An Opportunity to Move On

Once upon a time I worked in an office environment, at Gold Institution. Initially I loved my job, I enjoyed working for my supervisor, learning new things, working with new clients, and using my skills. My supervisor, Greta, was amazing. She was well-educated, well-spoken, and believed in learning from mistakes and not punishing them. While working for Greta I also picked up a part-time job doing some consulting work, I needed to take two days off in order to finish the project for the consulting position. Greta immediately granted my request and wanted to know more about what I was doing and how she could better utilize my skills.

Greta was let go shortly after that due to both politics and reorganization. My supervisor then changed to Jane. Jane was a control freak, in many ways. Any mistake or oversight was looked over to the nth degree and I was given many talkings-to. I was given "freedom" to do many new things, because of the reorganization, but everything, and I mean everything, was checked by Jane. When Jane found a problem, it became a huge discussion, and if she didn't find a problem but an error caused a problem, it became even more of a huge discussion. Needless to say, I was miserable. I was unhappy and obviously Jane was unhappy with me. I was then let go. It wasn't a good fit and if I hadn't been let go I probably would have left anyway.

I now have connections to a local institution, one of my former classmates from grad school has offered to put in a recommendation for a position at XYZ similar to that at Gold Institution. I've asked my classmate if there is contact with students, and I haven't heard back about that yet. I really want to get into higher ed and if this entry-level position, that does not require a Master's, gets me into an institution then I should do it. But my confidence for this position, and the skills it requires, is close to nothing. I know I have the skills, I can answer phones, etc. Because of poor leadership skills and my lack of foresight, I have doubts about my abilities.

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