April 16, 2004

  • Friday Five
    1. What do you do for a living?
    My job title is Web Specialist II. I’ve been making my department’s web pages since 1996, when I volunteered to learn how. At that time, I was a Medical Transcriptionist and mostly typed patient letters, chart notes, and academic stuff for the doctors I work for. As the web pages expanded, it took more of my time and eventually my institution figured out they should make a job classification just for web pages, so I reclassified and my salary jumped. Now I get paid to do what I volunteered for for years first.
    2. What do you like most about your job?
    I like that I get to be somewhat creative. Web pages consist of information, but you also have to design their format and graphics. I also like that I have a lot of autonomy. I can get up and go for a walk and nobody notices. Or I can make a personal phone call from time to time. Or I can visit Xanga – heheheh.
    3. What do you like least about your job?
    I have a co-worker in my small office who sits directly behind me when she’s there. It’s like having someone breathe down the back of your neck. Fortunately, she does a lot of her own stuff, so I know she’s not “keeping an eye” on me. Also, some of the doctors can be pretty arrogant. One of them was just a bit too cranky to me the other day. He’s now on my s____ list.
    4. When you have a bad day at work it’s usually because _____…
    See #3. Or because I work in a hospital, sometimes I see very sick people and it makes me sad.
    5. What other career(s) are you interested in?
    I’ve never had a career in my life. My job is a job. It’s too late for a career for me. Careers always bring to mind power lunches and power clothes and power hours. Yuck.
    Deep Thought: Many people don’t realize that playing dead can help not only with bears, but also at important business meetings.
    Today I am grateful for: Whales

Comments (7)

  • careers… yah, I never really liked the idea either.  Too stressful!  After watching “The Apprentice” the last few weeks, I asked dh if he thought he would ever do something like that.  He said, “No way.  I’d never make it.” … Despite being strong-willed and hard-headed, I wouldn’t either.  I’d be smushed!  No thanks!  A job is a job.

  • I never had a career either – I have had jobs but nothing I would consider a career. My last job I had a great boss though, I really liked working for her because she said DO this and let me go at it Happy Weekend!

  • One of my daughters wants to be a web designer.  Any advice?

  •   Cute elephants & a nifty scene. Web page designer sounds like a cool job-it would allow creativity, intelligence & pizzazz to have free rein. It would also be a sort of secret skill, a lot of people would like to know how to do it, but don’t. Much more interesting than just secretarial stuff.

  • LOL! at the deep thought. I don’t look at my job as a career either. I could walk away tomorrow and not miss a beat and neither would they. I’d quit tomorrow if I could.

  • Interesting.

  • My mom’s a medical transcriptionist, althugh she does it at home. It just seems like drudgery. Congrats on expanding your horizons. My mom, meanwhile, refuses to learn how to use a computer beyond what she absoluteky has to. She complained about how hard email is to use now that she’s switched away from AOL. Sigh.

Post a Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *