I don't remember if I've written about this here, but over the past month or so I've been doing some part-time work for a friend of mine who does political polling. I've been helping him schedule callers and organize and oversee his phone banks. It's been good to have a little bit of income as well as something to do with myself, but what I've found most interesting about the work is that it's the first time that I've been in a managerial position.
All of my other jobs, I've been at the low end of the totem pole. That's not to say that I was always an underpaid grunt or anything, but I was always the employee and never the employer. I never had anyone under me (heirarchically speaking, of course). Doing the scheduling and oversight of the phone banks put me, for the first time, in something of the drivers seat.
A bit of back story - I'm terrible at talking about money with bosses. The few times during my editing career that I negotiated my rate or asked for a raise I was a nervous wreck. I'm sure that my unease shone right through during those conversations. Well, doing the phone banks, I was on the other side of the conversation for the first time. I wasn't the real boss, nor was I in any position to negotiate salaries for the callers, but people did want to know when they were going to be paid. It was remarkable to see how nervous people became just asking when they'd receive their checks. What was funny was that I knew instantly what they were getting at, but the question was always full of "do you think you might know when we could possibly be getting, I mean, um, do you have any idea when the... will the... ?" Being on the receiving end of this unease gave me a real perspective of what I must have sounded like in the same position. So I've decided that, even if I am a bit nervous or uncomfortable, I'm going to do a better job of being more professional and forward about it.
And that brings us to today - it's not about salary, I'm afraid, but instead about a follow-up call. I had a phone interview almost two weeks ago and the woman I spoke with said that they would be making their decisions regarding the next round of interviews within a week or two. So today I called to find out what the status of their process was. I'm always a little uncomfortable inquiring if I've been told that they'll call me, but I realize that there's a way to do it that shows assertiveness, not obnoxiousness. I made the call with a concerted effort to just get the question out there without equivocating and I think I did pretty well. And the result? I was told that I'd hear from them by or on Wednesday of this week. So now it's back to waiting...