Working From Home

All three WTD contributors work from home in some capacity. One of us is a freelance writer, one of us is continuing on with Academic work by pursuing her PhD in the fall and one of us just got a remote position. You may remember my downtrodden post As a New Grad am I Simply an Expendable Commodity? about my struggle to find meaningful work in a challenging market. I’m happy to announce my patience, perseverance and determination paid off and I got a dream job! 

WeHeartIt

A huge contributing factor in my job hunt was the search for a remote work from home position. It didn’t dictate my search but it was the dream.  Not living in a bustling, happening metropolis centre of the country meant that it was harder to find a position that would be engaging and interesting and in my field. I knew that working remotely was my best chance to get what I wanted. Also, I love that I will now be home with my dog everyday!

I am not writing this from a place of experience. Working from home will be a new adventure for me. Instead, I’m writing this from a place of planning, speculation, excitement and anticipation. I put a call out there on Twitter for advice on working from home, telecommuting and remote work. What advice do you have? What has your experience taught you that you can share with me? Tweet me at @jemcolborne or comment below!

I did “work from home” as a University student for five years so the concept isn’t foreign to me. I imagine that being a student is quite different than being an employee, though. There will be more structure but less creativity, more formalities and less work at your own pace. I envision an equal number of due dates and deadlines. I hope for less all nighters and cramming. Since graduating, I have acquired a new office, a new desk and a new computer  so everything about the home office experience will be new and different.

I also worked from home as a content writer and even wrote a blog about organizing my home office a while ago if you're interested: Home Office Organization. Interestingly, even though I wrote that post while organizing my office it was only for part time work and truly I haven't put it to use. One of the biggest problems I had was my wifi which wasn't strong enough. I purchased a wifi booster last night to strengthen the signal in my office!

I asked another WTD writer for some advice and she gave me a list of things to assess in my home office before making any changes:

Seating

A comfortable yet ergonomic desk chair is a must. Sitting on your couch is simply not okay for a professional job and isn't good for your back anyway. Consider a mat underneath the chair for rolling. What about an alternate/healthy sitting option (standing desk or stability ball to get the circulation flowing)?

I personally love  this wicker backed IKEA Gregor desk chair:

IKEA GREGOR

Power Source

Have apower bar for multiple plug-ins, a battery backup for power outages, look up cord organization.

I might try something simply like this idea from Lifehacker! Also, read this super helpful Lifehacker post on 10 Office Decluttering Tips.

Life Hacker

Light

Test natural light on screen for glare. Ensure there is sufficient light (natural & artificial) in the room. I don't have overhead ceiling lights so this is especially important for me!

Privacy

Is there a door that can be closed for privacy and soundproofing 

Meals

Snacking is a major drawback of working from home. Stock the fridge with healthy easy-to-make home lunches and snacks. Baby carrots are great! Have a water bottle and healthy snacks at the desk to eliminate getting up for water breaks.

Pinterest

 Supplies

I went through some office must haves in my last Home Office Organization blog. What about anything special or extra like headphones? Can you make your supplies pretty and organized?

Organization

Do you need a calendar, planner, daytimer…

Pinterest

Other thoughts that came to mind: a dog bed for my dog  so she can settle in and nap without distracting me, some kind of bulletin board in front of me would be nice for organization, in the summer I may want a fan for a cool breeze, what else do I need!

You might want to check out our Organized Chaos Pinterest boar for more inspiration!

As a New Grad am I Simply an Expendable Commodity ?

As new grads we have been very vocal on WTD about our struggle to find meaningful employment in the current market. As you are aware WTD is voiced by three female twenty-something English Masters. One of us is headed back into the Academic Arena in the fall for her PhD, one of us is working full time as an administrative assistant doing freelance work nights and weekends and one of us is fully devoting her time to content writing and freelance work. It hasn’t been a cake walk for any of us and none of us are completely happy or satisfied with our current position (only temporarily for one of us - so happy and excited for our future professor!) being out of school and looking for work has been hard, trying, testing and intimidating for all of us.

Source: We Heart It

Working as a freelancer and trying to carve out a space in the bustling metropolis that is the internet has been extremely difficult for us. Especially after studying English. Who knew I'd be more valuable with a one year marketing college degree than I am with an M.A. after my signature? I’ve been paid dirt for my writing and slighted more than once by big businesses and generally feel like what I have to offer is pretty worthless. Want to discuss theory, anyone? I have some really interesting thoughts on the New Historians! I’d also love nothing more than to write a really engaging piece of SEO content on Austen! Ha-ha, yeah, right. Instead, I’m learning about strategic development and human resources terminology. I'm realizing that I need to understand how the internet works and what makes content go viral.  I'm writing about industries and sectors I'd never even imagined knowing about. But I research these topics, learn and become an expert on them because that is the content the client wants and needs and my job is to deliver.

Most recently, I got slighted by a small company that I started talking to through the recommendation of close family friend. Based on our first conversation the work was mine if I wanted it. It was outside of my field but directly related to writing and we both felt confident that I could do it (and do it well, in my opinion). The following week the CEO of the small business decided it would be best if I sat in on a meeting to observe some of the language and terminology and to get comfortable with their business. I thought this was totally understandable and reasonable and (even better) she would pay me for the training. Following the meeting she decided I better do a “trial run” just to confirm that we would both be happy with the work I produce. Following the trial run I heard nothing from her for a week.  I finally followed up and we’ve been playing telephone tag for a couple days since.

Yesterday, I saw a job posting for the position online. 

I saw the posting and I immediately felt affronted with feelings of hurt, betrayal and embarrassment. I asked myself: why am I an expendable commodity as a new grad? Why did our verbal agreement that I was going to do the work mean nothing? This employer has met me, knows a friend of my family and knows that she had given me the work (I was supposed to start today) yet still doesn’t have the common courtesy to let me know hey, this isn’t going to work, i'm going to find someone else with more experience.

I took time away from my other more lucrative employment to immerse myself in the training for this upcoming gig. The work paid less but I was excited to work with this woman and learn from her. I felt like she would be an amazing future reference.  I will literally do anything to gain experience and add to my resume and portfolio. Even if it means taking half of my regular wage, working irregular hours and giving up my benefits.  I want to write professionally and there is very little I wouldn’t do for my future career. What a double-edged sword this dedication to writing has become! I realized that my obsession and drive is exactly why I am an expendable commodity in the market as a new grad. I, we, will do anything for very little with the glimmering hope of a career that somewhat relates to what we studied in Unversity.

I am exceptionally open to criticism. I would say that an academic’s ability to accept criticism (not unwarranted criticism of course but that from a figure like a professor or employer) is one of the most valuable assets I gained from my degrees and something that I think other non-academics lack in their training. If you don’t like how I’m writing for you I can easily transform what I’ve prepared into something entirely different that suits your needs. Why can I do that? Because I know how to write. I know how to manipulate the English language into something that suits any company’s needs. I know how to argue form a standpoint I don’t believe in. I know how to not only read something but how to interpret and engage with that material. I am a critical thinking ninja.  I can understand information that is outside of my “comfort zone” and make it into something meaningful because if I can understand Chaucer I can understand anything.

So why can’t I do this work? What went so wrong in my trial run that I couldn’t change or improve on? Preferably, this employer would give me a chance to learn and grow and prove myself. I am highly adaptable and enthusiastic beyond measure about my work. I would never submit anything I wasn't proud to call my own.

And if it really wasn’t going to work why couldn’t she have at least told me so?

I won’t get discouraged though. I will move on to the next and continue on my job search because I want to write and that is all I want to do. It won’t be easy to establish a career and I know no one is going to hand it to me. I’ll just have to keep trying and keep going until I can finally prove that I am a valuable commodity.

Source: We Heart It