Daily affirmations of a word mercenary
Career Category
This category tracks my various job hunts, career angst, bill issues, and money woes over the year. If you’re interested in my career stuff, you might want to check out my portfolio.
Microsoft loves pink hair
22
May
2007
In: Career
I have this long-standing rule about not writing about work on Electrolicious, but I have to bend the rule for a moment to make this statement: Microsoft loves pink hair. Seriously. There is not a single day that I work in Redmond that someone doesn’t dish the love for my pink hair. MS sets the standard on casual workplace attire, and while I knew that shoes were optional, I wasn’t expecting the levels of excitement over the hair — it feels like any day my colleagues may strip off their clothes with sheer glee and dance down the street singing about pink hair and waving their arms. Who needs Silverlight when there’s PINK FUCKING HAIR?! I’m starting to think the Evil Empire’s reputation may soon be crushed by its secret obsession for rainbow hair. I am now picturing Steve Ballmer curled up in his office with some My Little Ponies, braiding their tails and cooing “pretty, pretty pink hair.”
For a window into why the prospect of an investigative book is freaking me out so much, I present to you this post I wrote almost exactly four years ago: Electrolicious: My Credentials.
The summary: I have made a career out of being a careless, bullshitting writer. In fact, I remember my first semester of college a professor telling me I was “skilled but lazy,” pointing out that I used twists of language to gloss over the weaknesses of my writing. He was absolutely correct, of course, and I knew it then just like I know it now.
It’s remarkable that I’ve made it as far in my writing career as I have, considering I’m a lazy hack with a sociology degree. I can only assume this is because I’m good at using language to compensate for research. I wonder what might happen to my writing if I have language AND research?
My brain is tired from all this agonizing.
- 10 Comments
- Tags: research
The nuances of copy
30
Mar
2007
In: Career
I drunk-texted this to a copyeditor friend last night. If you’re not in the word biz, you don’t have to read this.
Copyeditors vs. Copywriters
One knows how to spell, the other knows how to sell.
What I can tell you about my new job
13
Feb
2007
In: Career
You know how I am — always a little opaque about my day jobs. That said, I mentioned a job interview last week, and I was offered the job so I figure I better share a bit about it:
* It’s part time. I’ll be working three days a week. This means I get to keep working on all my projects like offbeatbride.com, writing my next book, etc., all with the knowledge that my mortgage will always get paid.
* It’s permanent. I won’t be a contractor or freelancer. I’ll be a full blown employee with benefits.
* My new title is Marketing Manager - Content Management, Staffing Marketing. I’ll be acting as a roving reporter, collecting stories from happy employees to market the company as a great place to work.
* It’s with a software company. A big one. The biggest one?
* I start in one month.
- 3 Comments
- Tags: job, marketing, microsoft
Live/work balance
5
Feb
2007
In: Career
Today I had my second interview for a part-time permanent job. It’s so incredibly rare to find a job that allows me to do what I do best (marketing writing and scheming) but also gives me the time to pursue the things I adore (like, uh, more writing and scheming, but for Brand Ariel instead of Brand Anyone Else). I figured when I was laid off from my last gig (that of 4-day work weeks), that my sweet PT/perm job schedule was finished and my only option was to go back to freelancing. But look at this! I was referred to a part time perm job by a colleague I met at a conference last year.
Part of what I rambled on about during this second interview was how to me, it’s the sign of a good employer that they understand that I know myself and my work-style better than anyone else. And I know that the way I do my best work for a company is to be there, do my shit, and then leave to enjoy my rich and fulfilling life outside my job. I seem to have a higher-than-average need to balance my on-site work time with other stuff. And when a company is willing to work with me on this issue (because yes: this makes me a “special needs” employee) it shows me that they’re dedicated to letting me do my best work for them. Which is of course what every employer should want. But it’s remarkable how few are able to provide the flexibility that help certain kinds of employees thrive.
In high school, I was a solid A- honors student, taking honors English and Social Studies class for four straight years. I was in the National Honor Society. I was a speaker at my high school graduation. I was also an obsessive theater geek, doing at least three (and sometimes four) plays a year with both my high school and the community theater. I spent four years in Greasepaint, the teen theater program that produced former SNLer Chris Kattan. I spent two years going to a 6:30 am jazz choir class. Classic over-achiever, right?
Maybe not. My parents were worried I was lazy, and frequently shared this concern with me. See, I didn’t have a job. Oh sure, I babysat. And I worked as a teaching assistant at the theater’s summer theater camp. But I didn’t have a job during the school year (how could I? I was too busy getting straight As and doing theater!), and this bothered my parents, who I think were worried they were cranking out an entitled, spoiled child who would never be able to support herself. They had serious talks with me about it, and chided me with stories of classmates and family friends who earned their own money so they could go on summer trips. My parents were convinced: I was lazy.
I graduated, went to college, and started working retail jobs, which eventually lead to office jobs, which eventually lead to writing jobs, and I forgot all about being the lazy one.
Last year, when reading through some of my old journals in search of a Salon of Shame reading, I kept noticing through all my years of high school all these references in my writing to my parents telling me how lazy I was. It was finally from my adult perspective that I was able to say, “Dude: WTF! I was an honors student who did theater nonstop and yet somehow I was lazy!?”
Over a brunch with my parents a few weeks ago, we got to talking about 30somethings being supported by their families. “I’m so glad you support yourself,” my mother said. “I used to worry about how lazy you were!”
It was time for my dude: wtf conversation. “Lazy?! But mom,” I said, “I was super active in after-school activities and got straight As.”
“Yeah, but school was always so easy for you,” she answered.
“So wait: because I was intelligent and didn’t complain a ton about studying, somehow that means I didn’t deserve those As? Or that somehow those As were of less value than As earned by a student who really struggled?”
“Oh, hmm,” my mother said. “But you didn’t work!”
Of course now I do work (constantly), but this conversation made me realize that this issue has come up numerous times in my career. I don’t like working HARD, and by that I don’t mean that I don’t like working. I love working. My hobbies include a lot of tasks that look a hell of a lot like work, and I do it because I enjoy it. But I have a real aversion to tooth-gnashing agony/effort. I love a good challenge, but I like trying to find ways to make challenges as easy as possible … I try to get through my work as efficiently and quickly as I can with minimal kvetching, and my parents aren’t the only ones to mistake this efficiency and cheerful demeanor as somehow evidence that I’m not actually working.
Several times in my career I’ve worked with people who liked to go on and on about how HARD their work was. Lots of bitching and moaning and sweating and panics and arm waving and oh my god, I can’t BELIEVE I got it all done on time! Time and time again I’ve seen this behavior rewarded. “They work so hard,” coworkers and managers will say. And they did indeed work hard. But did they need to? Did they get more done that way? Did they do it better, or just with lots of histrionics to ensure that everyone really knows that they did something?
I’ve made a career out of NOT working hard. And I intend to keep doing it this way, despite the fact that it may mean people think I’m not actually working.
- 30 Comments
- Tags: ambition, laziness, meritocracy
Microsoft loves pink hair
22 May 2007 In: CareerI have this long-standing rule about not writing about work on Electrolicious, but I have to bend the rule for a moment to make this statement: Microsoft loves pink hair. Seriously. There is not a single day that I work in Redmond that someone doesn’t dish the love for my pink hair. MS sets the standard on casual workplace attire, and while I knew that shoes were optional, I wasn’t expecting the levels of excitement over the hair — it feels like any day my colleagues may strip off their clothes with sheer glee and dance down the street singing about pink hair and waving their arms. Who needs Silverlight when there’s PINK FUCKING HAIR?! I’m starting to think the Evil Empire’s reputation may soon be crushed by its secret obsession for rainbow hair. I am now picturing Steve Ballmer curled up in his office with some My Little Ponies, braiding their tails and cooing “pretty, pretty pink hair.”
For a window into why the prospect of an investigative book is freaking me out so much, I present to you this post I wrote almost exactly four years ago: Electrolicious: My Credentials.
The summary: I have made a career out of being a careless, bullshitting writer. In fact, I remember my first semester of college a professor telling me I was “skilled but lazy,” pointing out that I used twists of language to gloss over the weaknesses of my writing. He was absolutely correct, of course, and I knew it then just like I know it now.
It’s remarkable that I’ve made it as far in my writing career as I have, considering I’m a lazy hack with a sociology degree. I can only assume this is because I’m good at using language to compensate for research. I wonder what might happen to my writing if I have language AND research?
My brain is tired from all this agonizing.
- 10 Comments
- Tags: research
The nuances of copy
30 Mar 2007 In: CareerI drunk-texted this to a copyeditor friend last night. If you’re not in the word biz, you don’t have to read this.
Copyeditors vs. Copywriters
One knows how to spell, the other knows how to sell.
What I can tell you about my new job
13 Feb 2007 In: CareerYou know how I am — always a little opaque about my day jobs. That said, I mentioned a job interview last week, and I was offered the job so I figure I better share a bit about it:
* It’s part time. I’ll be working three days a week. This means I get to keep working on all my projects like offbeatbride.com, writing my next book, etc., all with the knowledge that my mortgage will always get paid.
* It’s permanent. I won’t be a contractor or freelancer. I’ll be a full blown employee with benefits.
* My new title is Marketing Manager - Content Management, Staffing Marketing. I’ll be acting as a roving reporter, collecting stories from happy employees to market the company as a great place to work.
* It’s with a software company. A big one. The biggest one?
* I start in one month.
- 3 Comments
- Tags: job, marketing, microsoft
Live/work balance
5 Feb 2007 In: CareerToday I had my second interview for a part-time permanent job. It’s so incredibly rare to find a job that allows me to do what I do best (marketing writing and scheming) but also gives me the time to pursue the things I adore (like, uh, more writing and scheming, but for Brand Ariel instead of Brand Anyone Else). I figured when I was laid off from my last gig (that of 4-day work weeks), that my sweet PT/perm job schedule was finished and my only option was to go back to freelancing. But look at this! I was referred to a part time perm job by a colleague I met at a conference last year.
Part of what I rambled on about during this second interview was how to me, it’s the sign of a good employer that they understand that I know myself and my work-style better than anyone else. And I know that the way I do my best work for a company is to be there, do my shit, and then leave to enjoy my rich and fulfilling life outside my job. I seem to have a higher-than-average need to balance my on-site work time with other stuff. And when a company is willing to work with me on this issue (because yes: this makes me a “special needs” employee) it shows me that they’re dedicated to letting me do my best work for them. Which is of course what every employer should want. But it’s remarkable how few are able to provide the flexibility that help certain kinds of employees thrive.
In high school, I was a solid A- honors student, taking honors English and Social Studies class for four straight years. I was in the National Honor Society. I was a speaker at my high school graduation. I was also an obsessive theater geek, doing at least three (and sometimes four) plays a year with both my high school and the community theater. I spent four years in Greasepaint, the teen theater program that produced former SNLer Chris Kattan. I spent two years going to a 6:30 am jazz choir class. Classic over-achiever, right?
Maybe not. My parents were worried I was lazy, and frequently shared this concern with me. See, I didn’t have a job. Oh sure, I babysat. And I worked as a teaching assistant at the theater’s summer theater camp. But I didn’t have a job during the school year (how could I? I was too busy getting straight As and doing theater!), and this bothered my parents, who I think were worried they were cranking out an entitled, spoiled child who would never be able to support herself. They had serious talks with me about it, and chided me with stories of classmates and family friends who earned their own money so they could go on summer trips. My parents were convinced: I was lazy.
I graduated, went to college, and started working retail jobs, which eventually lead to office jobs, which eventually lead to writing jobs, and I forgot all about being the lazy one.
Last year, when reading through some of my old journals in search of a Salon of Shame reading, I kept noticing through all my years of high school all these references in my writing to my parents telling me how lazy I was. It was finally from my adult perspective that I was able to say, “Dude: WTF! I was an honors student who did theater nonstop and yet somehow I was lazy!?”
Over a brunch with my parents a few weeks ago, we got to talking about 30somethings being supported by their families. “I’m so glad you support yourself,” my mother said. “I used to worry about how lazy you were!”
It was time for my dude: wtf conversation. “Lazy?! But mom,” I said, “I was super active in after-school activities and got straight As.”
“Yeah, but school was always so easy for you,” she answered.
“So wait: because I was intelligent and didn’t complain a ton about studying, somehow that means I didn’t deserve those As? Or that somehow those As were of less value than As earned by a student who really struggled?”
“Oh, hmm,” my mother said. “But you didn’t work!”
Of course now I do work (constantly), but this conversation made me realize that this issue has come up numerous times in my career. I don’t like working HARD, and by that I don’t mean that I don’t like working. I love working. My hobbies include a lot of tasks that look a hell of a lot like work, and I do it because I enjoy it. But I have a real aversion to tooth-gnashing agony/effort. I love a good challenge, but I like trying to find ways to make challenges as easy as possible … I try to get through my work as efficiently and quickly as I can with minimal kvetching, and my parents aren’t the only ones to mistake this efficiency and cheerful demeanor as somehow evidence that I’m not actually working.
Several times in my career I’ve worked with people who liked to go on and on about how HARD their work was. Lots of bitching and moaning and sweating and panics and arm waving and oh my god, I can’t BELIEVE I got it all done on time! Time and time again I’ve seen this behavior rewarded. “They work so hard,” coworkers and managers will say. And they did indeed work hard. But did they need to? Did they get more done that way? Did they do it better, or just with lots of histrionics to ensure that everyone really knows that they did something?
I’ve made a career out of NOT working hard. And I intend to keep doing it this way, despite the fact that it may mean people think I’m not actually working.
- 30 Comments
- Tags: ambition, laziness, meritocracy
Hey there. I'm Ariel Meadow Stallings, a native Seattleite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, was published last year.
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