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.

3 Lessons

By: Shea Harris

I can’t believe we are FINALLY moving! Okay, let me not get too ahead of myself. Ever since I started this job in September of 2015, my manager informed me our building was getting renovated and we would be moving to a different floor. Well the day is finally here! Majority of my department will be moving to a different floor in our building. Our new office has brand new furniture, utilities, appliances, you name it!

The whole process of waiting for this day has been a bit dragged out, but I’m glad! I’ve been able to focus on my studies, organize a bit better and gain more knowledge over the past 10 months. As my department prepped for this move, I couldn’t help but become a bit overwhelmed. I had monitors coming to visit during this time, meetings back to back, I needed to pack, it was just becoming a bit much. But during this time, I’ve learned a few things.

Take Things One Day At A Time

Over time I was so worried about when we were moving, where my monitors would be located, where my new seat was, etc., I almost lost sight of things. I needed to take deep breaths and put one foot in front of the other. As fires were beginning to build, I had to put them out one day at a time. I couldn’t look too much towards the future because everything in the present was too important. I couldn’t stress about things that were not complete because I had far more important things to be concerned about.

Organization Is Key

As I packed boxes for out move, I made sure I labeled my boxes with specific content (study number, principal investigator name, etc.). I didn’t want to start off in a new location with my whole work life in shambles. I needed to make sure all of the items I packed would make it to my new work area. In 2015 I was organized, now not so much. I want to start off organized in this new work area and stay organized so that things don’t end up is disarray.

Don’t Depend On Others

I am accountable for myself. I can’t depend on others to make sure my items make it to the new station. I can’t depend on others to know the status of my trials or how I keep everything in order. Everyone has a different way of doing things and Lord knows I’m a bit different when it comes to certain things. In order for me to be confident about where all my items are going, I made my own inventory list to make sure I would hold myself accountable for the items I packed.

 

These three simple things I’ve learned probably don’t seem like much, but they’ve been helpful. I’m excited about this move and I’m excited about where my career is taking me. I feel like the lessons I learned can be applied to many aspects of life, but especially your career. Any lessons you’d like to share? Comment below! 🙂

 

Lemonade Part 2

Welcome back! I promised you all there would be a part 2 and here we are. If you’re just now joining, be sure to check out Lemonade Part 1. Now that you’re up to speed let’s continue 🙂

Love Drought

Make sure you love what you do. When you feel the love dwindling, try and find something else that may interest you or challenge you at work. There’s nothing worse than going through the motions at work and wondering if you actually love what you do. You can’t necessarily quit because you have to pay rent and feed yourself. You don’t know if you want to continue working at the establishment because it’s just not fun any more. You came into this job loving it and a few months later, you’re feeling ehhh. So do you walk away or stay?

Sandcastles

At my previous place of employment, I had a plan. I knew the department I eventually wanted to transition into. I knew the position I wanted. I felt like I knew it all! I gave myself 5 years to stay in Durham, NC. Now Lord knows I hated Durham and it just wasn’t really the place for me to be. I promised myself I would leave this job until I became a CRA (clinical research associate–monitor for short). Trust me, everything you plan for doesn’t necessarily happen. I just knew I would be traveling the United States and various clinical sites right about now. Obviously my plan wasn’t God’s plan and I had to move in his direction.

Forward 

When things don’t pan out the way you want them to, you just have to swallow that pill and move forward. If God is telling you to stay still, stay still. If God is telling you to move, move! Now if you want to be stubborn like me and try and follow your plan trust me, God will pick you right up and place you where he wants you to be. Don’t become stagnant in your line of work. Matter fact, don’t become stagnant in your life. Get yourself together and move forward. Stop looking back and feeling bad about not taking another position. What’s done is done and you have to move forward!

Freedom

Now that you have gotten out of your feelings, its time to be proud of yourself. This is something I struggle with to be honest. Everyone around me is so proud of the milestones I’ve completed and I’m just like “Bruh, I’m just out here living”. If you’re not proud of yourself or ashamed of the decisions you’ve made, it’s time to break those chains! Stop letting doubt, insecurity and disappointment hold you back. You are a magnificent person and you know who you are. Stop being chained down by these negative thoughts. Dust your shoulder off and hold your head high!

All Night

Now that your head is high and you are out here popping in these streets, remember to not overwork yourself. So many times in the office we want to prove things not only to others, but to ourselves as well. We promise to make impossible deadlines, we say yes to everyone around us and end up giving ourselves the short end of the stick. Often times we over work ourselves and pull all nighters to finish work or personal projects. Honey, get your rest. If I know one thing that is true, it’s that we need our rest. We need our rest to function appropriately and provide top notch quality. Get you some rest shawty and remember to breathe!

Formation

So we love what we do, followed God’s plan, left behind negative thoughts, have our confidence and rest. What’s next though? I say surround yourself with like minded people if you haven’t already done so. If you have people in your circle who aren’t trying to make moves and stay in the same spot they’ve been in for the past 4 years or more…Bye Felicia. But seriously, everyone isn’t going to be happy for you. Some people are going to be jealous and some are just going to straight up tear you down. If you’re surrounded by those chasing after the money, dreams and goals, you’re bound to succeed together. As Bey said, Always stay gracious best revenge is your paper.

Thank you as always for checking out the post and let me know what you think!

Lemonade Part 1

By: Shea Harris

In case you were wondering, I’m not going to do a think piece on Lemonade. I feel like the whole blogosphere has done enough of that for me and the next person. Instead I’m going to shift gears and give you another perspective on the visual album. I was looking at the titles of the album and realized a lot of them (and some of the lyrics) can be applied to work. Now just give me a second before you make your way up to the X in the top right hand corner, haha!

This post will be broken into two articles, y’all know I’m not a huge fan of extensive posts.

Pray You Catch Me

When applying for jobs we’re always praying that out of the first few jobs we apply to, one will be our employer. Each time I have began applying for jobs I got my hopes up that out of the first batch of applications, one of the positions would be the one! I always envisioned the employer would be running to me with open arms of acceptance. My resume was popping. My experience was lit. For some reason it took several batches of applications for me to get the call for an interview.

Hold Up

I finally got the call for an interview and it felt like I was having heart palpitations.  I’m great at interviews and pretty good at knowing if the employer will really want me to represent their company. The problem occurs when you have multiple interviews though. Don’t be too quick to jump at the first offer on the table because you never know what the next person will offer you. You literally have to chill and pump your breaks before you miss out on your blessing.

Don’t Hurt Yourself

When you have multiple interviews lined up, you also have to be aware of who you are as an individual. Most of the times we’re holding ourselves back from a bomb job and don’t even realize it. During my time in North Carolina I couldn’t figure out why things weren’t going my way. Once I realized I wanted to leave my previous employer, I was so adamant on returning to Charlotte. None of the places I applied to in Charlotte would call me to schedule an interview. I was literally holding myself back by attempting to stay in North Carolina.

Sorry

Once I realized it was time for me to relocate, I began putting myself first. I stopped feeling sorry about leaving my family and friends in North Carolina. I had to finally do what was right for me. I applied to jobs all over the United States and was blessed to be able to move to Miami, FL. Don’t apologize for being selfish and making boss moves on your own. The people who truly support you and your decision to make a better life for yourself will be in your corner no matter what.

6 Inch

The same people I vibed with in North Carolina are still in my corner and encouraging me to continue doing my thing! I began making my own avenue for myself down here and not letting anyone or anything get in my way. When my manager introduced me to my role, I made sure I worked my ass off. No matter what industry you’re in, don’t forget to work hard for your money and work smart for it as well.

Daddy Lessons

Although money is what keeps us fed, clothed, sheltered, etc, keep in my mind…money is not everything. My dad always told me: It’s a whole bunch of people out here with plenty of money that hate their job. Having all the money in the world doesn’t make you happy. I have continued to spread that word to many of my peers because sometimes we can get caught up. We love our material things and cant go hungry, but hate our job. I don’t want to go too much in depth because that leads us into Love Drought.

 

I hope you all enjoyed the post so far and don’t be afraid to let me know what’s on your mind in the comments.

To Be Continued Next Week 🙂