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

Upgoer versions:

[jenett]

The job that pays me
I work in a place with books and computers and people at a college. Part of my job is making the computers work. Some of them are old, and some of them are sad, and sometimes they break in weird ways.

Part of my job is helping people use the computers. Sometimes I help them learn to do hard things. Sometimes I help people do things that are easy for other people, but not for them. Sometimes I answer lots of the same question, over and over again. Sometimes I help groups of people, but usually I help one person at a time.

I also help people with other questions. If they have to write a paper, I might help them find stuff to write about. Or I might help them find facts or use things. Sometimes I meet with other people. We talk about what they do with books and people at this college. (But not as much about computers.)

No two days are the same, but I often know what to expect from my day. And most of the time I can pick what I do when. I love my job because I get to help people do stuff that matters to them. And people pay me to do fun things with computers. I have a hard time with my job when none of the computers want to be good.

My hobbies (We're all noting I'm not talking about my religious life here, because getting that into simple enough words wasn't working for me.)

I have two big fun things right now. In one, I put words together to make a story. I make these stories with other people. We have even more people who read our stories and talk about our stories. Making the stories takes a lot of talking and ideas.

To help make the stories better, I also group things we have said in the stories so we can use them later. This is a lot of work, because we have lots and lots of words, but it is very fun for me. (I like grouping things and making them be in order and happy.)

In my other fun thing, I make things with two sticks and hair from animals. My fun thing right now with the sticks and the hair is making things with pictures about my first fun thing.

I also read books. Lots of books. About lots of things.

[elisem]

My job according to Up-Goer Five:

I work making interesting art things for people to wear. Some of them are pretty. Some of them are just weird. Most of them use rocks or glass. Some use both. I surround rocks or glass with long bars to make a pleasing form. Then I show these to people, and they give me money for them, and I give them the things. I use the money to buy more rocks and glass and long bars of the good stuff to wrap into more forms.

Most of the time, I give names to the things I make. People like this. Sometimes they write stories about the things with names. I like it when they do this. Then I get to read stories, and so does every body else, most times. This is good for all of us.

I am very happy to have this job making things. Sometimes it seems to me that the things are waiting for me to come make them, and that when I do, they are glad. Then so are the people who get them, later. And they make art sometimes, and I get to see it, or they are just happy to wear the things, and either way, I like that very much.

Life is good.

[elisem]

What I do for fun:

I make music. Most of my life I have made music with my voice. Since a year or two ago, I also make music using a small music thing which I am learning to play. Sometimes I write songs. My favorite thing is to make voice music with other people, because using my voice to make their voice sound even better is a great good thing. It is an art to help someone's voice sound even better, and it interests me very much. It is not always easy, though, because since my ears are bad it is sometimes easier for me to make voice music if I am the first voice. But I still like making voice music no matter what. And I love hearing other people make music, with voice or with their music things they play, or both.

Also I read books. And sometimes I make stories, either alone or with other people. Also also I like to go places. Sometimes far places. And I love to see the things the land does that tell about what happened to the land long ago. (I like the stories the land tells about the long-ago ice time very much!) Sometimes it is like the land is talking. Or making voice music. So I go and listen with my eyes, and it makes me happy.

[elisem]

... which is all very well, but it's not specifically digging into the question of what I am good at. So:

I am good at bending sterling silver wire (and other wire sometimes) and forming shapes that seem to speak to something inside people, express something they want to say or call to something in them that they long to have recognized or remind them of something good. In a way, it's like I'm inarticulate about something very important, and the metal and glass and stone are the gestures I have with which to try to point to the thing and tell people about it. When people write stories (or make other art) that's sparked off by some of my pieces, it's a complex and wonderful happiness that's deepened by getting to do the work to understand their gestures as well. (Art with more than one person involved can be a big amazing game of catch sometimes.) I'm really good at looking at beads, stone or glass, and noticing things about them, imagining what they might say, cocking my metaphorical ears to their whispers.

Actually, that last bit is an important thing particularly because of how the stroke affected my art -- but while the stroke deepened some of what I do, it was there before. I just maybe got there faster because of the stroke.

I'm good at teaching, sometimes, too. I love the moment when someone figures something out, when they get better at something, when the mind and the hand and the eye are all in synch and suddenly they make something which surprises and delights them, and they recognize it. That, I love.

The Artists' Challenge thing, where people make art sparked off by mine, is a deep pleasure, and I'm good enough at it that they gave me a World Fantasy Award nomination in 2009, which tickled me more than I could ever say.

Also, sometimes I can put words together in ways that are effective. This has been known to happen with non-fiction as well as fiction. Essays, even. :-)

[kakiphony]

Up-Goer Job Description:
I explain, in writing, the classes and other things that my school offers to students (both kids and grown-ups). Then I explain why we need money for those things (and money to help the people who take classes pay for them). Then, in writing, I ask for money to help pay for these things.

I also learn as much as I can about people who might be interested in my school. Learning about people, especially people with lots of money, helps me find the right people to ask for money. They are the right people because they like the right things and have enough money to give a lot.

Using a few more words:
I am a grant writer and prospect researcher. Most people understand the main functions of a grant writer (describing our programmatic, capital and scholarship needs and then asking for money to support them -- usually in a pre-determined and often fairly technical format). Less people know about prospect research -- which is basically researching individuals in order to identify the right people to ask for money (and making sure you are asking them for the right amount, at the right time, to support the right program). I do all the background work and then feed the information I find to my front-line fundraisers, who introduce the people I research to our institution, get to know them, cultivate the relationship and, eventually, ask them for a major donation

I compile general biographical background about people, but also perform analysis of their wealth (as measured by stock, real estate, boats, and almost anything for which there is a public record) in order to determine how much they have the capacity to give. I engage in data mining and use Prizm scores and wealth screening data from companies like Wealth Engine. It's all taken from public record sources, but people get creeped out by it. And the Prism surveillance program has not helped me explain what I do...

What I like to do:
This is actually taken from a post I made a few weeks ago trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. I don't mind my job, and even mostly like it, but I don't want to do it for the next 30 years. I would like a job I truly enjoy more frequently. Sadly, most of my skills and likes tend to lend themselves to either lower paying jobs, another degree (I have a BA and a JD), or owning my own business, none of which are financially feasible for me.

1) I like short term projects and tight deadlines. Throw some complicated research or writing task in my lap and give me 24 to 48 hours to complete it and I am happy and fulfilled. I am the queen of getting these things done and done well.

2) I do not like long-term projects and projects with nebulous deadlines. You know what I do with those? Procrastinate until they turn into #1. This is not a good thing. I'd like a job where I didn't fall into that trap.

3) I like helping people. I like being the person others come to with questions, and the person who can jump in and problem solve. This is directly related to #1. There's a sense of accomplishment in helping, and of fixing things. It motivates me.

4) I like variety in my projects. If I have to write (or research or plan or whatever) the same thing over and over I get bored, and then I procrastinate. NEW keeps my brain engaged, and when I am engaged I do good work.

5) I like research. I liked it when I worked at the public library and was helping with everything from genealogy projects to school reports. I liked it as a prospect researcher when I had to research everything from rich people's family trees to the race horses at the Derby. I like doing it now to determine where a foundation gives their money (and if it actually fits with their stated priorities.) I like doing it in my personal life when I learn about beer or whiskey or gardening methods or myth or or or. I just like it. As long as it doesn't drag on for too long and get repetitive.

6) I like sharing my research/knowledge with others. I like doing it in writing (formal and informal) and I like doing it in person (one-on-one and in front of groups small and large). I like being approachable, and being the person others on the team come to with questions. I like knowing that if I can't immediately answer their questions, they can count on me to find the answer (through logic, intuition, or research).

7) I like working with people, but not too many people. My ideal team is somewhere between 2 and 10. More than that and I don't know names. Less than that and I get lonesome.

8) I like brain storming and idea generation. I like analyzing plans for projects/events/etc and pointing out their strengths and pitfalls.

What I do for fun:
Consume enormous amounts of fiction (mainly books and television), cook, practice yoga, and drink + talk about + attend events about beer (my husband is in the industry).

What I used to do for fun but for some reason no longer do:
Write fiction.

Re: Upgoer versions:

[jenett]

And in slightly more words (because it's been that kind of morning). I'm the Information Technology librarian at a small college campus. I'm actually the only person with quite my job in the entire state system, which is both really cool and sometimes really frustrating.

(It'd be a lot more frustrating, except my boss had my job before me, then there wasn't a tech librarian for a couple of years, and now there's me. So a) he's *really* glad he doesn't have to do the computer update stuff on top of his other work and b) he totally understands when I want to drop computers out the window.)

My days are really varied. Today, I had a meeting with the other two people who do tech stuff (which lead to a lengthy conversation about doing more marketing, and the fact we're mostly on track for updates so far this summer), and then got called down to help someone try to connect to our guest network (failed, but gave him info on logging into our computers), and then talked to one of our front desk people.

And now I need to buckle down and finish drafting notes for working with our academic provost on something (that's sort of technically not something we'd usually do, but we like keeping our provost happy with us, and I'm glad to help.) And somewhere in there, fiddle with the machine I'm trying to prep to use for imaging.

[jenett]

You write a particularly well-done essay, I must say. Recently, even.

(I also note for public consumption that the voice of the Editor In My Head sounds like Elise, and that editing her writing when that's the case is exceedingly weird. She's an excellent editor and saying of "Hey, if you did this, it'd be even better." too.)

[jenett]

In my previous job, I spent some time a couple of summers doing data entry in the advancement side of the school, and I found the bits of prospect research I got to do really fascinating. (Not enough that I want to do them all the time, but you're right, there's all sorts of really intriguing things out there.)

[eeyorerin]

Your mention of the committee to recognize people made me think of this: when my grandmother died, we started an award at her workplace (Harvard Medical School) to recognize people in service positions there, since there was lots of recognition for the medical personnel and academics working there but nothing for the administrative assistants and other people who work in service positions.

What the committee decided to do was to share the nominating materials with everyone who had been nominated, not just the winner, so that people who were nominated could see that their bosses were saying about them. That has apparently had a hugely transformative effect on workplace culture, as people now can see that they're being appreciated.

(My stepsister is now working there, and is eligible for the award. It would be interesting if she won it, given the family dynamics at play. I think I'd volunteer to be the award presenter that year; we try to rotate it among the family members.)

[adrian_turtle]

These days, I have health problems that prevent me from working full time. I do 2 kinds of freelance work, and volunteer, but all 3 activities need a lot of recovery time. Even though I don't work very many hours per week, it's enough for me to think of myself as a part-time teacher, rather than a disabled/former engineer. That's important.

Most of my freelance work is tutoring math, chemistry, and physics for high school and college students. That includes a lot of community college students and people learning math to prepare for standardized tests. Some of my favorite students are the ones who are worried they "can't do math," because their early teachers or parents or friends made them think only a certain kind of person could be good at math. (Boys, or people who don't care deeply about sports or poetry or politics, or people who see the answer right away instead of needing to figure it out slowly...) When I teach one frightened student and pay attention, I can recognize when he or she flinches and stops thinking, and often work around it gently enough to get through. It's great.

The hard part is FINDING local students who need this kind of help and can pay for it. (There are a lot of volunteer tutors these days.) Putting up flyers turns out to be most effective, but each flyer hurts my hand and shoulder.

The other kind of freelance work I do is helping social-science grad students with statistics. I edit research papers and MS theses, explain background research, and help with experiment design. Finding these students presents a different problem, because there's such a market in selling term papers...a lot of people think I'm doing that, and I'm not.

I also read chemistry textbooks out loud. This is really great, even though I don't get paid for it at all. I go to the recording studio that used to be called Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, and is now Learning Ally (which is polite but vague.) Everybody there is SO nice to me, and then I go sit in a very quiet comfy space for 2 hours and read and describe diagrams.

[jenett]

Oooh. That's tremendously helpful. (We've been talking about telling people they were nominated, but I'll definitely bring up evidence of "sharing the actual nominations" as powerful.)

And yeah, on people being appreciated, and knowing it. It makes such an incredibly huge difference.

[adrian_turtle]

I'm not sure if this counts as a project or not, but the work I'm doing these days that takes up a lot of my time and energy is making a home for myself. (My lovers are elsewhere. My home is here.) I found a wonderful apartment in Somerville at the end of the winter, and was sharing it with another bookish introvert...but now she's getting married and needs to move out. So I am suddenly embarking on Plan Find Housemate. The urgent need is to find somebody reliable who can pay half the rent, but I am also hoping very hard indeed to find somebody I can feel safe and comfortable coming home to.

http://adrian-turtle.dreamwidth.org/14237.html

[jenett]

I think that *totally* counts as an important project. (Alas, the person I know who is looking has a cat, because otherwise, you might be a good fit for each other.)

[finch]

The thing I get paid for, in up-goer: I work at a school. I meet with people who want to go to school and explain how they can pay for it. I help them put words on paper so they can get money for school. Then I tell the people with the money that we have put words on paper and to give us money, please.

In other words, I do financial aid. I like the part where I help people do a thing that's hard for them, and then they get a certificate and a job and they're happy. I got into it entirely by accident, by taking the first decent-paying job that came along out of college and then sticking around in the field because it's now the field all my experience is in.

(I literally have no idea how to get a job in a different field in this job market, since everybody expects you to have 3-5 years of experience in your entry-level job. Anybody managed to do that?)

I think the up-goer version of what I do for real would be simply, "I write." Everything else feels unnecessarily specific. I also sometimes hit metal with a hammer for fun.

[finch]

That is awesome. I have worked in offices where admin positions were completely overlooked and stepped on and then everyone was shocked when they were high-turnover positions!

[kakiphony]

It's fairly fascinating both for the data bits (I kind of love the logical way wealth scores work) and for the biographical bits. Let's face it: Rich people are interesting. They get all sorts of opportunities to have great careers, meet fascinating people and have really cool hobbies. (The horse racing people are still some of my favorites, because it meant I got to read about horses. Which, of course, turned into reading Jane Smiley...) But really all the old money families are fascinating. I got to generate a family tree for the original plantation families in Hawai'i a while back.

[silveradept]

Oh, that's brilliant. We have smaller and more formal recognition items, and it's always really cool to hear the nominations and the reasons why people are getting awards. We just need to use those things more often.

[mrissa]

When people talk about purpose in life, I have a very short answer, which is that I am here to tell stories and love people, and the vast majority of the things I do proceed from that.

The baking, for example: I love to bake. I am good at baking. But for myself alone, I bake breakfast items on rare occasion. That's it. All the other baking I do is a conscious expression of love for one or more persons.

[alexseanchai]

Upgoer Five drives me buggy, so:

I am a data entry clerk slash paralegal for my state of residence, doing my share of the work that brings in like a quarter of the state's revenue and (I'm guessing) two-thirds of the state's international fame. I get the impression that I process orders faster than anybody in the division, certainly faster than anybody doing the same categories of work I do, and judging by my Opportunities For Improvement log I'm not sacrificing any accuracy for speed. Some of that is I read fast and some is I type fast, but a lot is I'm just damn good at what I do.

alexconall am I as well;
my business cards say feminist, poet,
author. I write speculatively, tell
about women and fairy tales—I know it
doesn't sell, not fantasy without
werewolves and vampires, nor fiction that
challenges heterosexist clout
or white male dominance, or goes to bat
against cissexism. I live in hope
that I'll acquire an audience who will
read and buy my work and cheer its scope,
encourage me to write—it's quite a thrill
just to get a comment that approves
my art. But still, the world I hope to move.

I don't remember how I got into writing, or into fandom (my fannish activity is all on alexseanchai). It seems like I've always been, you know? I currently have one short-story collection published with my friend Anne Walsh, A Dinner of Herbs: Tales from Scarborough Fair (first link is Amazon paperback, second is all the ebook formats on Smashwords), and am working on a frightening number of other projects. I've set a goal of having Self-Rescuing Princess, which is princess-centered fairy tales with feminist twists (such as racebent heroines, female princes, and—of course—the leading ladies rescuing themselves), complete in draft by Sept 30.

[alexseanchai]

Whatcha learning to play? I'm trying to learn to sing and to play piano, but I'm not getting very far. My problem with piano is consistently that I fumblefinger it and then get disappointed in myself and abandon it for a month or three (I type for a living! I type for fun! inability to coordinate my fingers is not a problem I'm supposed to be having!). My problem with singing is consistently that the software I'm trying to use has an alto voice and a tenor voice and my natural range is somewhere in between and narrow enough that it hurts to try to hit the notes in either example version of "Frere Jacques". I'm not sure I can hit the same note twice in a row while singing in a key my voice likes, but trying to sing in a key that hurts to attempt is Not Helpful.

(Upgoer Five lets you have 'song' but not 'sing'? Huh.)

[alexseanchai]

Shiny.

[jenett]

Oooh. Yes. I can see that, entirely.

[adrian_turtle]

I am fascinated by the way people try to use upgoer 5 as simple writing, when it is often simpler to use somewhat less common words, and very often clearer.

[synecdochic]

i keep this crazy ship lurching along ;)

[elisem]

How cool that you're working on learning those two things!

I'm learning to play the ukulele. Which means I'm now afflicted by UAS: Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome. Fortunately, they can be had for cheapish, compared to so many other instruments. There's also an electric bass here that a friend gave me many years ago, and I've noodled around on it a bit. When there was a piano in the house, it was a very useful thing for figuring out what the chords were to something I'd made up. (Making things without being able to notate them is kind of a theme around here.)

What kinds of things are you liking to play on the piano? Is it all sheet music, or do you also just sit there and noodle around and see what sounds happen and how they go together?

Your mention of singing software intrigues me. Can you say more? I'm trying to imagine what it would be like. (I totally agree that trying to sing in a key that hurts to attempt is definitely Not Helpful.)