reposting from Invisible Adjunct - 8/27/04 part 2

Originally posted to Invisible Adjunct 8/27/04

What should you look for in trying to find stimulating work outside academia?

One of the things I should have mentioned in my discussion of the information interviews that marked the start of my career change (lesson #4 as it were): not all organizations are equal, and not all jobs are equally appealing.

An obvious point, maybe, but I ended up going in directions I didn't anticipate because I found out that public organizations I thought would be great to work for wouldn't, and that jobs that would be fun weren't at all.

Two of the public jurisdictions closest to where I live have reputations of being "progressive" and I was keen to see if I could latch on with one of them. I discovered that one was stricken with a morale crisis nearly from top to bottom because of poor management, and the other had very good spots and very bad ones. I had interviews in departments I'd still be very happy to work in, and I had interviews where I knew within five minutes I didn't want to work there.
And the kind of work (obviously) matters. I thought at one point that being a Planner would be a great job; now I know a fair number of planners, and the majority of them do a monotonous, literally by-the-book kind of work that I would find intolerable. Some planners do get to do interesting, "visionary" things, but even still, I don't find myself envying them all that much.

So: it pays to explore very carefully. What do people think of the organization? Is it always showing up in the newspaper laying people off? Not a good sign, even if it's a common one (and it could happen for a variety of reasons - maybe state or federal cuts cause the layoff?). Is it run by a professional administrator people generally admire and respect, or a fractious and part-time elected body riven by petty rivalries and short on intellectual horsepower?

What are the people who work there now like? This is a KEY indicator - if the office is full of bright, sparky people with personalities, odds are it's a pretty good working situation. If it's full of grey, rumpled drones, it's probably because good people routinely flee the first chance they get.

I know I keep promising to comment on "What do I like about my work now?" but that's got to wait, again. I need to .... get back to work.