Employed at Last

You heard me, I got a job! In the weirdness of the world, I managed to get a job as a legal assistant. It's not teaching, but I can see myself doing it for a good while. Especially since I saw what my first student loan payment looks like. Boy if I could go back in time, I'd change a bunch of crap. I am working right smack dab in the middle of downtown, in a building that overlooks Love Park and is one of the stops on the route my building's shuttle takes through the city every day. So no need to use a car, and no need to pay for taxi or a bus. So nice! It's close enough that if there were some kind of snow storm, I could walk home, too. Though the thought of that kind of makes me twitch a little. But my interviewer related to me that there were a couple days last winter where bus service shut down. Yikes. 


Anyway, the stress of not having income is now lessened. My job should be able to take care of rent and bills, and when M finally gets steady work, we will be able to save. I am just glad I'll be out in the world again. I thought I'd be bummed on leaving academia (albeit temporarily), but I realized yesterday that it will be nice to be around a regular office. Academics tend to operate by themselves, and it can be kind of lonely without the oversight and camraderie of cubicle mates. I am one of those people that has always liked cubicles. I know, it's supposed to be horrible, but it is your own little cube of space! No sharing! And you know I'm going to make it mine. I may wait a bit before bringing out the super weird things. Just until they realize I'm not a serial killer or satanic cult member.


Best thing about being newly employed? I need to buy office wear! I was really lax on the office wear as a professor. I often wore jeans (nice ones, but still, so not professional). I will be working in an "office casual" environment, but I have very little of that stuff that looks nice anymore. What I do have are lots of fun t-shirts. And I think I've been wearing the same jeans-and-t-shirt ensemble since the spring semester ended in May. So today, M and I went to the mall. Glorious! Here is a sampling of what I got:

I got this cute short sleeved jacket at Charlotte Russe.

These two tops from the Gap, where I also got a couple pair of slacks. Their Curvy sized stuff rules, and I needed a pair of black and a pair of grey, since I already have a nice pair of navy pants. I just bought a pair of nice dark jeans too, for "casual Friday," yes they have one! So odd!

At H&M I got a couple of button up cardigans and a nice navy shirt.  After a final trip to Victoria's Secret for the only bras in the universe that I like wearing, I was done. M was a real trooper, helping me choose stuff and in general being supportive.

I have plenty of accessories and a lot of nice work shoes, but I really needed some basics. Plus, I want to feel all classy and stuff during my first week. Walking around in my interview suit on Tuesday made me feel like a person. And when you have a suit on, people tend to acknowledge your existence. Even if you're brown! It was kind of awesome.

My job seems like it will be mostly about paperwork and research related to cases the law firm is working on. I'll tell you the story of the firm's specialty another time, but the office culture there was interesting. The first person I met was an HR person who walked me through benefits, pay, days off, stipends for transportation (I get $50 for bus fare!) and provided me with the amazing news that if hired, I would be able to get health insurance within the first month of working. Sweet. Then I walked through the place, which has a free gym for employees, with a trainer. The gym overlooks love park from the 14th floor. Such a pretty view! They offer different kinds of schedules, allowing you to work 8-4, 8:30-4:30, 9-5. Must be nice for parents who have to get kids off to work and then deal with public transportation.

I start on Monday. Wish me luck!