Jobs and Work

[Amy Z]

Rita wrote:

>The obsolete job in question is as a COBOL pgmmer at MTA ... 

What's MTA?

Your job sounds cool.  I love a job with an ignore-able dress code.  
I live like Mr. Rogers:  as soon as I get home, I take the stockings 
and earrings off and pull jeans and sweater and woolly socks on 
(barefeet now that it's warm enough . . . ahhhhhhh).  And although I 
dress up for work, I am constantly grateful that I never have to wear 
a suit.  I hate them.

I suggested:

> << I wonder what would happen, Cindy, if you applied for one of 
> those interesting, overly-demanding jobs and informed them, during 
> the interview, that you plan to work an average of 40 hours a week 
> in order to take care of yourself, sustain a healthy family life, 
> and Maybe they wouldn't hire you; or maybe they'd respect it. (Most 
> likely they would hire you and then try to pressure you into 
working 
> 60 hours/week <g>. Good luck!) >>

Rita wrote:
 
> Somewhere I got the impression that the "mommy track" in law firms 
> is for two mommies who happen to both be well-qualified lawyers to 
> team up to share one job, so each one only has to work 40 hours a 
> week, but each only gets half the pay and half the benefits and no 
> chance of making partner.

Law firms?  I was assuming that since Cindy was referring to 
*interesting* jobs, she didn't mean the ones in law firms.  ;-)  

> Fifteen or twenty years ago, I read the book again (it was very 
thick 
> by then) and once again it plunged me into despair. The 
descriptions 
> of all the constant labor and drudgery and networking and 
marketting 
> that must be done in order to catch a job made me believe that I 
would 
> NEVER get a job 

LOL!  Yes, it does make it sound very daunting.  It isn't really 
nearly that difficult most of the time.  I figure the book has a 
gazillion ideas about how to maximize your chances, and if you do 5% 
of them you should be on the right track while also getting some 
sleep.

Amy Z
who did a job search this year and doesn't even want to know how many 
hours she spent on it, but a lot of them were an awful lot of fun