Career opportunities
It’s hard to believe it but as of tomorrow the 30th, I will hit a very big milestone in my life. I will have been employed for one year! No matter how many times I say it, it still doesn’t feel real to me.
And at times, it felt like I would not make it to this day. My initial stint employed was only for two weeks last February. But I was called back in March in the aftermath of my friend and co-worker Mary’s passing. Sure, I felt a hell of a lot of guilt knowing that this circumstance would overshadow my return but I couldn’t let this opportunity go. I worked as a temporary hire two days a week and helped my fellow colleague with her data entry project at the same time. Although, there was the thought in my head that my supervisor could at any moment tell me that I wouldn’t be needed anymore, I made it past the 90 day probationary period on April 30th. A week later, an extra day was added on and I subtracted one day from the data entry project. This arrangement would be the norm for most of the summer.
That was until the afternoon of Wednesday, August 6th. It was after the 2PM break and my supervisor met with me in the next room. She said “How would you like a full time job?”. From that moment forward , I was on cloud nine. Six years of post college struggle vanished in that one moment. I told my family that evening, then my friend and former co-worker Jen followed by my two best friends Jose & Umara. I wanted to let this cat out of the bag but I couldn’t. At least not until I told the supervisor of my data entry project first so she could find my replacement. Two days later, I would tell everyone else I knew the good news. We came to an agreement that I would start full time on Monday, September 8th. The reason for it was that I headed to Chicago over Labor Day and that was a short work week. I wanted to start full time during a full work week. But before that happened, I formally stepped aside from the data entry project I was working on that Thursday. There was no turning back now.
I didn’t realize how much of a Pandora’s box working full time would become. In the previous arrangement, I would be in the call center three days a week, work on the data entry project one day a week and have one day off. It worked for me as the data entry gave me a calm counterbalance to the madness of dealing with an endless succession of donors. Now, I would be running in the mouse wheel five days a week, eight hours a day.
The job and my personality struggled to coexist. I have a tendency to get frustrated and angry over every mistake made, no matter how small. I would look around the room , see my co-workers and envy their ability to handle the pressure of people a lot better than I would. There were moments where I would get so frustrated, all I could do was break down in tears whether at work or in front of my family. I didn’t know who to turn to as the one person who could relate to me left in April and I was left in search of how to deal with my problems. It is a struggle to maintain professionalism and not want to vent my frustrations in front of the room but I have to sit on my anger. I don’t get as upset as I used to over everything but trying to be positive in a chaotic environment and be professional at the same time is something that I still struggle with to this day. The customer service portion of the orientation never mentioned how much of a mental adjustment it would take to work as a Donation/Dispatch Associate. But thankfully, I have a supervisor who’s willing to work with me instead of throwing me under the bus when she had every reason to after every outburst.
In addition to the job itself, there was baggage that came with it. I had to worry about such minutiae as contributing to retirement benefits, transit contributions and trying to help my mother out to a small degree financially. And then, at the end of the year, I was kicked off my health insurance as I made too much money to stay on it. I did give the health marketplace a look and after realizing that the plans NYS offers would take a bit out of my finances every month, I applied for my company’s insurance. Just yesterday, I filled out my first tax return as an adult. I felt so unprepared to deal with the combination of working and the life that comes with it. As with everything in my life, I was welcomed into adulthood the hard way.
For all the struggle, this year has been one that changed my life for the better. In a small way, I play a big part in helping the organization. And I’ve been a big help to my co-workers. All the insurance paperwork for the room goes through me. I take a big load off my supervisor’s shoulders by making the reminder calls for the clothing bins we have in conjunction with the Department of Sanitation. I upload all the phone messages into the system every morning and print out the emails that come to our call center staff email address from people inquiring to donate their furniture. And I’m not doing so badly for myself as I plant my flags all over the schedule
The big challenge going forward is working to keep the worlds of home and work from coinciding with each other. I tend to bring the events going in one area into the other and get trapped in a cycle of misery. I need some kind of outlet to channel my anger and frustration that come across in daily life. All the concerts and events only serve to keep me happy temporarily. It doesn’t take much get me frustrated again. I would not have gotten to this point without the support of my family, friends and co-workers. My friends Umara, Jose, Jen and Stephanie in particular, have talked me off the ledge on more than one occasion and for that I’m thankful. My family has brought me back to reality after every meltdown. And I’ve fed off the joy and levity of my co-workers to counteract the day to day madness.
I’m eternally grateful to be in the position I’m in right now. I know this is the first stop on the long road of employment and who knows where it ultimately leads me. One thing is for sure, this will be the last time I work in the customer service field. But right now, i will take the victory lap and will look forward to year number two and beyond!
