After one week at the new job, I think I can safely say that I am in love with the environment and organisation.
The people are genuinely lovely and it has the most cohesive culture of anywhere I’ve worked. The physical office is gorgeous and most importantly WARM, and the setup and lighting isn’t causing me any issues or strain. I do miss my lovely Apple keyboard (returning to a Windows environment) and shorter commute, but I enjoy the buzz of working in the CBD again … and I’ve discovered that there’s a new bus stop in town, which means I literally only have a 1-2 minute walk at either end of my trip, to the office or to my house.
So far it’s mainly been about settling in, getting up to speed and meeting people. There are a lot of systems and processes – which is new for me – and that obviously has pros and cons. We wrapped up Friday with waiata (Maori song) practice; every new hire is welcomed with a song, so everyone learns them so that they can take part. Singing in the workplace? Two thumbs up from me. And while there’s drinks and chips at the end of the week, I wasn’t the only one heading for the non-alcoholic options, so double YAY.
This week’s links
A reality check: finding purpose in your work regardless of what you actually do
How to build a career that’s both financially and emotionally rewarding
All the things that are currently wrong with freelancing, via Kommein
Amber and I are on the same page when it comes to the topic of dream jobs
Word! Why the question ‘where do you see yourself in 5 years’ sucks
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such an open discussion about recognising problems and committing to a relationship as I have at Married with Luggage
Her Every Cent Counts on why she’s getting married even though it’s a practically obsolete rite of passage (reminds me of a conversation we had with a guy who hosted us in Berlin)
Live alone or with flatmates? Leslie breaks it down
Wealth Informatics on the many ways other people can influence your finances
Four questions to ask yourself when you’re feeling stressed, via Jess Lively
As someone who this totally applies to, this might be my favorite Modern Love column yet: “When a writer falls in love with someone whose spelling and grammar are poor, it challenges her assumptions about the type of man she’d want to marry.”
Last but not least… I once read this breathtakingly awful line in a Harvard Business Review post about creative sector pay: “The more you pay people to do what they love, the less they will love it.” *cue sputter* A massive part of the reason I’ve loved all my jobs to date was that they paid decently and I did not have to worry too much about money on a daily basis. Yes, we tend to accept lower wages in exchange for getting to do this kind of work, but that is not an excuse to try and get away with paying as little as humanly possible. I was reminded of that sentiment when I came across this piece on the modern knowledge worker. “When people are looking for jobs that don’t feel like work, companies can hire a guy who will take their lower salary and no benefits over the security of one of the quickly evaporating salaried jobs where he’ll be a middle manager counting up widget sales and thingamabob costs.”
