On Tuesday I will be starting yet another phase in my career at Jobs For Youth. I will begin teaching the 8-day pre-employment workshop that we offer. I have little to no idea of what I am doing. Everyone around me is certain that I will have no problems and they are probably correct. I just like to have a finite plan for work.
Apparently, no written curriculum exists for this class. There is an outline with the topics that need to be covered and how much time will be spent on each topic. I think that it will be sufficient but I am not sure. I did get one written sheet yesterday that talked about the orientation that will be given to students on the first day. That made me feel a little bit better.
I guess that I know the material; resumes, interview questions, cover letter, thanks you letter, job applications and the like. All that stuff I am fine with. There is also a “Money Smart” component where I talk about budgeting and the benefits of using financial institutions over currency exchanges or your sock drawer. I think that section is where I am the most nervous. I certainly am ok at managing my finances but I would like a little more training before teaching others. I’m sure it will be ok though.
I also have to get everything in order for my assistant. I interviewed four people last week and my supervisor will be interviewing two of them to help with the final decision. I think I already know who will get the offer but I wanted someone to make sure I was making the right decision even though I know I am. I have never been good at making decisions but maybe I just need to man up and make things happen.
I’ll spend these next few days getting things in order with my contract to pass on to my soon to be hired Training Assistant. I am really excited about this. I have a huge list of duties of things I would have really liked to do with the grant contract but haven’t had time to do that I can’t wait for them to get started on. I also just got the grant for next year’s grant, which actually overlaps this one and the Training Assistant will get to start that one going as well. It was actually a funny process.
My contact in Springfield sent me an email with the new reporting tool for the 07-08 grant. I was very confused because I didn’t know this grant was in existence I asked my boss who told me to ask the grant guy who told me to ask the executive director. No one knew what I was talking about. I finally asked my Springfield contact to fax me a copy of the grant. There it was 82,000 worth of work that needed to be attended to. It had the ED’s signature on it from May so he must have just forgotten about it. I’m not behind at all and the requirements are actually lower than the ones for the current grant period and I know it will be well taken care of. I just wish I had been able to be even more prepared. Oh well, so it goes.
Now, back to the random songs.
1. You’ve got style/ That’s what other girls say/ Satin sheets/ and luxuries so fine
2. The times we had/ Oh when wind would blow with rain and snow/ Were not all bad
3. I wanna bathe in milk/ Eat grapes/ Robert DiNero sit on my face
4. Sometimes I feel like I don’t know/ sometimes I feel like checking out/ I wanna get it wrong/ Can’t always be strong. Ultraviolet, U2. Identified by The Doc
5. She came she came to meet a man/ she found an angel/ Coocoo coocoo Barabajagal was his name no.
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5 comments:
I wish you good luck with your new class! I can empathize, as I know how worried I would be without a game plan, but if all those people have faith in you I'm sure it will be fine.
Also: #4 is "Ultraviolet" by U2. Great song.
I swear I know #3...dang. #5 uh, could it be barabajagal by donovan?
good luck with he awesomeness you provide to the hell you work for and the kids who you help. they are unbelievably lucky to have you.
Having worked in Israel for about two months so far I can sympathize with you about working without a game plan. That is how many jobs here work with the whole, Here it is just do it. Also, the whole ask this person and they refer you to someone else. Yep, I am living that right now.
I sometimes think that the world moves too fast these days for people to do the kind of planning that would make a lot of things more comfortable (and better, and run more smoothly, etc.) It's sort of like the feeling on a rollercoaster where you just have to go with it and ride the wave. (I know it sounds like I'm mixing metaphors, but I'm not.) On the other hand, sometimes it is actually very useful to get that game plan in place. But in this case I know you will do great. Enjoy it!
I can definitely relate to that "unsure" feeling about a new phase or job.
When I first got to management seemed like everyone except me figured I'd make an effortless transition. Back then I disagreed and was nervous as hell. Felt like I could use some more training also.
But now, I can't even remember what I was so nervous about. In FACT, I think I'm one of the best supervisors at the paper.
But that could just be that Dragon sized ego talking.
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