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Its been an interesting introduction.
Background - I work for the G360 Institute for Groundwater Research at University of Guelph. They primarily focus on aquifers that have been contaminated or are threatened by industrial activity, and work closely with governments and industry as well as academia. As a university group, they have some odd organizational requirements - everything goes through the Director - and of course it's publish or perish, except to the max because not only is it publish papers, but it's also report to anyone who gave us $ on the findings.
The first week was horrendous. I started on the 7th, and the Director was going on sick leave on the 16th. Everything was coming to a head, no one had time for me, but everyone had something they needed. In my first week I wrote: a Letter of Intent for a new project, 4 reference letters for people I hadn't me, job posting for 4 new post-doc fellows, and a biography of our MP. I also edited 2 tech memos and learned a lot (like, a ridiculous amount) about hydrology and geohydrology. I haven't gotten a handle on the hydrochemistry yet. Tuesday I wanted to quit, but I talked to a bunch of people who, weirdly enough, had worked for the Director before, and people in science/academia, and my mom and Derek and they helped me calm down.
Since then, it's gotten better every day. I got a parking pass, an ID card, all the little bells and whistles that make you feel part of something (the HR person was in India for my first week, so I was super adrift). I get thanks on a near daily basis for things that I don't think are a huge deal (proofreading, organizing, paying attention). I got an apology for the insanity of my first week, and told that I'm wonderful and not to change a thing. The work itself is interesting, engaging and meaningful, with lots of opportunities to make small improvements that will mean a lot to the people doing the actual science. I'm at the point now where I can see myself staying in a campus position for the rest of my career. The Director is in her 50's, so I'm not sure what the transition plan is (though her mentor still works with us at 78). However, now that I'm a UoG employee I can look for internal UoG jobs so if something does happen to the Institute, I can hopefully find something else.
I will say there is a fly in the ointment. As a one year temp employee (with the expectation that my contract will be renewed), I miss out on a few things. There is a Flex account (1100$) that I don't get because my contract needs to be more than 1 year (or I need to have worked here for a year already). I don't get dental benefits or the ability to contribute to the pension until I've been here 2 years. That said, once I hit those milestones, I don't roll backwards if I change jobs within the university. Theoretically, I could find a new contract every year, always do something new and still get my flex account starting from Jan 2020, and dental/pension starting from Jan 2021.
On the plus side, the vacation increases are EXTREMELY attractive (15 days to start, 22 days after 2 years, going up to 30 days at 25 years) with 2 floater days and 13 sick days to boot. The hours are 35/week (7 a day, excluding lunch); my direct boss works 4 long days and takes every Friday off. The commute is AWESOME - 10 minutes drive + 8 minute walk in the morning and 8 minutes walk + 15 minutes drive at night. If something happens to VV at school, I can get there in 20-25 minutes. Just being on campus puts a smile on my face; UoG is lovely, and I can only imagine how much nicer it'll be once we can go outside more comfortably. I've got friends on campus, lots of new eateries to try out (as I recall from Derek's undergrad, Hospitality Services rocks), and, as evidence by this very long post in the middle of a work day, I'm not stupid busy (though my tasks will increase when the Director comes back from sick leave). I got the 70K I was asking (initial offer was 58), and since there's no retirement fund to contribute to until 2021, my take home has increased by 800$ per pay (though now I need to figure out how to increase my retirement fund myself, espeically since that 800$ is covering our mortgage so Derek can put more of his $ towards his business, which will hopefully take off this year and then I don't have to worry about it!).
On the whole, I'm pretty satisfied with where I landed.
Background - I work for the G360 Institute for Groundwater Research at University of Guelph. They primarily focus on aquifers that have been contaminated or are threatened by industrial activity, and work closely with governments and industry as well as academia. As a university group, they have some odd organizational requirements - everything goes through the Director - and of course it's publish or perish, except to the max because not only is it publish papers, but it's also report to anyone who gave us $ on the findings.
The first week was horrendous. I started on the 7th, and the Director was going on sick leave on the 16th. Everything was coming to a head, no one had time for me, but everyone had something they needed. In my first week I wrote: a Letter of Intent for a new project, 4 reference letters for people I hadn't me, job posting for 4 new post-doc fellows, and a biography of our MP. I also edited 2 tech memos and learned a lot (like, a ridiculous amount) about hydrology and geohydrology. I haven't gotten a handle on the hydrochemistry yet. Tuesday I wanted to quit, but I talked to a bunch of people who, weirdly enough, had worked for the Director before, and people in science/academia, and my mom and Derek and they helped me calm down.
Since then, it's gotten better every day. I got a parking pass, an ID card, all the little bells and whistles that make you feel part of something (the HR person was in India for my first week, so I was super adrift). I get thanks on a near daily basis for things that I don't think are a huge deal (proofreading, organizing, paying attention). I got an apology for the insanity of my first week, and told that I'm wonderful and not to change a thing. The work itself is interesting, engaging and meaningful, with lots of opportunities to make small improvements that will mean a lot to the people doing the actual science. I'm at the point now where I can see myself staying in a campus position for the rest of my career. The Director is in her 50's, so I'm not sure what the transition plan is (though her mentor still works with us at 78). However, now that I'm a UoG employee I can look for internal UoG jobs so if something does happen to the Institute, I can hopefully find something else.
I will say there is a fly in the ointment. As a one year temp employee (with the expectation that my contract will be renewed), I miss out on a few things. There is a Flex account (1100$) that I don't get because my contract needs to be more than 1 year (or I need to have worked here for a year already). I don't get dental benefits or the ability to contribute to the pension until I've been here 2 years. That said, once I hit those milestones, I don't roll backwards if I change jobs within the university. Theoretically, I could find a new contract every year, always do something new and still get my flex account starting from Jan 2020, and dental/pension starting from Jan 2021.
On the plus side, the vacation increases are EXTREMELY attractive (15 days to start, 22 days after 2 years, going up to 30 days at 25 years) with 2 floater days and 13 sick days to boot. The hours are 35/week (7 a day, excluding lunch); my direct boss works 4 long days and takes every Friday off. The commute is AWESOME - 10 minutes drive + 8 minute walk in the morning and 8 minutes walk + 15 minutes drive at night. If something happens to VV at school, I can get there in 20-25 minutes. Just being on campus puts a smile on my face; UoG is lovely, and I can only imagine how much nicer it'll be once we can go outside more comfortably. I've got friends on campus, lots of new eateries to try out (as I recall from Derek's undergrad, Hospitality Services rocks), and, as evidence by this very long post in the middle of a work day, I'm not stupid busy (though my tasks will increase when the Director comes back from sick leave). I got the 70K I was asking (initial offer was 58), and since there's no retirement fund to contribute to until 2021, my take home has increased by 800$ per pay (though now I need to figure out how to increase my retirement fund myself, espeically since that 800$ is covering our mortgage so Derek can put more of his $ towards his business, which will hopefully take off this year and then I don't have to worry about it!).
On the whole, I'm pretty satisfied with where I landed.
