[Cleo]

Thanks so much for the quick response Rachel! I actually didn’t notice there was a response until yesterday, I think because I assumed you two would be too busy to respond for awhile! 😛

You make some very great points and things I hadn’t necessarily thought of! HR may not be bad everywhere you’re right, there are probably a variety of positions I can look more into. Ideally one that doesn’t involve constant high-pressure interaction. The main descriptions I find about HR online talk about dealing with people and having a lot of mediation, de-escalation types of tasks between employees and the company although it may have to do also with the positions within the department and what organization it is with. I actually don’t mind people (and miiiight be 10% tribe member) and get along with most people I meet. I have objectively strong soft skills and people skills so I’d probably be good at HR, but it definitely stresses me out to be dealing with demanding and negative people. It did occur to me however that if my job had even 25% of the high-pressure interaction it has now it would still be a big improvement in terms of bearability, so long as it isn’t the type of job that also follows me into evenings and weekends.
Probably the best things about my current position are that:

1) my bosses and coworkers are mostly positive, helpful and encouraging people (and also mostly remote even though I work in a physical center);
2) I often get to go home early if it isn’t busy, so my weeks tend to hover around 32-35 hours for most of the year unless it’s exceptionally busy;
3) The workday ends (and exits from my thoughts) as soon as I clock out!

Also thanks a bunch for the support re: temp position! It definitely feels good hearing that from an expert. I’m still applying to Administrative and related positions, by the way, but I’m getting next to no interviews, whereas when I was still in the temp position I was getting them in droves.

I guess at my level of experience it’s hard to know what “normal” is for a workplace environment. It didn’t feel toxic to me at all until it became obvious they weren’t bothering me to train me anymore because I hadn’t picked up every detail after a few weeks (and I even heard my boss mention over the phone they were looking for a replacement from his next door cubicle). Aside from the obvious negativity at the end (and the fact that it was temp), the job just seemed to flow with my life. It seemed really simple and easy, and was kind of like, “they actually pay us a well-above-minimum wage just to do THIS?”. I never dreaded a Monday, nor counted down the hours until the workday ended. I know there were other tasks they were supposed to train me for that they didn’t bother, but they didn’t sound or appear especially difficult or stressful by my standards. In fact I was kind of made to look and feel like an idiot, for example because they didn’t believe I would be able to handle reception and greet clients alone when my colleague was on her lunch break (never gave me the chance to because they didn’t trust my abilities). I know I have a rather passive, bubbly demeanour and look/sound younger than my age which could be a strike against me in many workplaces.

Certainly research is a big thing I need to do, thanks for the suggestions of how. Google is one I’ve used a lot but the information it gives usually isn’t very specific, and can be very much conflicting, especially when it’s regarding job markets and outlooks. The informational interviews (and even asking questions on Reddit once I unblock it from my browser :P) sound like better options, along with the spreadsheet. Maybe I’ll make narrowing down the choices to 1 or 2 the main goal of the next few months, alongside still applying to the administrative/data entry/reception positions. I know it’s good to have one specific goal like rounding down options, and clear out all the clutter around what family members/society would think of me due to my current low-status position.

Thanks again for the reply, sorry it’s long! I definitely plan to catch up with some of your newer blog posts to also help me on the journey 🙂

[Cleo]

Hello Rachel and Kristen,

Thanks so much for creating this quiz and course! I am definitely a true Thriver and really envy your dad’s situation. I am not very happy with my current life situation and it has even caused me to avoid interaction, especially with family around which I feel very inadequate compared to the others in my age range who all had solid (and even impressive/exciting) careers by their mid-20s. I’m almost 27 years old, educated (social sciences) and I’ve been working as a call center agent since last July.

One major value that was brought out by the Short Course is that I strongly prefer low-pressure interaction as part of my job (assuming said job requires frequent interaction, which it would be a big bonus if it didn’t). As a customer service agent I have solidified my dislike for having to be dealing with people one-on-one all the time and putting up with their negativity in a semi-high pressure style of interaction. I would very likely dislike a job/career where interaction is routinely high-pressure, high-stakes, negative and/or constant. I had briefly considered going into HR but I get the impression I would hate it for that reason.

Prior to this I was a temp Administrative Assistant for a government office in my city. I enjoyed the position very much and it was even comforting to me. However, I didn’t last very long as my supervisor decided I wasn’t picking up the material fast enough and was still asking questions 6 weeks into the temp position. It was my first job of the type and I’m positive that if I was given another month there I would have nearly everything figured out with few if any more questions. My supervisor gave me a good reference but said that next time I should take greater care to remember everything and not ask too many questions, which I would have no problem with in the future (by studying more). However it still caused me to substantially question my competence and capabilities and I wondered if I was a detail-oriented and organized person which every job calls for.

Hence, I’m currently deciding what to do long-term and am considering going back to college. I am partly considering going into Web Development or Design, but it’s a lot of hours of learning and I may end up not being that great at it (I’m terrible at anything involving numbers or math, which it’s unclear whether this type of job requires at least some degree of such). I am also thinking about going to school to become an educational assistant, as I have a very patient and caring demeanour, am great with kids and value/enjoy a school environment. However it would take a ton of energy and I might find it too stressful and draining. I was also considering going to school to become a Library Technician, which sounds like an ideal job to me but the job market seems pretty bleak.

Basically I just want to settle on a path that

a) I am, or could become very competent at (So mimimal-to-no math. Accounting is out.)

b) Has plenty of job opportunities (I think this strongly relates to freedom as well. When there are many opportunities, it’s much easier to find a new job in the same field if an unhappy or toxic situation arises.)

c) Is not dealing with people’s negativity constantly

d) Is in an environment I enjoy or at least don’t hate

e) Has reasonable hours/time off (no more than 40/week, preferably 30-36 range), as well as being stable and not on-call or always reachable (that is a HUGE dealbreaker for me).

I actually enjoy the more simple, repetitive types of tasks like my previous administrative position (or a much-lamented “data entry” job :P), but those types of jobs are getting fewer and further between, and are mostly temp.
There seem not to be very many stable career-jobs that do not involve either some type of mathematical skill, or a heavy amount of negative interaction (e.g. HR, law-related fields).

As such, I’m actually not really sure what my question is, and I do apologize for such a long post. I just feel the need to let out my thoughts which have been stirring around, to see if you have any input.

You’re awesome, and I’ve been reading your blog on and off for the past year-and-a-half. I should put it out there that so much of what you said in old blog posts made me feel so much better about myself, that my job doesn’t have to be my identity and that my passion doesn’t have to be a THING. It was probably the first time I ever heard anyone outright say that.

[Author]

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