#work advice

1. Leaving is valid but not always easy Walking away might be the best way to protect yourself. But you might need the paycheck, benefits, or simply not have an exit yet. Leaving is okay. Staying is okay. This is about survival.

2. Sometimes staying is the safer option (for now) If you’re planning to report or take legal action, staying a bit longer might help you gather proof or get advice. Leaving too soon can hurt your case or your finances. It’s unfair, but sometimes smarter.

3. Talk to a lawyer before you leave Even if you're ready to go, a quick legal consult can help. Some lawyers will talk for free. Quitting might affect benefits or your ability to file. Ten minutes could shift your whole plan (and life path).

4. Think about what you’re really leaving Sometimes it's a whole career or dream you're stepping away from. That’s a real loss. If you're grieving it, don't feel weak. Feel human, human (you're human)!

5. Don’t make fast moves, make smart ones Start looking before the job breaks you. Quitting with no plan can make things harder. I've been in "anywhere but here” mode wayyy too many times to count, but trust me, you deserve more.

6. Frame your exit in your own words Future employers don’t need the full truth. “It wasn’t the right fit” is plenty. Share more only if it feels right. You set the boundaries now.

7. Save your evidence and protect your access If you’ve documented anything, save it privately (off work devices). If you file a report later, that paper trail can matter.

8. Whatever you choose, you're not alone There’s no perfect response to harassment. Whether you stay or go, speak up or stay quiet, your path is valid. What matters is your safety, sanity and peace.

NOTE: I've been writing these homemade listicles down on paper with a fancy fountain pen I got as a birthday present recently (pic above). I don't really know why but thinking thoughts out loud with my hands is just better. Clearer, dare I say, healing? I know my handwriting is indecipherable trash and most of you won't be able to read it, but I still like how the curves look on the whole.

Be well friendos

yeah, yeah, "see the userbase aging in real time" but I had to make a presentation for my Management class in grad school and I'm actually proud of this and think it could help people and my classmates found it witty and useful! (thank fuck tumblr supports more than 10 images at a time now)

It's not just useful for work meetings, but any planned meeting where stuff needs to get done!

Specific details of policies will vary from company to company, but if you work an office job where you are expected to log how much time you spend a day working on different stuff (e.g. client projects, internal meetings, etc.) and you routinely find yourself working longer than your official hours LOG THOSE EXTRA HOURS!!!

This came up after a junior coworker was saying she'd done a week recently where she was working 11-12 hours each day for the full week and then did a couple of hours on the Saturday. I had to explain the concept of time off in lieu. Basically, over the course of that week, she'd worked the equivalent of two full days extra, so she was entitled to take a couple of days off in exchange. She could have gone to her manager and asked for two days of time of work - but only if the time is recorded.

Several of us have been telling management that we need to hire more people to cover the work and that lots of teams are massively overworked. But if everyone is logging normal 8 hour days, their reports aren't going to reflect that. But if a team of 5 people start logging enough hours for 6 people, that shows up in the numbers in the reports and they can use that to argue for hiring more people.

And it can make sure projects are estimated accurately. If a piece of work is expected to take 5 days but it regularly takes people 7, the project managers will only know to book 7 days for the work instead of 5 next time if that's recorded.

“In Likeable Badass, Alison Fragale dives deep into the science behind gender bias and stereotypes — and how we can challenge them. With warmth, humor, and powerful personal stories, she provides women with actionable advice for achieving greater success in the workplace.” —Sheryl Sandberg, New York Times bestselling author of Lean In

It's tough because a lot of companies no longer have entry-level roles being advertised as such (most "entry-level" roles are actually junior or even senior-level roles being paid entry-level wages). This has been a problem brewing in the professional world for years now, because not wanting to train new talent on how to work your field has already led to labor shortages as more and more people are retiring/transitioning to different fields.

HOWEVER, all is not lost and there are still routes to white collar work available for people. I work in accounting and I got my start when I was working as a receptionist for a small company. They wanted me to have stuff to do between calls so they started training me on how to do accounting stuff. I was then able to leverage my accounting experience to get an actual billing job at a different company.

From what I understand, having receptionists be trained in other areas of work is a very common practice because it allows the company to pay receptionist-level (ie, low) wages to someone who's doing higher-level work. It sucks that you have to put up with being exploited for a while, but getting a job as a receptionist and then transitioning into a different role (either at the same company or a different one) is one of the best paths to breaking into white collar work.

Temp agencies and recruiters are also great for helping you get your foot in the door at places that wouldn't have looked at you otherwise. A LOT of companies outsource their hiring to temp agencies and recruiters and if they like you they can hype you up. That's actually how I got my current job.

Something to also be aware of is that a lot of jobs offered by recruiters are contract work, meaning that the position is temporary and you don't get benefits like healthcare or PTO. A lot of contract positions are contract-to-hire, meaning that you can get hired full-time if you do a good enough job, but you can't bank on getting hired in a timely manner or at all (my partner didn't get hired at their job they kick ass at until two fucking years had passed).

However, in my experience most contract-to-hire jobs will make up their minds about you within a few months. As someone trying to break into office work, you unfortunately may need to take contract roles until you build up enough experience to have a more impressive resume.

Sustainable Aviation Ambassadors Alex Kehler, Bianca Legeza-Narvaez, Evan Gotchel, and Janki Patel pose in front of the NASA Pavilion at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

It’s that time of year again–EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is underway!

Boasting more than 650,000 visitors annually, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, or “Oshkosh” for short, is an airshow and fly-in held by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Each year, flight enthusiasts and professionals from around the world converge on Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to engage with industry-leading organizations and businesses and celebrate past, present, and future innovation in aviation.

This year, four NASA interns with the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project count themselves among those 650,000+ visitors, having the unique opportunity to get firsthand experience with all things aerospace at Oshkosh.

[Context: restaurant] I was originally told a six month timeline SIXTEEN months ago (in Promotion Manager 's defense, the training program was delayed by several months so three of us could train at once rather than run it separate three times). Since, I completed the multi month training program with two other people, and when they were told it would take 2 weeks to be promoted after finishing, it took management 7 weeks to actually follow through with them. Other current managers expressed that they weren't sure if Promotion Manager was actually going to follow through at all for our promotions or was just going to continue to string us along.

(more details and semi coherent rambling below)