So in not even an aggressive job search, I've come across two good prospects. One is a science writer for Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (and before you ask, yes, I actually do know a bit about physics), and the other is a medical writer for ICON. The former could help me get a master's degree from Hopkins, and the latter could get me to Europe as they have offices all over the world. I'm beginning to sound awfully shrewd, aren't I?
I applied for both yesterday, and weirdly, they both use the same job application software, and more weirdly, ICON called me today! Nothing may come of either, and yet that doesn't bother me because at least I've taken an action to change my increasingly intolerable work circumstances, and that always makes me feel better.
Plus, I've met someone who happens to be a cellist, and I've been picking his brain about the best way to learn, and what to play, and any other cello question I can think of.
I'm not inclined to think that any of this is a coincidence, yet it's truly alarming (though not unappreciated) when the Universe responds so quickly to one's requests.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Sunday, August 27, 2006
why it's easy to hate my job - a timeline
Sunday, August 13, after ad board:
Client says they need a flash report, with top-line bullet points of major issues and suggestions, parallel with the flow of the meeting, by Friday, August 18th. No problem, say we, since it is normal procedure to send a flash report within a week of a meeting. However, writer hears little voice in her head that says organizing a report based on flow of meeting, rather than by topics, means there is bound to be redundancy in several sections, as topics were brought up more than once, but then writer remembers that thinking logically is not always the best thing to do in work situations.
Monday, August 14 and Tuesday, August 15:
Writer works on draft of flash report.
Wednesday, August 16:
Client suddenly decides that they need the flash report, 5 to 7 pages, by Thursday morning, instead of Friday COB. Writer sighs and cautions that a draft could be sent by Thursday am, but it will not be the polished report client would have gotten by Friday COB, due to the loss of two days to work on it. Client is surprisingly agreeable to this.
Draft sent to consultant and VP for review, and both respond that client will want detail and context and the draft should be re-ordered by topic rather than by presentation to present more of a story (!). New information is that report is not just for client, but also for everybody and their brother who may even have a passing interest, and who did not attend the meeting, which calls into question why client would agree to a rough draft if it is to be seen by whole world.
Writer reorganizes draft by topic and adds detail while still trying to keep within 7 pages, though wondering why a so-called flash report should have so much detail and context. Writer thinks flash report is beginning to sound suspiciously like an executive summary.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Writer and MSA revise flash report yet again and send to client.
Someone decides that the executive summary can be sent to client within a week (!!), which elicits audible gasp from writer, who is not sure how she'll pull that one off considering that her magic wand is in the shop for repair.
Monday, August 21
Client is "disappointed" with flash report, and puts consultant in charge of revising it. Five pm call with consultant results in writer pulling an all-nighter to revise just part of the flash report-on-steroids.
Tuesday, August 22
Revised part sent to consultant who likes it, so things seem to be looking up.
Writer pulls another all-nighter to revise more of Frankenstein flash report.
Wednesday, August 23
Writer, MSA, VPs, and AM spend all day in conference room amid doughnuts and coffee and bottles of water revising mutant flash report, which is a good idea because writer has started to forget words like "table" and "car" and "alibi" due to sleep deprivation.
Writer pulls only a late night rather than an all-nighter to finish up blasted report.
Thursday, August 24
Report makes the rounds of reviewers, and writer suddenly remembers she has other projects to work on.
Friday, August 25
Mega flash report sent to consultant, who still thinks it "needs work" and decides to rewrite it.
Saturday, August 26
Writer reviews consultant's comments through tears and begins searching for another job because writer realizes this client sounds very like a previous client who caused remarkably similar problems, and writer has pretty much had it with the lot of them.
The morals of the story are don't keep changing the rules of the game while players are in the middle of playing said game, and clients must learn that they can have a fast product or a thorough and polished product, but it is beyond the capacity of this writer to provide both at the same time, and under duress.
Client says they need a flash report, with top-line bullet points of major issues and suggestions, parallel with the flow of the meeting, by Friday, August 18th. No problem, say we, since it is normal procedure to send a flash report within a week of a meeting. However, writer hears little voice in her head that says organizing a report based on flow of meeting, rather than by topics, means there is bound to be redundancy in several sections, as topics were brought up more than once, but then writer remembers that thinking logically is not always the best thing to do in work situations.
Monday, August 14 and Tuesday, August 15:
Writer works on draft of flash report.
Wednesday, August 16:
Client suddenly decides that they need the flash report, 5 to 7 pages, by Thursday morning, instead of Friday COB. Writer sighs and cautions that a draft could be sent by Thursday am, but it will not be the polished report client would have gotten by Friday COB, due to the loss of two days to work on it. Client is surprisingly agreeable to this.
Draft sent to consultant and VP for review, and both respond that client will want detail and context and the draft should be re-ordered by topic rather than by presentation to present more of a story (!). New information is that report is not just for client, but also for everybody and their brother who may even have a passing interest, and who did not attend the meeting, which calls into question why client would agree to a rough draft if it is to be seen by whole world.
Writer reorganizes draft by topic and adds detail while still trying to keep within 7 pages, though wondering why a so-called flash report should have so much detail and context. Writer thinks flash report is beginning to sound suspiciously like an executive summary.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Writer and MSA revise flash report yet again and send to client.
Someone decides that the executive summary can be sent to client within a week (!!), which elicits audible gasp from writer, who is not sure how she'll pull that one off considering that her magic wand is in the shop for repair.
Monday, August 21
Client is "disappointed" with flash report, and puts consultant in charge of revising it. Five pm call with consultant results in writer pulling an all-nighter to revise just part of the flash report-on-steroids.
Tuesday, August 22
Revised part sent to consultant who likes it, so things seem to be looking up.
Writer pulls another all-nighter to revise more of Frankenstein flash report.
Wednesday, August 23
Writer, MSA, VPs, and AM spend all day in conference room amid doughnuts and coffee and bottles of water revising mutant flash report, which is a good idea because writer has started to forget words like "table" and "car" and "alibi" due to sleep deprivation.
Writer pulls only a late night rather than an all-nighter to finish up blasted report.
Thursday, August 24
Report makes the rounds of reviewers, and writer suddenly remembers she has other projects to work on.
Friday, August 25
Mega flash report sent to consultant, who still thinks it "needs work" and decides to rewrite it.
Saturday, August 26
Writer reviews consultant's comments through tears and begins searching for another job because writer realizes this client sounds very like a previous client who caused remarkably similar problems, and writer has pretty much had it with the lot of them.
The morals of the story are don't keep changing the rules of the game while players are in the middle of playing said game, and clients must learn that they can have a fast product or a thorough and polished product, but it is beyond the capacity of this writer to provide both at the same time, and under duress.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
on assignment in Chicago
the high points:
- most of the slides were done before the meeting (I realize that sounds like it should be bloody obvious, but you'd be surprised)
- the client has calmed down now that he sees that we really do have our act together, and this is not the first time we've done an ad board
- the first day of the meeting went well, and ended on time, and features a chairperson who is enthusiastic about the topic and knows how to keep things moving and reign people in, rarer qualities than one might think
- the entire hotel is suites - it's nice to get a suite instead of a room every once in awhile, though my luck with getting bad views from my room windows is still unchanged
- the hotel is right on Michigan Avenue, though whether I'll have time to go shopping before I have to leave to catch my plane remains to be seen
- the suites have odd things as part of their mini bar, like Moleskine mini notebooks (though that's rather clever considering that if you're in a hotel for a meeting, and you've forgotten a notebook, which I do more frequently than I care to admit, it's handy to be able to grab a notebook from the mini bar, weird as that sounds)
- I was able to upgrade my plane seats to economy plus, and the extra $30 is worth it for the leg room and elbow room
the low points:
- traveling the day after the "no liquids in carry-ons" rule went into effect (although it took an hour to check bags and get through security, it could have been worse if I had left on Thursday, when my co-workers were in line for 2+ hours)
- giving up yet another weekend for work
- having to board my pets yet again
- not having a screen to shield Stephen and me from the arrogance flung around at the meeting (why is it that when docs get together, it always ends up as a pissing contest? We spent all day yesterday listening to docs brag about how much more data they knew than the other docs and how many more studies they were participating in than the other docs, and badmouthing PCPs, and I had to take notes on all this!)
I'm seriously reconsidering my future career with this company. I'd be stupid if I didn't.
- most of the slides were done before the meeting (I realize that sounds like it should be bloody obvious, but you'd be surprised)
- the client has calmed down now that he sees that we really do have our act together, and this is not the first time we've done an ad board
- the first day of the meeting went well, and ended on time, and features a chairperson who is enthusiastic about the topic and knows how to keep things moving and reign people in, rarer qualities than one might think
- the entire hotel is suites - it's nice to get a suite instead of a room every once in awhile, though my luck with getting bad views from my room windows is still unchanged
- the hotel is right on Michigan Avenue, though whether I'll have time to go shopping before I have to leave to catch my plane remains to be seen
- the suites have odd things as part of their mini bar, like Moleskine mini notebooks (though that's rather clever considering that if you're in a hotel for a meeting, and you've forgotten a notebook, which I do more frequently than I care to admit, it's handy to be able to grab a notebook from the mini bar, weird as that sounds)
- I was able to upgrade my plane seats to economy plus, and the extra $30 is worth it for the leg room and elbow room
the low points:
- traveling the day after the "no liquids in carry-ons" rule went into effect (although it took an hour to check bags and get through security, it could have been worse if I had left on Thursday, when my co-workers were in line for 2+ hours)
- giving up yet another weekend for work
- having to board my pets yet again
- not having a screen to shield Stephen and me from the arrogance flung around at the meeting (why is it that when docs get together, it always ends up as a pissing contest? We spent all day yesterday listening to docs brag about how much more data they knew than the other docs and how many more studies they were participating in than the other docs, and badmouthing PCPs, and I had to take notes on all this!)
I'm seriously reconsidering my future career with this company. I'd be stupid if I didn't.
Thursday, August 3, 2006
candidates...
...for the "what-will-they-think-of-next-and-why-did-they-in-the-first-place" prize:
tummy-friendly coffee
loo entertainment
virtual booksigning
tummy-friendly coffee
loo entertainment
virtual booksigning
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