I Have a Job…Now What?

By: Shea Harris

For the past 2.5 years I have been a contractor at two separate companies. At the first establishment, I didn’t have any benefits. I was on my parents medical insurance, I didn’t get paid time off, nor was I paid for Holidays. The second establishment, I had amazing benefits: medical insurance, dental insurance, paid time off and I was paid for Holidays! The only downfall was that insurance was too dag on expensive. I hated they took out so much money every two weeks for insurance.

It’s been 1 year and 3 months since I moved to Miami and I finally have a full time job with a salary and amazing benefits! Don’t get me wrong, as a contractor each company treated me like I was a full time employee but it’s something about finally getting the words STAFF on your ID badge. It might be a bit petty, but Lord knows I was tired of seeing CONTRACTOR on my badge every time I reached for it. To add on to the excitement, HR called me the first week of 2017 to let me know I would be converted to a full time staff member (talk about an amazing start to 2017)!

As I accepted the offer I was a bit intimidated with what was coming: I would only be getting paid once a month. Yes, you read that correctly. ONCE. A. MONTH. Ever since I moved to Miami, my coworkers let me know that’s what would occur when I was converted, but my goodness! Preparing for what was to come is completely different than living in it. I’m hopeful that getting paid once a month will help me learn how to budget though. I’ve been trying to budget since 2014, but I’ve failed at it miserably. As I’m typing this post I’m too anxious for March 31st to come so my direct deposit will hit. It is a bit sad though that I’m ready to swipe my card for some retail therapy.

Besides my payment schedule changing, the price of my insurance (medical, dental and vision) has decreased tremendously! When I looked at the total of my insurance and realized all that I would receive, I thought it was a joke. Having bomb benefits just gives me a different outlook on how blessed I am to have this position. I’ve taken on a bit more responsibility, which sounds like a con but its not. All the new things I’m doing will be placed on my resume. I’m meeting more people, building relationships and gaining more knowledge. I hope to continue expanding my knowledge in Clinical Research and continue climbing the ladder of success.