Seventh Salon: What it is that we do.

[jenett]

Welcome to our seventh salon discussion thread. Wander in, invite a friend to come along, and chat! (Not sure what's going on? Here, have a brief FAQ.) You can find previous ones in my salon tag. Please take a quick look at the reminders at the bottom of this post, too. (Quick note: I'd originally said we'd do these through at least July. I am formally declaring that we'll keep going through at least August.)

Topic of the day:
A couple of conversations this week have gotten me thinking about jobs. One was a conversation with a friend yesterday (hi!) about job hunting, another was a meeting of a committee I'm on for staff awards, where we were asked to introduce ourselves (it's the first time we've met) with something we do that we're really good at (work or not.)

The committee is staff from all over the campus, only one of whom I already knew. And one of the things we were talking about is how recognising people for doing things well can take a lot of forms - but it's also complicated, because talking about what we do well is really hard, and sometimes (often!) other people don't really know what goes into our jobs. (And yes, I talked a little about both Imposter Syndrome and about synecdochic's weekly Pride Thread)

And yet, it's really important to talk about what we're good at, for a dozen reasons and more. (Morale, helping us do more of the really awesome stuff, helping other people do more really awesome stuff, appreciating the work other people do that keeps things running smoothly - we were talking about the school health service, and how you never hear when things are fine there, but it's important that they *are* fine.)

So, my question: What do you do, and why do you like it, and how did you get into doing that thing? I'm curious both about job-that-pays-you stuff but also about ongoing projects that aren't your job.

For bonus amusement, last January, there was a meme about describing things (your job) using the ten-thousand most common words in English. (Inspired by a xkcd cartoon). You can use a web-based tool to write one. If you did that meme and want to share in comments, that'd be awesome. (Or if you want to play with it and share something new!) Mine's in the first comment.

Currently reading: Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy - like the title says, this is gaslamp fantasy, not steampunk. Thus far I am generally agreeing with Brit Mandelo's review over on Tor.com, but even the stories that aren't quite my thing are making me think, which is pretty much what I ask for in an anthology.

Quick reminders

- jjhunter did a great guide to following conversations here on Dreamwidth. Also a roundup of regular Dreamwidth events.
- If you want to post anonymously, please pick a name (any name you like) that we can call you - it makes it more conversational and helps if we have more than one anon post.
- Base rule remains "Leave the conversation better than you found it, or at least not worse". If you're nervous about that, I'd rather you say something and we maybe sort out confusion later than have you not say something. (I've heard from a few people who worry they're going to say something that's going to be taken weirdly. If it helps, I am usually around and if there's a thing you'd like to get out in the conversation, but you're not sure how, feel free to PM or email or IM me, and I'll nudge the conversation that direction.)
- The FAQ still has useful stuff, and I added some thoughts about getting conversations going this week.
- Comments tend to trickle in over the course of a day or two, with a few nearly a week later: you might enjoy checking back later if you're not tracking the conversation.

Comments

three graces in new guise: science, poetry, and education

[jjhunter]

My working motto is think like a scientist, dream like a poet; education is the way I realize those values in my communities.

In my day job, I work for a science education grant that partners sciences with school teachers to generate novel cutting-edge curricula and build experience, infrastructure for improved implementation of our curricula and science education in general. On a day-to-day basis my bland 'Assistant' job title encompasses an ever-shifting combination of acting webmaster, backup lab technician, copy editor, layout editor, tech consultant, researcher, archivist, assistant project manager, and administrative assistant. Compared to other jobs I might get at my level of education & experience, the pay is lower & the benefits essentially non-existent, but in compensation I get paid to acquire skills & expertise of use to our team (& to me career-wise!), and I get to work with incredibly competent people who are willing & happy to help me grow & advance as a professional.

I got the job via somewhat circuitous route - I'd worked for boss boss a few years back as a lab technician, and apparently been memorable for my attention to detail & facility with coaxing certain ancient software programs to do their job properly. She contacted me to see if I'd be interested in doing some tech consultant work on an ad-hoc basis for the education grant team, and that rapidly turned into full-time work when a different job opportunity fell through.

Poetry-wise, I founded the poetry discussion community POETREE @ Dreamwidth (poetree), and continue to run it with my co-admin alee_grrl. Over the last year and a half, we've spent quite a bit of time thinking through & experimenting with different ways of building community around poetry, and nurturing people's poetry confidence (to adapt a framework from kaberett's excellent Tech confidence vs. tech competence article). I've learned that I'm great at not only thinking of interesting ideas, but also working with other people to get them initiated. I've also learned that I need anticipate & construct work-arounds for the periods where things that I find fun / casual to do suddenly feel like enormous crushing burdens, and especially in such circumstances delegation is my friend. (This is why it's good to have a co-admin - thank you, alee_grrl!)

What am I 'good' at? Articulation. A certain fearlessness about owning my voice that isn't necessarily self-confidence or charisma or bravery or arrogance or strength or bossiness or wisdom or irreverence, but has elements of all those in varying proportions. Listening, when I am relaxed enough (or consciously remember) to be quiet inside. Thinking interdependently and independently, and the self-awareness to know which is which at any given time. Metaphorical and literal vision, both internal and external, in the moment with what is directly in front of me and long term, both pro- and retrospective. Finding small opportunities for grace to creep into my everyday. Appreciating people. Making stuff work, and figuring out how to make it work better. (Software, institutions, infrastructure...)

Re: three graces in new guise: science, poetry, and education

[elisem]

Oh, I like the stuff about poetry confidence! USEFUL concept. Thank you!

And your working motto is strong and beautiful.

Re: three graces in new guise: science, poetry, and education

[jenett]

One of the jobs I got as far as the interview for and didn't get was working at the Science Museum of Minnesota's Science House, where they have a lending collection for science educators (books and movies and so on, but also things like sets of bones, or sets of microscopes, or sets of fossils).

I am not officially a science geek (my degrees are humanities, all the way) but I love the science education stuff I've seen people do, and I'm fascinated by the spaces it contains.