Tuesday, November 15, 2011

To work or not to work...

I have had several people ask me what I am going to do about working for *that company* after having this interview...  including me.

I find myself asking, "So are you going to work for *that company* several times a day." 

And I still haven't answered.

I would like to say that I feel like an idiot by mentioning *that company* with asterisks.  I won't mention the real name because it may come up in a google search and they may want to sue my pants off - and they have the means to do so (I doubt it. They have so many ads out there, my meager little blog is not going to attract many searchers).  The real reason is I know that google parses my email traffic and whenever I email to my old supervisor I would see all these stupid ads for *that company* on my sidebar and on my favorite sites that have google ads like Craftster.org.  It is not a giant leap that google would parse my blog posts to do the same.  But if you REALLLY want to know - send me an email and I will tell you. ;)

I think I have done it before, but let me lay out the pros and cons again.

Pros
  • I really vibed with my students and my boss. 
  • I liked making up lesson plans.  
  • I liked making up tests and quizes. 
  • I liked loved the compliments from my boss and students.
  • It did not feel like work. 
  • Um, I got money!  Not like I was balling AT ALL.   I got paid ~ $33/hour.  Where else can you work part time (as little as 4 hours/week) and get that much?  I don't know of a place! And we could really (REALLY!) use the money.

Cons
  • I am ethically opposed to the company.  I know for a fact that students are lied to by the 'recruiters'.  and 'recruiters' are in single quotes because they are really more into selling than they are into recruiting.  Every time I walked by a recruiter with a student a trying to coax them into signing up to go there - I heard at least one lie.  Seriously, EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.  I found myself having a strong desire to yell: "It's a trap!  Don't listen! Run!" Unfortunately, that would be inappropriate.
  • My performance evaluation is based on my ability to keep the students coming. If a student has a sick child and can't come to class, or if a student's car breaks down and can't come to class, or if a student sees through the bull-crap and decides NOT to come to class and enroll in a *real* school, instead - MY performance evaluation is affected.  My job is to make sure they come to class. 
  • Because it is profit based, the student is treated like a valued customer. For example, last quarter, I had a student who turned in his work late.  He did not want to get docked for it. He complained to the big wigs about me.  They forced me to change his grade.  
  • I am not a rule follower.  There are an insane amount of ridiculously retarded rules that I am required to follow.  These are the types of rules that I, having the rebellious nature I have, am compelled NOT to follow.  Like: the break schedule.  We HAVE to take a break at a certain time.  If it is not break time I HAVE to be in the class.  So, if the student needs something from the instructor's area (like a calculator), I can't go get it.  If I have to use the bathroom - I can't go.
  • All of the above pros were the case for the other location.  I am not sure how much freedom to create my own tests, quizzes, and labs I will be given by my new boss.
  • I do not want to leave my baby.  Because the new location is about twice as far as the other location, teaching just one 4 hour class will require me to be gone for 6 hours.  I know mothers do it all the time (as I did when Zekey was a lot older).  But, if they had a choice, would they really leave their 2 month old baby to go to work?
As you can see, it is a tough decision. What would you guys decide?

4 comments:

Christina said...

If it were me, I would probably take the job. IF (and that's a BIG if) the money balances out. Are you going to have to place the littlest sweet one in childcare? It's pretty pricey, so once you factor that in, does the money still make a significant difference? If it does, and you can find childcare that you feel comfortable with, I would definitely do it. And hate every single minute of it, lol, but hey, you do what you have to, to make sure that home is taken care of! That said, I used to work customer service for an awful, AWFUL major company, so I know where you're coming from on hating *the company*. It is indeed hard to get past it. I had to kinda numb myself from it, for the sake of paying the bills. Just envision your check stubs, lol!

Rochelle Sodipo said...

I would go with my integrity and my gut. It seems like your gut is telling you to NOT work at *that company*.

Libby said...

If it's the same company as the one before, I would be inclined to say find somewhere else. If it were me, I'd have to ask myself, "what made me seriously not want to be at the other place?" and "what makes this new location that much better?". Even though the $ would be nice, the other question is "if the new place turns out to be just the same or worse, how will it affect my family? will i be a grump?" I know I haven't really answered your question, but these are things I would think for myself. Plus, I'm curious what the hubster's vote is (but not posted here of course, just curious).

Mom said...

Even though you may not agree with the schools ethics. The students are there because they have no other place to go. They want to learn and they need good teachers. You are a good teacher and you should use your talent where it is needed. It is really a good fit, because you can work at night. No babysitter needed. It will give E. time to bond with the kids alone. And it will give you some alone time. I think you should at least try for one class for one semester. What do you have to lose