Random Rambling and Updates
Good grief! I just realized I haven’t posted anything on this blog since January. I have no idea where the time goes. Daylight savings time started this past weekend, and I don’t think I’ve adjusted yet. The older you get the harder it is to recover. I know it’s just an hour lost, but damn!
Got the time tick, tick, ticking in my head…
Working From Home
So this article popped into my into my email today and I thought it was interesting. Basically Mark Zuckerberg is saying that Meta employees who work on the office tend to perform better than those working from home. Zuckerberg believes that “in-person time helps build relationships and get more done.” I must agree with him on this. Over the past couple of years many have touted the plusses of working from home, and sure, I took advantage of some of those benefits, but to be honest I was most miserable when I worked from home (not for myself, but for another organization) during the pandemic.
I felt that I was working harder and taking on more clients than normal just to prove that I was earning my paycheck. I was working as a career coach at a drug treatment program. We weren’t allowed to see our clients on Zoom or Facetime. Sessions and groups with our clients had to be done over the phone. It was awkward. I rarely had the clients’ full attention. And during my groups, clients would call in, get their attendance taken, and then hang up. Hello? Is anyone there? There are certain things you just can’t do over the phone. Though I was meeting with more clients, the quality of my services declined. And don’t get me started on my coworkers! Before the pandemic I would just walk over to a colleague’s office if I needed to discuss a client or needed something signed or filled out. During the pandemic trying to get in touch with certain coworkers by phone or email was next to impossible. There was one drug counselor who I am convinced was driving for Uber or Lift while on the clock!
Hello?! Anyone there?
There was also the social factor. I felt isolated working from home. Sure, I’d call my work buddies during the day, but I missed going out to lunch with them and schmoozing with folks from other departments. Things didn’t improve much when we returned to the office on a hybrid schedule. Though I was thrilled to leave the house and go to the office, I wasn’t allowed to pick the days I could go in, even though I was one of the first people to volunteer to return to the office.
One time one of the department heads who was not my supervisor gave me a talking to because I chose to work from home on a day I was scheduled to go into the office. I didn’t have any in-person appointments or anything else going on that required me to be in the office that day. My mistake was sending an email to my colleagues to let them know I wouldn’t be in. I could have not said anything about working from home and no one would have noticed that I wasn’t in the office. Such ridiculousness! I ended up leaving that job for one that was 100% in-person.
Oscars Dresses or Lack Thereof
I don’t usually watch awards shows, but I do love looking at the pictures of the best and worst dressed celebrities. Can we take a moment to appreciate the magnificence of the Ralph Lauren dress Malala Yousafzai wore to the Oscars this past Sunday? This dress is just gorgeous, and she looked amazing in it. Such elegance and grace. Especially considering that many of the celebrities looked as if they had forgotten their trousers, skirts, and even worse, tops! You can see those here and here. Yikes! If I see another see-through dress/skirt I’m going to scream!!! Ladies, put some clothes on!!!
Arturo Holmes - Getty Images
Career Updates
Since last September I had been working on a training to become a Work Incentives Practitioner. This would allow me to advise folks receiving Social Security disability benefits on the impact of employment on their benefits and inform them of incentives available to them if they decide to start working. I finally completed the training last week! Yay! The training itself was more involved than I thought it would be – I even had a few nightmares about it! But anyway, I’m glad I successfully completed the training and am excited to add this service to my career coaching repertoire. So, if you or someone you know is receiving SSI or SSDI and is considering going to work, let me know!
From Around the Internet…
Old school job search methods that still work in 2023
New York City government agencies have a ton of jobs that need to be filled
Need Career or Personal Styling help? Call or email me!