A New Job? (long) About This Page:

[aliceinwdw]

I know I am going to jinx myself, as I always seem to do. . .

However, I have been pretty open about the fact that I am one of the millions of unlucky unemployed. I was fired back in February by evil, horrible attorneys (my apologies to those attorneys here who still have their souls ) for personal, not professional, reasons, not that anyone would give me a straightforward answer. . .but I digress!

Anywho, in the past few months I have applied for (no kidding!) 100+ jobs, and I have had very little in the way of callbacks, except. . .

Today I got one! It was totally out-of-the-blue and the phone call was the interview (nothing like being completely unprepared! ). Anyway, I think it went fairly well. I was honest, up front, and totally myself.

Well apparently I "made it" to the next step which is an online "pre-hire test." It basically is supposed to test your grammar, spelling and basic math abilities. Ok, no fears there, but. . .

I'm kind of afraid of the actual job!

Background: I worked for two attorneys at my last my job, but they worked me like a dog. They would go home to their non-existent lives and dictate for 4 hours each and then they both would come in the next day each of them wanting their 4 hours of work done in two! Totally impossible, at least for me!

Well this new possible job would be working for 2 VPs and an additional 3-4 people. /sigh I don't know how comfortable I am attempting to possibly spread myself thin again, but, then again, I have been out of work for 9 months and unemployment doesn't last forever.

So, my point, I need help to make me feel better about this potential job. It's thankfully not working for attorneys; it's more of an "Executive Admin Assistant"-type position. It requires a lot of multi-party meetings to be scheduled (dealt with that as a legal secretary -- totally stinks but nothing new); data entry in Excel (which I told the guy I was "acceptable" - so by no means an expert - at working in that program); and projects to be completed (although he couldn't really give me an example as they're "varied" assignments that come up), but there's also a lot of "proficiency" required.

Now I'm never one to be unorganized, but I know what it’s like having 2 attorneys stomping their feet while snarling () wanting their assignments all at the same time, and, as such, I do not like to be stressed to the max when other people can't comprehend the concept of 1 person = only 2 hands!

So, what do you all think? Am I crazy to be worrying? Are my worries legitimate? Or, should I shut up and be happy something may come through?

Any thoughts, suggestions, concerns, etc. would be soooo appreciated, and the more honest the better (I mean don’t make fun of my mother or anything, but. . .)!!

THANKS!!

[wvugrrrl]

Well, first things first, (if you really DO want the job!)! Ultimately, I think you're the only one who knows if going into this job is going to make you as unhappy as the last one. I think if you get another interview, you should be very honest with the interviewer about your last job - tell them exactly how they treated you, and that, while you don't get overwhelmed easily, you want to be certain that it's not going to turn into the same thing.

I think you'll learn a lot from however they answer - and then you can decide whether you want to take the job if they offer it to you!
for making a good decision!

[Lorraine515]

[rescuesk]

[FanOfMickey]

[Colexis Mom]

[Colexis Mom]

[home4us123]

[chezp]

[KMB733]

I think its a natural reaction to be a little scared of working in a different environment. I think Molly is right though. You are the only one who knows for sure if this is the job for you.

[Luvsun]

[MMMD]

I think your fears are legitimate. You came from a tough atmosphere, to say the least, and you don't want to repeat. But since you don't have a job now, I would go for it. If you get the new job and it's not what you want you can still look for a new job while earning a paycheck.

Good luck. We are all rooting for you.

[Lemap760]

I think you're just feeling the affects from your last job. Everything will work out for the better.

[Caldercup]

It sounds like the last job was a nightmare and not the norm. (I worked for a psychologist and had a similar situation.)

This job seems do-able. I work for a President and VP and a small group of computer consultants -- it's a little bit of everything, lots of bookkeeping, invoicing, benefits mgmt, "special projects" and general administration. It's not remotely too much to handle, even with the extra people.

I agree with Molly: I'd tell them that you had two very demanding bosses before who asked for unreasonable turn-arounds on dictation and you're leery of something similar. Tell them that you're organized and eager, but you can't handle unreasonable, screaming, craaaaaazies.

Good luck!
Eileen

[duck addict]

Decision making