On Selling Out

And about two years later I'm ready to kill myself, preferably via self-crucifixtion, though hammering in that last nail is always tricky, what with one hand already...you get it.

Yes I'm waiting for my terrible, terrible boss to open the trap door beneath my chair and send me falling into the fire pit. But then again, she's terrible because she's passive-agressive. She needs me. She would let me toil here indefinitely, if only to watch me suffer.

I just need to get the eff out of here. Evil Corp makes a lot of money, and I'm definitely the most overpaid editor in the history of software marketing, but I'm willing to take a pay cut. In fact I have an interview Monday for a job that pays 30% less. Any of y'all done this? Taken a massive pay cut in order to live once again?

If I get the job, I'll be reverse commuting, to a lovely University, and I can bloster my income by adjunct-instructing a night class there. I can wait out the recession until better opportunities present themselves, by which time I may know what I want to be when I grow up. I can enjoy Sunday evenings without wondering if there is in fact a rabid guinea pig gnawing my vitals.

Seriously. I've seen the dark side. The horror! The horror!

reverse commuting?

north, south, or west?

g'luck on the interview, g.

Good luck, Gargamel. A position at a university sounds great, especially if they have you do some teaching as well.

Smiling with Boomer.

Yaaaaay!


My most interesting interview slalomed (slalomed?) off course and covered politics of the era, world travel, literature, comedy... it was for a position as a lab tech. I didn't stay at that job very long, about a year, and went back to the university, but the owner/pathologist who interviewed me remained a long time friend.

Anyway, congratulations.




Oops, I shuda looked at the date...

i have done the paycut, along with moving across the ocean to get away from an evil boss. haven't found exactly the dream job, but it has definitely been nice to work in a sane environment. hope you get the job.

how is your phd? did you finish some time ago? i guess you did, but i saw mentions of it on my dissertation support thread (some 2 years back) and then there was no conclusion posted, so now i must know. i must.

So, backtracking, good luck re this interview.

I took a pay cut when I took the job I have now. I was working for an engineering firm...talk about not fitting in...and I worked there for 11 years! I'm much happier in my new job...the people I work with are much more like me, i.e. liberal.

Good luck with the interview. I hope it turns out for you. I'd hate to see you hanging from one hand on that crucifix.

Yes.

Totally worth it.

Ask what you want to know about the job?

In order for the interview to go well - you should ask questions you want to within reason of course. Don't ask any questions that make it sound as if you don't want to give 110%. Like questions around OT - do I have to work late hours? I would also stay away from pay questions...leave that until they give an offer and then neg.

Things I've asked is about the work environment? How do you like your job? What do you like/don't like about the job/company? (to me this gives you insight into whether you will like it or not). Then ask a few specfic job related stuff - I usually ask about their systems/procedures. It is tough without knowing what the job is you are interviewing for.

Reading this - how about asking what sort of additional responsibilities do you forsee me taking on?

so Garg, you drank the kool-aide huh?

I took a pay cut when I had to move across the state. Ended up with a 10-minute commute instead of a 60-minute commute. Great company, smart people, people with integrity. Definitely worth it; especially getting away from the OCD boss that collected the little plastic mail baskets from the post office.

Thanks for the support, gang.

I suppose this morning's interview went as well as it could have. I didn't bomb. No major faux pas(es?). Where the hell is Francis when you need to know the plural form of faux pas?

Yet I'm a bit anxious. This was my first "real" interview, by which I mean I was actually asked, for forty minutes, those assinine sample questions you see online; for example, "What is your strategy for prioritizing multiple tasks?"

My strategy? "I call it the Gargamel Taskeroo! Wherein I decide which task is more time-sensitive, and I DO THAT ONE FIRST!"

I simply did not have the interview experience to have a ready answer. For 90% of questions that were new to me, however, I was able to articulate an intellegent resposne replete with specific examples. I dropped several "ums." I fear I came off as slightly wooden.

Now I'm at work and Hellboss is already on my ass. LET ME OUT OF HERE!

I have to be going now.

Evanston.

joe and I find ourselves in Evanston after work occasionally. Nice blues place...

keeping my fingers crossed for you, g.

Best of luck to you, Gargamel.

Have you been to see Co-Ed Prison Sluts yet, Gargamel? It has been extended to April 24.

I finished my MFA in 2006 and opted not to adjunct teach, nor to eat Ramen noodles for dinner while waiting for hours at the free health clinic.

Still writing and adding to the non-shitty half of my thesis, hoping to publish a story collection.

But I never gave you proper congratulations on finishing your dissertation!

AND I NEVER WILL.

I mean, congratulations.

Updates? Any word?