A Lefty Writes

Yesterday a friend of a friend mentioned to me that the PR firm where he works is rapidly expanding, and if I know anyone looking for a job, I should send them his way. This was rather fortuitous, seeing as I will soon be in need of a new job. So I said I might be interested and today he and I sat down over lunch and discussed the work and the company.

Here's my problem: I don't know what I want to be doing in 10 years. If I knew that, then I'd have a better sense of what I should be doing between now and then.

The PR firm where this friend of a friend works specializes in technology and biomedical IT. Basically, they make sure that media and industry analysyts know what their clients are up to and write nice things about them. They also have a government relations arm (and this is where I become interested) that makes sure that legislators on The Hill know what's going on in these fields when it relates to public policy and legislative issues.

Once you get beyond the state level, people don't seem to work their way up the legislative aide ladder. They spend a decade or two in another field and then cross over when an opportunity presents. So if I one day want to run for office or work for someone in higher office, what should I be doing between now and then?

My concern with the PR job would be that I'd find myself in a similar position to where I ended up in LA. I moved to LA to be a director, got a job as an editor, settled down into it, but after a while I got frustrated because I wasn't fulfilled. I don't want to put another 2+ years into a job only to find myself just showing up and zoning out.

I still need to figure out what my other options are going to be after this job is finished. There's still the possibility of finding a state house aide job, and I'm looking into different positions with non-profit groups focusing on a variety of sectors. It's going to be interesting to see how all of this plays out.

Posted by Daniel at 02:20 PM | Comments (2)

It's no secret that I can be something of a bottler, emotionally speaking. It's easier for me to keep it to myself than tell someone when they're pissing me off. I don't like confrontation and I'm not great at moderation. I'm either passive or really pissed.

I need to work on that.

My job, of late, has challenged my bottling abilities, because there's so much to be pissed at. My boss is AWOL half the time and I'm left to pick up the pieces. Some of our employees at the phone banks are good on the phones but terrible when it comes to actually showing up on time. I don't want to be obsessive about every detail, because I don't think that helps anyone, but I need to get better at telling people (especially when I'm their boss) when they need to do something better.

And I really need to give my boss a piece of my mind. My work load is twice what it should be because I'm carrying both of us and covering his ass half the time. And what's worse is that the work we're doing isn't of the caliber that it should be because everything happens at the last minute.

If this weren't a short-term employment situation, I'd seriously consider finding a new job, but since I'm going to be doing that anyways after the elections, there's no reason to unemploy myself for extra months, especially when I'm committed to the campaigns that we're working for (not to mention enjoying a regular paycheck.

I don't mind being responsible, and I'm always going to pick up the slack when things need to get done, but I need to figure out a way to do it that doesn't turn me into a tightly-wound ball of rage.

Posted by Daniel at 06:45 PM | Comments (2)