My ideal job

This time three years ago, I had a job lined up for when I left college and started living in the real world, but I was in the typical 20-something quandary: I had essentially no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be done with school because my education, though pricey, hadn’t prepared me to tackle real engineering problems. But I didn’t want to stay in school because I didn’t know what I wanted to study.

Thus, the job hunt began. I was lucky to be job hunting during a brief time when the government agency that I had always dreamed of working for was hiring. I applied, had a couple interviews, and poof! I had an offer. The deadline to accept or decline was December 1st - way before I had a chance to do any other interviewing.

I had no idea what to do. Here it was, what I thought was my dream job offer, but it somehow felt like a cop-out if I didn't at least see what else was out there. Somehow it was too easy. Everyone I talked to said, “Ooh, tough call!” but didn't offer any real advice when I asked. Thankfully, my academic advisor took on the role of high school guidance counselor for me when no one else would.

So I took the job. I figured I could at least get some experience and beef up the ol’ résumé while I was figuring out what I wanted to do with my life.

Unfortunately, the job didn’t pan out like I had hoped. A lot of that was my fault, but I did manage to learn a few things from it. I at least had a longer list of what I liked and what I didn’t like, both in terms of work and in terms of a company to work for. A year later, I received my acceptance letter to grad school, and over the past year and a half I’ve come even closer to really nailing what kind of work I want to do.

The type of work, I think, is more than half the “describe your ideal job” battle. An engineering degree, it seems, can get you a job just about anywhere. An aerospace engineering degree only limits the field by a little. Some of the topics we studied in school were materials & structures, kinematics & dynamics, fluid dynamics and aerodynamics, thermodynamics, and controls. I knew what I didn’t like (materials) what I kinda liked (aerodynamics), and what I just didn’t get (controls). It wasn’t until I took a propulsion class during my senior year that I learned even a little about astrodynamics (how planets and other things in space move around due to gravity) and thought - hey, this is pretty cool!

The job I took with the government mainly involved spacecraft trajectories - how a hunk of metal wants to move in the atmosphere or in space and how to steer it to follow the path that you want instead. That stuff was pretty neat too. I knew about that kind of work as an intern, but I was never able to land a job actually doing it until I took the government job.

In grad school, much of my classwork has focused on guidance, navigation, and control. Here I finally saw that there was a reason that anyone bothered to understand control theory. I’m still not a huge controls fan, but it’s a necessary evil on the way to doing cooler things, like guidance algorithm development and trajectory design.

Okay, so I’ve gotten a little off-topic. My original point was to whine about how I can’t figure out what job to take! Now that I mostly have the “what kind of work I want to do” figured out, all that’s left are those other “minor” details to figure out - what about all the other stuff besides the work?

I haven’t gotten very far in making a job decision by making a pro/con list for the two companies that have made me offers, so I’m trying to approach it from the other end - what is my ideal job at my ideal company?

I want to have a job where...

• I look forward to going to work every day
• The actual work is interesting to me
• The work, and the company’s mission, is useful - the work benefits others, and has a clear purpose
• I get along well with my co-workers and my boss; the atmosphere is friendly and helpful/supportive
• The hours are reasonable - the job doesn’t take over my life
• The company is respectful of work/life balance
  
• The work is technical, but it involves more than just me sitting in front of a computer all day (I’m already doing this for my thesis and it sucks)
• There’s a good mix of working with people and solving problems on my own
• There’s a variety of work, and the company is willing to accommodate me when my interests change and I want to try something new
• My co-workers are motivated to get things done
  
• The company’s goal is to deliver work that is thorough and correct, not just on-time
• There’s a good mix of young people and older, more experienced engineers
• The company encourages me to expand my horizons and further my education - not necessarily toward a degree, but at least job-related training. Bonus if they have a very broad definition of what’s job-related. :)
  
• It pays enough to cover my expenses, plus some extra to help me save for fun stuff

Resolutions

I started these before 2007 even showed up, but due to the family drama that's occurred over the past month, these seemed somewhat irrelevant compared to all that. More to come on "that" when I'm able to get my thoughts together.

It seems I'm supposed to summarize 2006 before I make resolutions. So:

2006 was the year of the eyeballs. Many ophthalmologist appointments, many ointments, allergy tests, eyedrops, tears, and frustration. I was hoping that 2006 would be the only year of the eyeballs, but so far that's not been the case. My new goal is to make it less than 12 months, but it seems a little silly to even set goals like that, seeing as there's a limited amount that I can do to influence things.

Anyway, I imagine you're all sick of hearing about this, so I'll move on. Josh and I took some great trips in 2006: Boston, Houston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Jacksonville, and Orlando, and I got to meet his wonderful family. I spent a week in England with Lauren. My mom and I took a trip to Cape Cod. I said goodbye to Phil, Glenn, June and our apartment in Back Bay and moved into a new apartment with LeeAnn. My brave little hamster who survived the road trip from Houston to Boston died. I spent the entire tax year earning income in only one state! This is the first time since 2000 that I'll only have to fill out one state tax return. I kept up my 2005 resolution to floss every day. I survived my first year of grad school.

So, looking forward, in 2007 I would like to:

1) Keep in touch with friends/family better. I say this every year, but in light of everything that's happening with my family, it seems more important now.

2) Graduate/get a job. This doesn't really feel like a true resolution because it's a goal that will hopefully be gone within the next six months; nevertheless, it's obviously a goal for now, so I'm including it here.

3) Do difficult/ugly things right away. Don't procrastinate! I have this awful habit of not reading uncomfortable emails, not listening to uncomfortable voicemails, and not responding or having a meeting when there's something I don't want to face. The problem is that the more time passes, the uglier/more uncomfortable it gets. I do better with measurable goals, so I'm giving myself a 24-hour turnaround time for these things, barring any extenuating circumstances.

4) Remember that except for life and death situations, nothing is as bad as it first seems. Sorry, I know it's cliché, but it really is something that I need to keep in mind. My mom has a good way of thinking about difficult stuff: ask yourself, "What's the worst that can happen? Is the outcome really that bad?" I feel as though the past two years have increased my overall bent-out-of-shape-ness about things, so I'm resolving to change my outlook and try to de-stress.

5) Go to bed earlier. My usual weeknight has me going to bed late, getting up late, getting to work late, getting home late, and repeating the cycle all over again. So, bedtime for 2007 is 11 pm.

Reading list

I got four books out of the library yesterday and I have just three weeks to read them. Any bets on how many times I'll have to get them renewed?


I picked this up while I was searching for a different book about Guantanamo, one whose title and author I couldn't remember. This one is written by an Army soldier, while the original one I was looking for is written by a prisoner. If I can find it, it'll be interesting to read after this one.


Josh and I started watching the Band of Brothers HBO miniseries over New Year's, and since I'm a staunch believer in the idea that the book is always better than the movie, I decided to check this out of the library too. And as reading leads to more reading, evidently Major Dick Winters has also written an account of his time in E Company, so that's on my list after I finish this one.


I don't get CNN and therefore don't know much about Anderson Cooper, except that he always shows up in photographs looking like he does on the cover of this book - "Hey guys, how about this face? Am I looking pensive enough? Concerned enough about the all the terrible tragedies happening in the world? Looks good, right? I've been practicing in front of the mirror." So far, this is the only one of the four that I've started, and the content is really interesting, but I'm already annoyed with the guy's use of adjectives and his inability to write in complete sentences. As if fragments better describe. His feelings of despair about the world. Especially during the tragedies of 2005.


I saw this on the New Books shelf and couldn't resist at least reading the book jacket. The gist is that the author gets dumped at the altar and demoted at work, so instead of sulking at home, he goes on his originally scheduled honeymoon (while cancelling the honeymoon suite for two rooms and "swapping the champagne for beer") with his brother instead. They like the trip so much that it motivates them to sell nearly everything they own and travel around the world.

Questions

Questions Couples Should Ask (Or Wish They Had) Before Marrying is the "most emailed" article today at the New York Times. What to do if the answer is, "We both aren't sure right now"? Where's the guarantee that you both will come to the same conclusion about that question after many years of marriage? I'm continually amazed at couples who stay happily married for their entire lives, because they've obviously mastered the trick of growing up and changing together. Maybe some of it's luck, but what's the rest of the secret? People change, develop different interests and hobbies, and come to expect different things from their partner, so it's easy to see how a couple could grow apart. Maybe that list should be titled "Questions Couples Should Ask Continually Throughout Their Marriage."

1. Have we discussed our expectations for how the household will be maintained, and are we in agreement on who will manage the chores?
2. Do we have a clear idea of each other’s financial obligations and goals, and do our ideas about spending and saving mesh?
3. Have we discussed our expectations for how the household will be maintained, and are we in agreement on who will manage the chores?
4. Have we fully disclosed our health histories, both physical and mental?
5. Is my partner affectionate to the degree that I expect?
6. Can we comfortably and openly discuss our sexual needs, preferences and fears?
7. Will there be a television in the bedroom?
8. Do we truly listen to each other and fairly consider one another’s ideas and complaints?
9. Have we reached a clear understanding of each other’s spiritual beliefs and needs, and have we discussed when and how our children will be exposed to religious/moral education?
10. Do we like and respect each other’s friends?
11. Do we value and respect each other’s parents, and is either of us concerned about whether the parents will interfere with the relationship?
12. What does my family do that annoys you?
13. Are there some things that you and I are NOT prepared to give up in the marriage?
14. If one of us were to be offered a career opportunity in a location far from the other’s family, are we prepared to move?
15. Does each of us feel fully confident in the other’s commitment to the marriage and believe that the bond can survive whatever challenges we may face?

Thursday thoughts

+ Today is the career fair. I'm nervous. And there are a lot of companies that I want to speak with during the two hours that I can be there.

+ I've lost weight since I was living in Houston. All of my dress clothes are now baggier, especially in areas where I don't want them to be baggy!

+ My brass rat feels extremely heavy compared to the small silver ring I've been wearing lately. I used to love wearing my class ring - everyone at school bought one and wore it as a badge of pride for having survived the most academically difficult 4 years of our lives. After I graduated though, I wore it less and less because it didn't seem to mean as much to me when I wasn't surrounded by other MIT grads. Looking at it today though, I miss wearing it, but not enough to give up wearing my silver ring. I never thought I'd be back here after I turned my brass rat around at graduation.

+ The radiator in my bedroom is on already. We live in an old building, so the boiler distributes heat to every apartment in the building, which means that we don't have our own thermostat. So my radiator is on when it's September 21st and it's 70 degrees outside.

+ I must start going to bed earlier.

+ 95% of the kids in my Feedback Control Systems class are first year grad students, which means that they don't have much research work to do yet. I miss the days of getting all my homework done at work and then being able to leave at 3:30 to go to the gym.

+ I need to go the gym.

+ I see my roommate for about 5 minutes a day, if that.

+ My mom is visiting this weekend, and we're going to the Cape! It might rain though.

+ Dude, Grey's Anatomy almost made me cry last night. Maybe I can see the attraction with that show.

+ I've become a lot ballsier about biking in traffic now that I've started wearing my helmet regularly. Ironically, I think I was safer when I wasn't wearing it.

+ I miss having an officemate. Well, except for this morning when I could change clothes in my office instead of having to go to the bathroom.

+ My newest theory about my eyes being retarded is that it's caused by another medication I'm taking. My eyes didn't start freaking out until about 3 months after I started taking the medication, which is about how long it takes your body to adjust to the new levels of drugs. Plus, I've read that one of the drugs in the medication is known to cause dry eyes. It was hard to believe at first that my eye problems could be caused just by dryness, but I've started putting in re-wetting drops several times during the day, and it seems to be helping, so either they're just dry or the extra moisture is helping flush out whatever allergens might be in there. I have a doctor's appointment on Monday to see what my other medication options are.

+ My new favorite blog to read is Everyday Goddess.

+ I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to get all my thesis research, analysis, and writing done before May 11, 2007.

Packing

I don't think anyone should pack alone. Even if the other person who's packing is in another room in your apartment, on another floor in your house, or down the hall in your dorm, they should be there. This is for those "Ohhhhh!" moments when you discover your high school track shorts crammed in the back of your closet and realize that since the elastic is now so brittle that the shorts would fit a 200 pound man, you have to throw away this piece of your childhood. Since my roommates have all left, you, dear reader, are my audience. Your line is, "Awwwwww."

Thanks. :)

Also, it turns out that my most recent roommate used up all our packing tape when she moved out last week. She bought another roll to replace it, but it turns out that she bought the cheap, flimsy stuff that twists around and sticks to itself better than the box. And the cheap tape doesn't come with a dispenser. Argh!

I buy a lot of generic, cheap stuff instead of the name-brand stuff, but I happily fork over the extra dollar to get the thick tape that comes with a dispenser. I think everyone has those few things that they won't compromise on, and in addition to the tape, my list includes running shoes, ziploc bags, and toilet paper. I may have used furniture in my bedroom and no-name spaghetti sauce in my kitchen, but darn it, I buy Charmin toilet paper!