Career Builders

I was thinking recently about my career and what led me to the path I've chosen. As I was reading a good friends blog nancysphotocorner.blogspot.com I decided to try and map every job I've had since I started working at the age of 14.

Keep in mind that through all the years and jobs and employers, NOTHING compares to my real job, my real career, my real love, Being MOM.  This will never take a back seat, and this will always be my first priority, the others just pay the bills. 

In the Summer of 1981 while still 14 waiting for my 15th birthday I got my first job.  One of the men at my church owned a Pet Store in town and I went to work for him. Randy had a love for animals and I stayed with him for nearly 3 years until he sold the store and the new owner brought his kids in to work and basically drove the business under in less than 6 months.  While working for Randy at 'Pet World' I really pushed the envelope for my comfort zone.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the woman who hates all things creepy and crawly, handled, cared for, fed, and sold all manner of creepy.  Tarantulas, Scorpions, and Snakes.  I handled mice and rats and crickets. I loved the fish and birds and puppies and kitties. We had monkeys and raccoons too. It was a veritable menagerie of animals and I was crazy and young and adventurous enough to try anything. 

 

When the pet store went out of business I spent a very short period paying my dues, as all teenagers should, in the world of fast food.  I did a short stint at both 'Carl's Jr.' and 'Burger King', and I was so grateful not to make it a career.  The uniforms were ghastly.  

I got my first office job at 17 when I  went to work for a colleague of my dads at 'Telecom West'.  I was all things office for their one stop shop and I loved it. Dick and his son Robert ran the business with 4 installers.  They specialized in business phone systems but were on the leading edge of a brand new technology called mobile phones.  Crazy sounding as it was, people could actually talk on the phone while on the go. I know, right?  These phones to go were the size of a brick from your garden and about as heavy too. In order for them to work, it was necessary to schedule an installation which could take anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, of cables, wires and antenna in your vehicle.  The mobile unit could then only be used with that vehicle and in proximity to its antenna.  WOW have we come a long way since then.

I tried my hand at Sales a few times. My next adventure was serving time as a sales consultant for 'Consumer Electronics' a home electronics and entertainment store.  I really sucked at sales and never hit my quota or earned the commission which sounded so fabulous when I accepted the job. Then came jewelry store #1, followed by a clothing department store, and then furniture store round #1, none of which I can remember their names. All three were sales associate jobs, and they served to confirm my lack of interest and comfort in sales. I also worked as Assistant Store Manager for 'Payless Shoes' for a while and built quite the inexpensive shoe collection.

When I moved for a brief period to Carmel Mountain just north of San Diego I went to work at furniture store #2, 'Jeromes Furniture' between Escondido and La Jolla.  I was behind the counter doing  office work and processing customers for credit, and I found I was back in my comfort zone.  I really liked the office work. It was numbers and data and paperwork and organization and its where I functioned best.

I left San Diego, somewhat abruptly due to changes in my life and found myself thrust back into the Antelope Valley for a bit.  I went to work at jewelry store #2, 'Barry's Jewelers' but this time I did a little better because even though I was on the floor selling, I was also being trained to run the back office and order inventory and maintain the daily accounting books.  

When I was 22, my administrative professional career kicked into high gear and I've done nothing else since.  I moved to Orange County, California where I started work at 'Control Air Conditioning', a commercial HVAC provider.  I developed my skills working my way from the bottom to the very top and later expanded my skills by varying my industry experience.  'Scisorek & Sons' was food and flavor additives; 'Specialty Restaurants' owned a series of high end restaurants across the USA; 'Kodak' I loved. I was executive assistant to a 5 person executive team but also ventured into the lab and learned to process my own film and do photo restorations. It was amazing!!: 'PharmaPrint' was a pharmaceutical grade herbals research and development company; 'SteriOss' were dental implants, I did collections there and KNEW in an instant I hated it.; 'Startel' was about answering networks, I did trade show coordination, and realized that traveling was not a love of mine.; 'Power Plus' came next and again I pushed myself beyond my comfort zone and took on a role in contract management. I was good at it, but the hours were long, the stress level high, and I yearned for my role as Executive Assistant once again.

When I relocated to the Northwest after 16 years in the Orange County region, I went to work for the 'Portland Development Commission'.  It was my first foray into a public agency and the political arena.  I learned a great deal and worked my way up the chain, but after an extended period I found myself a casualty of politics and city budget shortfalls.  Layoffs hit large groups and the third year in a row of cutback was my final curtain call.

Each Administrative position taught me something new, exposed me to a new industry and a new personality and management style. I started at the bottom, foot in the door doing reception work, and worked my way to Executive level support, working for only leading executives and Board of Directors. I now work for the 'Oregonian Publishing Company - Oregonian Newspaper'. I've paid my dues, worked my temp jobs in transition from one role to the next, and found my niche.  This is what I do best.  This is my talent and my career choice. This is what I will do for the rest of my working life.  I will never be a millionaire or make six figures, but I get to go home at the end of each day feeling successful and fulfilled and without the stress of many of my other roles.  My hours are steady and determined, and my pay does not fluctuate. 

I have tremendous stories and memories across the years and with each employer, but that's for another time. For now its crazy enough to see how varied my career has been and how far I've come.