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Friday, June 19, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Employed again.
Ok, so in spite of my misgivings, and the fact that NOTHING else is being offered or looks remotely like being offered, I went ahead and accepted the position described in my previous post.
My start date, depending on securing rental housing and their move-in date allowance, will be June 29. Somehow, I didn't expect that to be so soon. But it makes sense that they would want me to start quickly.
Wish me luck.
"The Director" (once again).
My start date, depending on securing rental housing and their move-in date allowance, will be June 29. Somehow, I didn't expect that to be so soon. But it makes sense that they would want me to start quickly.
Wish me luck.
"The Director" (once again).
When is a branch manager NOT a branch manager?
When they are in fact, if not in name, the Director of the Library.
Here's the situation, companions!
I applied for a job in a small, semi-rural community, pop. appx 11,000, library 20 years old, 5,000 sqft, 6 employees (I learned all this at the interview). The ad was for a 'Branch Manager', so I was interested in learning how many branches the library system had. The answer: only one. ???
It turns out that the library is part of a 16 county Regional System. For reference purposes each library is referred to as 'a branch' of the Regional System, even though they are autonomous, independent entities. Thus, each 'Branch Manager' is actually "THE DIRECTOR" of the library, the one in charge, responsible for the whole enchilada, answerable only to the City Manager (in this case). No department head is called a 'director' but a 'manager' the problem lies in semantics. To me a branch manager is under a director, and thus is in a 'mentoring' situation where they can hone their management skills without bearing the brunt of full responsibility. Here, the Branch Manager IS the director, responsible for staff, budget, grants, everything.
To top it off, when I hesitated, and let them know of my hesitation, I was immediately offered a salary boost of almost 9,000 per year (from 34,000 to 40 - 45,000, depending on if they could find the money in the budget).
Add one more item: it turns out that there is a 'problem employee' on staff. One of the interview questions was "how would you handle it if you heard a staff member being rude to a patron?" I was later informed that this was not a hypothetical question, but a repeated problem, and that this staff had been written up with Personnel Action Forms (aka, PAF) several times by the City Manager since the departure of the previous 'Branch Manager'. As the incoming boss, I would be first, before anything else, be expected to 'handle' this problem.
(notice the proliferation of quotation marks above? I have a lot of red flags waving in hurricane force winds about this position).
Those who have been following the travels of "The Director" knows the situation that started me on my unemployment quest. This situation sounds eerily similar to that situation, circumstances I do not want to face again. I'd rather face an invasion of Daleks than go back into a heavily political, rebelliously staffed library once again. The Master could not contrive such a diabolical scenario!
I want to tell them 'no' right off, but they keep coming back with other offers. The latest: they will help find me affordable housing, as they do not want me moving to a smaller area nearby, even though the rent is cheaper. I wouldn't assimilate as easily into the town life.
My chief companion (wife) cannot help me out here either, as (as she points out) she has no point of reference for a library in peril situation. She is anxious for me to get a job (and out of the house, methinks) as soon as possible.
Pros:
good location, only six hours from where I am now (275 miles).
good pay (if they make good on second offer)
they want me
it's a JOB.
cons:
six hours from home (family would not be moving as we are in a fantastically good school!)
problem employee (where there's one, are there more?)
in charge!
higher rent than I'd like
did they lie to me,
how much more are they NOT telling me because they want me.
public vs college/university setting.
I need to let them know by this Friday if I am interested. So far, I have been honest with them, telling them I have conflicting emotions and thoughts on the position.
"The Director"
Here's the situation, companions!
I applied for a job in a small, semi-rural community, pop. appx 11,000, library 20 years old, 5,000 sqft, 6 employees (I learned all this at the interview). The ad was for a 'Branch Manager', so I was interested in learning how many branches the library system had. The answer: only one. ???
It turns out that the library is part of a 16 county Regional System. For reference purposes each library is referred to as 'a branch' of the Regional System, even though they are autonomous, independent entities. Thus, each 'Branch Manager' is actually "THE DIRECTOR" of the library, the one in charge, responsible for the whole enchilada, answerable only to the City Manager (in this case). No department head is called a 'director' but a 'manager' the problem lies in semantics. To me a branch manager is under a director, and thus is in a 'mentoring' situation where they can hone their management skills without bearing the brunt of full responsibility. Here, the Branch Manager IS the director, responsible for staff, budget, grants, everything.
To top it off, when I hesitated, and let them know of my hesitation, I was immediately offered a salary boost of almost 9,000 per year (from 34,000 to 40 - 45,000, depending on if they could find the money in the budget).
Add one more item: it turns out that there is a 'problem employee' on staff. One of the interview questions was "how would you handle it if you heard a staff member being rude to a patron?" I was later informed that this was not a hypothetical question, but a repeated problem, and that this staff had been written up with Personnel Action Forms (aka, PAF) several times by the City Manager since the departure of the previous 'Branch Manager'. As the incoming boss, I would be first, before anything else, be expected to 'handle' this problem.
(notice the proliferation of quotation marks above? I have a lot of red flags waving in hurricane force winds about this position).
Those who have been following the travels of "The Director" knows the situation that started me on my unemployment quest. This situation sounds eerily similar to that situation, circumstances I do not want to face again. I'd rather face an invasion of Daleks than go back into a heavily political, rebelliously staffed library once again. The Master could not contrive such a diabolical scenario!
I want to tell them 'no' right off, but they keep coming back with other offers. The latest: they will help find me affordable housing, as they do not want me moving to a smaller area nearby, even though the rent is cheaper. I wouldn't assimilate as easily into the town life.
My chief companion (wife) cannot help me out here either, as (as she points out) she has no point of reference for a library in peril situation. She is anxious for me to get a job (and out of the house, methinks) as soon as possible.
Pros:
good location, only six hours from where I am now (275 miles).
good pay (if they make good on second offer)
they want me
it's a JOB.
cons:
six hours from home (family would not be moving as we are in a fantastically good school!)
problem employee (where there's one, are there more?)
in charge!
higher rent than I'd like
did they lie to me,
how much more are they NOT telling me because they want me.
public vs college/university setting.
I need to let them know by this Friday if I am interested. So far, I have been honest with them, telling them I have conflicting emotions and thoughts on the position.
"The Director"
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