Um, I Started a Job Today?
After the verbal offer I got on the phone on Saturday from the Youth Services librarian, the plan was to meet Monday (today) afternoon to talk. They haven't gotten a formal offer letter and all the other paperwork from HR yet, and probably won't get them by Monday, so just come in to talk.
I said O.K., see you then. . . and then threw myself into the Mac crisis for the rest of the weekend. Didn't check my school e-mail account (which I keep forgetting to take off my resume'; it's not my most frequently checked account, mostly because it's a pain).
So this afternoon, I walk into the library and head right for the Youth Services librarian's desk. She greets me and then asks me if I got her e-mail. I said no, what did I miss? And she just says that's all right. . .
. . . then starts showing me around the library and introducing me to everyone on staff.
As the new young adult librarian.
Needless to say, the next two hours were surreal. And I am getting paid for those two surreal hours.
I got handed a schedule of events, a W-4 to fill out, and a list of office contacts. She asked if I had any questions, and I said not at the moment--I needed to take some time to sort all the information out.
Like, when exactly did we ever discuss my starting today?
I don't think I'll ask that question when I go in on Wednesday. Or the other question I keep asking myself: What the h*** am I doing?
Immediately after getting out of there, I took care of the errands I'd planned to do after what I thought was a 1/2 hour "talk," just to avoid thinking about what had just happened. When I got home, I had to see that e-mail she'd referenced. There it was, about an hour after we'd talked on the phone, an e-mail saying how excited she was that I was coming on board, and--get this--she assumed I wouldn't have a problem with accumulating hours before the paperwork was in. (Actually, I do--but what's done is done, I guess.)
I haven't even broached the subject with the bookstore yet, but now I guess I'm going to have to. We'll see what happens.
I really want to be happy about this. But right now I have to admit that I am stunned.
I've never been broadsided by an employer before.
I said O.K., see you then. . . and then threw myself into the Mac crisis for the rest of the weekend. Didn't check my school e-mail account (which I keep forgetting to take off my resume'; it's not my most frequently checked account, mostly because it's a pain).
So this afternoon, I walk into the library and head right for the Youth Services librarian's desk. She greets me and then asks me if I got her e-mail. I said no, what did I miss? And she just says that's all right. . .
. . . then starts showing me around the library and introducing me to everyone on staff.
As the new young adult librarian.
Needless to say, the next two hours were surreal. And I am getting paid for those two surreal hours.
I got handed a schedule of events, a W-4 to fill out, and a list of office contacts. She asked if I had any questions, and I said not at the moment--I needed to take some time to sort all the information out.
Like, when exactly did we ever discuss my starting today?
I don't think I'll ask that question when I go in on Wednesday. Or the other question I keep asking myself: What the h*** am I doing?
Immediately after getting out of there, I took care of the errands I'd planned to do after what I thought was a 1/2 hour "talk," just to avoid thinking about what had just happened. When I got home, I had to see that e-mail she'd referenced. There it was, about an hour after we'd talked on the phone, an e-mail saying how excited she was that I was coming on board, and--get this--she assumed I wouldn't have a problem with accumulating hours before the paperwork was in. (Actually, I do--but what's done is done, I guess.)
I haven't even broached the subject with the bookstore yet, but now I guess I'm going to have to. We'll see what happens.
I really want to be happy about this. But right now I have to admit that I am stunned.
I've never been broadsided by an employer before.
Comments
Keep looking.
Lindsay--that's a good way of putting it!
Amy--right, I don't see this as a long-term thing for me. Particularly b/c it's only PT and I have bills to pay.