If you are working, what careers are you in?

PS. Yes, I think some teaching and university staff members are simply better at rationally assessing how to be happier.

Then I think members of a subset of that group (5% - 10% or fewer of that group in my work setting, anyway) take action to pursue that happiness, understanding that by doing so, they are taking risks and also possibly quietly ticking off their supervisors. That’s where the risk can really come in - a supervisor can of course refuse to give a good reference.

I count myself, with relief, as a part of that tiny sub-group, because wellness matters more to me than status or money. 

Yay to honest and super cool discussions like this, by the way.

Elizabeth

Hi, Niche:

What an incredible story! And a true story, at that!

I am dictating this on the iPad and not rereading our correcting anything spelling or grammar-ish, so please forgive the mistakes. :-)

Yes, I think status means a lot to our coworkers. I can only speak for my experiences here in the Canadian public school K-12 educational system, but here, teachers care a great deal about whether they have a tenured contract.

And in fact, within the teaching community, there is a very real social hierarchy, based on someone’s contract type. There are of course teachers for whom that doesn’t matter at all, but it seems to me that the “power players“ among the teacher group care about contract type a great deal.

And within that subset, there are a group of teachers who have usually aspired to become administrators quite early in their careers, and they do so as quickly as they can.

Their work as administrators then perpetuates the social status emphasis on tenured contracts, I have found, as a relative latecomer to teaching having done social work prior to entering this career, I have been really surprised and disappointed at how top down and contract type-centric the teaching profession is.

I have been equally if not more surprised and disappointed to see how much fear of administration teachers have in their day to day work lives, and how even tenured teachers are fearful of their administrators.

That absolutely no sense to me, particularly given that we are unionized, regardless of our contract type, and that we have job security either for the years of our contracts or for our permanent careers as tenured employees. It’s just a bizarre situation but of course most administrators foster this reality because their supervisors, all the way up to superintendents of school divisions, set the tone. I have noticed that when school principals’ supervisors attend at school for walk-throughs or meetings, the school principals often look terrified. (?)

I have found that by never sending out any signals of fear, administrators treat me well and leave me to do my job. I have privately said to colleagues – those to whom I am closest - that if teachers send out signals of being vulnerable and fearful, those around them will pick up on that and treat them in the way they are advertising they should be treated, however subconsciously. 

So yes, I think teachers, at least here in Canada, care about status. And for what it’s worth, because my sister and brother-in-law are university professors, I’ve read quite a bit about the dynamic in the university system and it seems far worse for profs and lecturers. Here in Canada, universities have shifted the majority of their teaching needs to low paid contract lecturers (Ph.D.s) who are paid abusively low rates. 

I have found that about 1/2 of the administrators for whom I work seem put off by my lack of fear. I notice what I believe are small signs of it, nothing overt, but those administrators also tend to just leave me be, which is fine with me. Knock wood, have always emerged with good references after my contracts ended, and I’m grateful for that.

I am super inspired by your living fearlessly within that position you were describing, at the University. I’m sure your colleagues were grateful to know you and have your thoughts and advice.

I’m actually at a crossroads now where my school has let me know they want to keep me on for the next school year, in my current position, but I am not sure I want to remain in this position. I keep going back-and-forth in my own mind about what to do. I find, however, that ultimately what I meant to do becomes very clear to me, if I just quietly wait for the definitive answer to arrive in my thoughts and heart.

Thanks for being such a great part of this website, by the way. Have a super day and hello from the currently cold land over here. 

Elizabeth

Mark (NicheMarket) said:

Or does status actually mean something to them

It is EVERYTHING to them,. 

Thanks for your compliment. I just wish I could find people in real life who thought I was interesting. Most people I meet just stare blankly at me. I need to move out of this tiny village! I'm hoping to move asap.

I solved the problem of having difficulty applying for jobs by freelancing as a proofreader and editor. It's lonely working at home but at least I don't have to struggle with applying for jobs office politics and one-upmanship.

Hope you are doing well

It was a life saving insight. I'd been in post 2 years (permanent cos it's impossible to recruit in my area so tenure was easy) and I wasn't happy. I was ready to leave, there were too many conflicting and exhausting demands. I decided to not do my usual and leave and try and incremently improve it.

So I thought about who was happy in my job in my dept and I'd copy them. I went down the corridor one by one in my mind. No one was happy in the way I'd want to be happy, but out of 35 I felt 2 or 3 were doing well. I thought about them. What they had was that their egoes, maybe identities, weren't caught up in their role. I realised my problem was my ego, I'd got caught in the university politics power game. I had no intrinsic interest so dropped to 60% immediately, then 50% the next year, and then fought a difficult negotiation to move from the research track to the teaching track. I had to threaten to leave. But immediately in the teaching track there's no status, not an easy career, etc. I was blissfully free! I was happy for about 10 years but did lose interest as it was hard to find novelty without chasing status roles. Then I was inspired to do my new job.

It was odd how many people were envious of my bliss, would talk to me about it, about switching track, but they couldn't do it (except one). Are we more rational and can assess how to be happy better? Or does status actually mean something to them Elizabeth???

Hi, NicheMarket:

Regarding what you said, “I also didn't care about a career, status, promotion so didn't get caught up in the research game...”:

That really rang true and struck a positive chord with me. Thanks for sharing it. I felt liberated when I decided not to care about having a permanent contract (tenure) as a teacher here in our Canadian school system. I make the same money as tenured teachers, I have the same pension, the same benefits, etc. The only difference is that I work contracts of one year at a time. This decision has liberated me from school politics or working in fear, which a lot of teachers here do.

Elizabeth

P.S. KKC, you sound like a super interesting person!

Elizabeth

Hi, KKC!

I absolutely love that you mentioned CVs. Mine is lengthy and I am always aware that for some potential employers that might be a red flag. I’ve just trusted the universe, however, that I would always just get the work I was meant to have with an organization that wasn’t put off by that.

I think having a CV with multiple entries including ones that relate to work of only a year or less at a time can be counterbalanced by having solid references. But still, it takes courage to move forward with job applications, knowing that it’s possible the people reviewing the CV might make false assumptions based on multiple job entries.

Side note: I don’t think I would be capable of staying in one job for more than two years. Perhaps I should think differently but I like variety. My longest time at one job was eight years, but that was as a self-employed person. In that capacity, I didn’t have to deal with office politics or answer to a supervisor. It was heaven, but I didn’t like the stress of an unpredictable income, dealing with an economy in recession, etc. 

The predictability of a regular, if smaller, paycheque soothes the (irrational) anxiety that I carry related to finances. (Another topic.) 

Elizabeth

Me too about the CV! I've divided it into sections: Admin, Charity, Education, Publishing. And a section called Full Time Mother with all the jobs I do in that area.

Retail is a tough environment. How are you coping with furlough, if you don't mind me asking? I hope that you have a fun new routine. I'm having to self-isolate for a few days after a colleague tested positive and so far my "routine" is mostly forums like this one and tramping around the garden listening to audiobooks. My autistic husband has a fantastic ability to do things at the same time each day.

I have an odd CV too! Lots of jobs, lots of industries. I've been "let go" more times than I care to count as it would make me feel sad. I just lump jobs together as "temporary work" after a few years otherwise my CV would be very long. I've had my current job for 18 months, the third longest ever. My employer has autistic family members and seems very chilled out with me.

I need to go on a laptop to see messages I think so sorry if I haven't replied...

Wow, I thought that A level maths was quite complicated enough though I did enjoy learning about the proof for differentiation. I'm currently a volunteer for local animal organisations and love my feathered and furry (and slimy etc) neighbours.

I did a degree in Maths, Statistics and Operational Research.

I worked as an operational researcher which suited me as it was a desk job processing numbers with other number types. I did data analysis, artificial intelligence and risk analysis. Looking back it surprises me how NT these spaces were, but we were all busy number crunching so it was quiet.

I then worked as a university lecturer teaching this. That worked as you get an office on your own and there's limited meetings orexpectation to be social. Lectures are quite easy compared to classrooms, and it's easier being the lecturer than in the group. Universities are high stress environments though. I was ok cos I worked 2.5 days and spread it over 3 or 4 so I had lots of recovery time. I also didn't care about a career, status, promotion so didn't get caught up in the research game whete the stress comes from. Unis apparently have lots of ASs there.

Now I work as a manager for an Animal Freedom group. It's more tiring, but it's purposeful and a passion, and we seem to recruit quiet types! I think we're approx 50% or more undiagnosed, haha! There's lots of ASs in Animal Protection groups. 

When I worked in schools and colleges, I actually found staffrooms quite nice, depending on the organisation. Everyone was exhausted and didn't chat much in break times. They saw I was putting in the time and effort with the students (11- 18) and respected me and I respected them.

I agree with this. 1:1 I'm brilliant. Any more people than that I struggle.

Yeah, I work in tech and work from home - also when lock-down is not upon us. I love it. Also, I've been lucky enough to find a neuro-divergent boss, which makes communication so much easier. In my experience, it is less about what you do and more about who you do it with. The environment is everything for me to excel. 

That explains why I never get very far in jobs! I can't read between the lines socially OR do science. I suppose working with words is an alternative to science.

I'm the same, I do a job for a while, then lose interest and move on. I've had jobs in banks, libraries, printing, charities, travel helplines, accountants, schools, colleges, publishers, life coaching, probably others too. I've got an odd CV now.

What I did was join People Per Hour, the freelancing site, and gradually built up my client base on there. It took 2 years and I doubted myself a lot but I feel like I'm getting somewhere now.

Good luck! I think it's a good job for people who need quiet, and you can do it anywhere.