interesting and it's been one of the smoothest group projects I've been involved in. I'm not sure if it's just dumb luck or if things change in grad school, but I was dreading the team project based on past experience. But for once, I'm not completely stressed out and pissed because I'm doing extra work. Sweet!
Work is going better too. My boss is still a bit scattered and that's rough. I think he has just been doing the job so long that it's all in his head and downloading that to me is difficult... but it's coming along. Once I have a little more ownership of my projects it'll be smooth sailing. I spent most of today designing collateral, so that's not a bad deal.
To top a good week off, I got a check in the mail today from my dad - what an awesome surprise! It's amazing how blessings have a way of showing up right when you least expect them or when you need them. Thanks Daddy!
A. It's a beach wedding. In October. In Oregon. I'm going to freeze my ass off.
B. I have a paper due on Monday that is less than 1/2 written
C. I will probably be the only one there without a date. I hate that.
D. Did I mention that I am going to freeze my ass off?
Anyway, a big group of people went in on a house that is in stumbling distance of the beach and the reception. It is bound to be a total blast! I'm taking my laptop so I can do a little work on Saturday morning before the ceremony. Then, I drive home on Sunday to hopefully have lunch with X and her visiting friend J with an H. Sunday night I have a meeting with my classmates to go over our powerpoint presentation for Thursday.
We had to write and present an executive summary on a case study. It's not as bad as it sounds. The article (about layoffs) was actually interesting and it's been one of the smoothest group projects I've been involved in. I'm not sure if it's just dumb luck or if things change in grad school, but I was dreading the team project based on past experience. But for once, I'm not completely stressed out and pissed because I'm doing extra work. Sweet!
Work is going better too. My boss is still a bit scattered and that's rough. I think he has just been doing the job so long that it's all in his head and downloading that to me is difficult... but it's coming along. Once I have a little more ownership of my projects it'll be smooth sailing. I spent most of today designing collateral, so that's not a bad deal.
To top a good week off, I got a check in the mail today from my dad - what an awesome surprise! It's amazing how blessings have a way of showing up right when you least expect them or when you need them. Thanks Daddy!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Meltdown
We had a big offsite today for work called Design Day, where hundreds of designers got together to "get inspired" at the Portland Art Museum. We had a similar event a few years ago that was a lot of fun so I was pretty excited about it. But today... well, today kinda sucked. The entire event was set to take place in the ballroom and basically consisted of watching videos and listening to speakers. There was a lot of amazing work but it was so stagnant and focused on footwear. I felt really disconnected.
I went out for a cup of coffee and a bathroom break, and started a conversation with a few coworkers. Some Nazi came running over and yelled at us about needing to be "engaged" in the activities. Seriously lady? Then, after lunch, we lined up to get our photos taken by this amazing photographer. Our art director was trying to get everyone together for a group shot but we ended up getting cut off right before we reached the front of the line and got yelled at again. Apparently two 1-hour long sessions were all that was alloted for 500 people to get their portraits done. Brilliant.
The idea of a Design Day is a great one but I don't do well with "forced fun" situations and with people being unnecessarily rude. **edited for content** I left early. I'm disappointed that I missed a few things and I feel a bit but the whole situation was just more than I could handle. I also think I ate something my body doesn't like so I'm feeling rather icky.
I'm at home now and it's hotter than Hades. I guess it's supposed to get to 100 degrees tomorrow - I think I need to find an air conditioned cave to hide in.
I went out for a cup of coffee and a bathroom break, and started a conversation with a few coworkers. Some Nazi came running over and yelled at us about needing to be "engaged" in the activities. Seriously lady? Then, after lunch, we lined up to get our photos taken by this amazing photographer. Our art director was trying to get everyone together for a group shot but we ended up getting cut off right before we reached the front of the line and got yelled at again. Apparently two 1-hour long sessions were all that was alloted for 500 people to get their portraits done. Brilliant.
The idea of a Design Day is a great one but I don't do well with "forced fun" situations and with people being unnecessarily rude. **edited for content** I left early. I'm disappointed that I missed a few things and I feel a bit but the whole situation was just more than I could handle. I also think I ate something my body doesn't like so I'm feeling rather icky.
I'm at home now and it's hotter than Hades. I guess it's supposed to get to 100 degrees tomorrow - I think I need to find an air conditioned cave to hide in.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)