Abundantly Blessed (Part II)
Back in July 2002 I took a job as a telephone interviewer with a local market research company. It wasn’t a great job, admittedly, but it was a job, and I needed one at the time. I’d been working for the now-defunct Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Utah, and I’d gone back to school to finish up my degree at long, long last. At first, CCCS (not to be confused with CCCP) was pretty cooperative with my unusual scheduling needs. But they became less flexible as time went on. There eventually came a time when I asked for Friday, July 5th off so that I could spend the extended weekend with Practice Wife and her family out of town. (This was before I met Nancy, obviously.) At first, when I requested the time off from the Counseling Director—who had two years’ less experience with the company at the time than I did, incidentally—she remarked mostly to herself that she needed to schedule some time off for the summer, too. And she did: Friday, July 5th. Rather than approving my time off request, she went ahead and scheduled herself off for the day instead.
I objected and took my case to the Vice President, Lisa. She seemed surprised by what had happened, but told me not to worry about it and to go ahead and plan of having that day off. So we made the necessary travel arrangements. Imagine my surprise when schedules started coming out and I saw that I had open appointments on Friday the 5th. I called Lisa to ask what was going on, and she told me they needed me in the office that day. I reminded her that I had plans over the weekend and that she had told me I could have that day off. She said, in effect, that it was the Counseling Director’s decision (the same woman who had effectively stolen the day from me) and that she (the Counseling Director) had said no. She also suggested that I change my travel plans so I could join the rest of my party for the weekend, but insisted that I’d need to be in the office on that Friday—because we were expecting SO many people to come into the office on the Friday after the Fourth of July, apparently. I suggested that maybe I just wouldn’t be feeling well enough to come in to work that day. She, in turn, suggested in pretty straightforward terms that I’d be risking disciplinary action if that happened.
So, a week or so before the day in question, we all got an e-mail stating that the schedule for the week of July 4th had been finalized and detailing who was expected to be in the offices that day. Along with this information came a warning that anyone missing that Friday for any reason could be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of their employment. Less than two hours later I faxed in my resignation, effective Wednesday, July 3rd. At that point, I wanted that day off more than I wanted to keep working for that company.
(It was not without a certain satisfaction that I learned less than two years later that the company had been seized by state regulators for financial mismanagement—hence the “now-defunct” descriptor in the first paragraph.)
Anyway, as I was saying before, I now needed a job. And I managed to get one pretty quickly. I sold ticket packages over the phone on behalf of the Utah Symphony. I’d worked sales in both retail and call center settings before, and I hadn’t cared for it. This job was little different: low pay, inconvenient hours, and a boss with questionable ethics and personal hygiene. But it allowed me to pay the bills. Kind of. I still looked or something better.
When I found out about the market research job, with a pay rate $2 higher than the base pay I was making with the Symphony and the promise of no selling, I was interested. I went down and filled out an application, taking a spelling and grammar test and bringing proof from Utah DWS that I could type 25 words per minute. They scheduled me for training the following evening, Wednesday, July 31st. I took the training class, passed, and was offered a job. I started on the phones the next evening. I've been there ever since.
When the call center director posted flyers five months into my tenure saying that they were hiring a few new supervisors, I was definitely interested. And, by my own estimation, I was as qualified as anyone in the company to be a supervisor. The management agreed, and a month later, I started training as a Quality Assurance supervisor. Since then I have also worked as a Production manager, Trainer for new employees, and Quality Manager.
It's been a good run a lot of the time, but there have been profound problems along the way. The talent level of the people I've worked with, aside from some of the supervisors, has been generally underwhelming. The workload has been notoriously unsteady, especially in recent months. And, of course, there have been numerous stupid issues with my paychecks. As I wrote after the most recent paycheck incident, I'd reached the point where I'd bolt like a gazelle if I could find any other work.
As I was conducting one of my classes on Thursday, April 16th, I felt my phone buzz. Obviously I didn't answer it, but during lunch I listened to the message. It was a private tutoring company to which I'd faxed a résumé about a month and a half previously. They said they were looking for someone to teach math and wanted to set up an interview with me. I called them back, chatted with the administrative assistant, gave them the names and numbers of some references, and scheduled an interview for 3:30 p.m. the next day.
Friday morning I felt awful, a condition that persisted well into the afternoon. It was bad to the point that on my way to the interview, I stopped at Albertson's and bought a bottle of water and some Alka Seltzer. But I made it to the interview on time and in reasonably good shape. I met with the local director, and she seemed impressed by my education and experiences.
She offered me the job right there.
She asked if I could start on Monday, April 20th. I asked for an additional week to finish getting ready for the Praxis II. She asked me to think it over for the weekend. She said if I really needed an additional week they could work with that, but that they'd prefer for me to start on the 20th if I could. I ended up taking the additional week to get ready for the test. (I've already discussed how that went.) I called on the morning of the 20th, per her instructions, and told her I was looking forward to starting on the 27th.
And then there was the other thing I was looking forward to. After school on the 20th, I made my way down to the call center. It was payday, so I knew everyone would be there. That's what I wanted. I wanted to be able to say goodbye to those employees and co-workers that I'd actually miss. Jason, my boss for the past six years, was happy I'd found a job in my field, but sad to see me go. Some of the other supervisors and employees, like Theron, Jeannie, Beth, Sara, Lynn (Terry), Keith (the Axeman), Elliot, Greg, Bernie, and Libby said they'd miss me. And sure, I'll miss them too. But not so much that I'd ever want to go back. Several of them told me to make sure I stop back in from time to time to see how things are going. Frankly, I don't see that happening, but I suppose anything's possible.
I started the new job this past Monday. After three days of training, I'm basically flying solo already. I tutor three kids at a time in different subjects. I may have one student working on junior high Algebra, a second on Trigonometry, and a third on Chemistry. Some of the kids just need help with homework, while others are enrolled in courses through the center for which they actually receive school credit. Every day, every hour, is different.
The first week has been interesting. For the first two days, I felt lost. I had no idea how I was going to keep up. Over the next couple of days, though, I started to learn the intricacies of the center, as well as some strategies for keeping up and even getting ahead. My first solo day (Thursday) featured two hours with a pair of brothers. (What causes sibling rivalry? Having more than one kid!) The older one is dedicated, but learns slowly sometimes. The younger one has focus issues. It's not just ADD or ADHD, it's more like ADOS (which stands for "Attention Deficit—Oooh, Shiny!"). But I made it through, and I think they both learned something in the process. I'm going to be fine with this job.
The new job doesn't offer as many hours as the call center did (yet). But the hours I'm getting are consistent, which is something the call center could never say. Better yet, the new job starts me off earning a buck and a half more per hour than I made as a manager at the call center. And it's in my field, which gives me valuable experience on top of that.
Best of all, the company is accredited—which means that when the time comes for me to do student teaching, I can do it there and get paid for it.
Having this come as it has on the heels of the long-term substitute teaching experience, I can't help but see this as another big blessing for Nancy and me. Somebody's looking out for our family.
Thank You, again.
--
To borrow a bit from Lord Mhoram —
::glances skyward:: "You don't have to shout, You know."
I objected and took my case to the Vice President, Lisa. She seemed surprised by what had happened, but told me not to worry about it and to go ahead and plan of having that day off. So we made the necessary travel arrangements. Imagine my surprise when schedules started coming out and I saw that I had open appointments on Friday the 5th. I called Lisa to ask what was going on, and she told me they needed me in the office that day. I reminded her that I had plans over the weekend and that she had told me I could have that day off. She said, in effect, that it was the Counseling Director’s decision (the same woman who had effectively stolen the day from me) and that she (the Counseling Director) had said no. She also suggested that I change my travel plans so I could join the rest of my party for the weekend, but insisted that I’d need to be in the office on that Friday—because we were expecting SO many people to come into the office on the Friday after the Fourth of July, apparently. I suggested that maybe I just wouldn’t be feeling well enough to come in to work that day. She, in turn, suggested in pretty straightforward terms that I’d be risking disciplinary action if that happened.
So, a week or so before the day in question, we all got an e-mail stating that the schedule for the week of July 4th had been finalized and detailing who was expected to be in the offices that day. Along with this information came a warning that anyone missing that Friday for any reason could be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of their employment. Less than two hours later I faxed in my resignation, effective Wednesday, July 3rd. At that point, I wanted that day off more than I wanted to keep working for that company.
(It was not without a certain satisfaction that I learned less than two years later that the company had been seized by state regulators for financial mismanagement—hence the “now-defunct” descriptor in the first paragraph.)
Anyway, as I was saying before, I now needed a job. And I managed to get one pretty quickly. I sold ticket packages over the phone on behalf of the Utah Symphony. I’d worked sales in both retail and call center settings before, and I hadn’t cared for it. This job was little different: low pay, inconvenient hours, and a boss with questionable ethics and personal hygiene. But it allowed me to pay the bills. Kind of. I still looked or something better.
When I found out about the market research job, with a pay rate $2 higher than the base pay I was making with the Symphony and the promise of no selling, I was interested. I went down and filled out an application, taking a spelling and grammar test and bringing proof from Utah DWS that I could type 25 words per minute. They scheduled me for training the following evening, Wednesday, July 31st. I took the training class, passed, and was offered a job. I started on the phones the next evening. I've been there ever since.
When the call center director posted flyers five months into my tenure saying that they were hiring a few new supervisors, I was definitely interested. And, by my own estimation, I was as qualified as anyone in the company to be a supervisor. The management agreed, and a month later, I started training as a Quality Assurance supervisor. Since then I have also worked as a Production manager, Trainer for new employees, and Quality Manager.
It's been a good run a lot of the time, but there have been profound problems along the way. The talent level of the people I've worked with, aside from some of the supervisors, has been generally underwhelming. The workload has been notoriously unsteady, especially in recent months. And, of course, there have been numerous stupid issues with my paychecks. As I wrote after the most recent paycheck incident, I'd reached the point where I'd bolt like a gazelle if I could find any other work.
As I was conducting one of my classes on Thursday, April 16th, I felt my phone buzz. Obviously I didn't answer it, but during lunch I listened to the message. It was a private tutoring company to which I'd faxed a résumé about a month and a half previously. They said they were looking for someone to teach math and wanted to set up an interview with me. I called them back, chatted with the administrative assistant, gave them the names and numbers of some references, and scheduled an interview for 3:30 p.m. the next day.
Friday morning I felt awful, a condition that persisted well into the afternoon. It was bad to the point that on my way to the interview, I stopped at Albertson's and bought a bottle of water and some Alka Seltzer. But I made it to the interview on time and in reasonably good shape. I met with the local director, and she seemed impressed by my education and experiences.
She offered me the job right there.
She asked if I could start on Monday, April 20th. I asked for an additional week to finish getting ready for the Praxis II. She asked me to think it over for the weekend. She said if I really needed an additional week they could work with that, but that they'd prefer for me to start on the 20th if I could. I ended up taking the additional week to get ready for the test. (I've already discussed how that went.) I called on the morning of the 20th, per her instructions, and told her I was looking forward to starting on the 27th.
And then there was the other thing I was looking forward to. After school on the 20th, I made my way down to the call center. It was payday, so I knew everyone would be there. That's what I wanted. I wanted to be able to say goodbye to those employees and co-workers that I'd actually miss. Jason, my boss for the past six years, was happy I'd found a job in my field, but sad to see me go. Some of the other supervisors and employees, like Theron, Jeannie, Beth, Sara, Lynn (Terry), Keith (the Axeman), Elliot, Greg, Bernie, and Libby said they'd miss me. And sure, I'll miss them too. But not so much that I'd ever want to go back. Several of them told me to make sure I stop back in from time to time to see how things are going. Frankly, I don't see that happening, but I suppose anything's possible.
I started the new job this past Monday. After three days of training, I'm basically flying solo already. I tutor three kids at a time in different subjects. I may have one student working on junior high Algebra, a second on Trigonometry, and a third on Chemistry. Some of the kids just need help with homework, while others are enrolled in courses through the center for which they actually receive school credit. Every day, every hour, is different.
The first week has been interesting. For the first two days, I felt lost. I had no idea how I was going to keep up. Over the next couple of days, though, I started to learn the intricacies of the center, as well as some strategies for keeping up and even getting ahead. My first solo day (Thursday) featured two hours with a pair of brothers. (What causes sibling rivalry? Having more than one kid!) The older one is dedicated, but learns slowly sometimes. The younger one has focus issues. It's not just ADD or ADHD, it's more like ADOS (which stands for "Attention Deficit—Oooh, Shiny!"). But I made it through, and I think they both learned something in the process. I'm going to be fine with this job.
The new job doesn't offer as many hours as the call center did (yet). But the hours I'm getting are consistent, which is something the call center could never say. Better yet, the new job starts me off earning a buck and a half more per hour than I made as a manager at the call center. And it's in my field, which gives me valuable experience on top of that.
Best of all, the company is accredited—which means that when the time comes for me to do student teaching, I can do it there and get paid for it.
Having this come as it has on the heels of the long-term substitute teaching experience, I can't help but see this as another big blessing for Nancy and me. Somebody's looking out for our family.
Thank You, again.
--
To borrow a bit from Lord Mhoram —
::glances skyward:: "You don't have to shout, You know."
posted by Michael at
12:55 PM
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