A Day in the Life of Sheri -- senior writer and technical editor

Sheri, Senior Writer and Technical Editor, employed by Aquent LLC (working as a contractor for Aquent’s clients), says she doesn’t feel like the typical American worker because her work doesn’t feel like work (HBG comment:  can you get a better job than that!).

Sheri likes her contractor status because she gets to write and edit for different clients.  Her day varies depending if she is on-site at a client or if she is working at home through teleconferencing and Skype calls.  Her contractor status gives her the ability to do what she loves – write and edit and not get bogged down in management meetings.

Although Sheri has the pleasure of working from home, she doesn’t feel isolated in her job: 

My work as a technical editor is not as solitary as it may seem, because it involves interviewing Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), who may be computer programmers and modelers, scientists, hydrogeologists, government planners, water conservation experts, engineers, lawyers, etc. (This is true for all writing and editing I do. I’ve interviewed law firm partners, business owners and executives, doctors, the adult children of genocide survivors.) Sometimes materials already exist and need to be edited for voice, style, grammar. Many times I’m creating new content. Technical writing and editing is highly collaborative. It requires intellectual curiosity and better-than-average communication and people skills.

When Sheri works on-site at a client’s office, she follows their dress code.  At home, she gets to wear whatever she likes and the big perk is – no shoes!

Sheri’s biggest job hazard:  writer’s block.  HBG:  doesn’t sound like that happens too often.

HBG:  Do you feel that you contribute to making our world a better place to live?

S:  That question is certainly on my mind when I accept new projects. I cannot write or work for anyone or any organization that goes against my values. I do my best to use my writing to do good work. In the past I’ve worked pro bono for a women’s shelter, I’ve written letters for charitable causes, and I just offered my services to Obama’s reelection campaign people in NY. I’m also writing two books which I hope will be educational and valuable to readers.

Sheri is currently enjoying her work at a state water management agency, whose work is to protect the area’s water supply and environment.  How could you not like working for a entity with the tagline: “We do the coolest work on the planet!” 

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire

March 25, 2012, marks the 101^st anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, a horrific fire that killed 146 workers, mostly young women, employed by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, New York City, New York.

I learned about the fire when I took my first Industrial and Labor Relations history class as a high school summer student at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR).  If you’ve read my personal labor journal, you’ll recall that the ILR school at Cornell was really the only place I wanted to go to college.  Once I studied labor history that hot summer, I was hooked.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory located on the 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th floors of the Asch Building, had only one fire escape, which collapsed during the fire.    The factory owners locked doors so that the workers could not “steal” material.  Large tables and machinery trapped workers.  Panicked workers rushing to leave the building trampled other workers.  Minimal water was available to put out fires.  Fire ladders were too short to reach the workers on those high floors and safety netting was ineffective to safely catch workers.

The Triangle Factory fire intrigued me.  All the elements drew me in – very young immigrant workers in NYC, many of them Jewish, working long days, locked into the factory by untrusting and greedy owners; the developing union movement and how the Triangle fire impacted union growth and safety rules.   I’ve always felt a strong connection to this story, maybe because I remember hearing about my great aunt who worked in a sweat shop in NYC or because my grandfather and his brothers owned a blouse factory and business in NY. 

In memory of the 100^th anniversary of the fire, the ILR school created a fantastic website about the fire:  http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/.  Department of Labor’s OSHA website also has some great info:  http://www.osha.gov/oas/trianglefactoryfire.html.

Today, in looking at these websites to write my blog, I learned from OSHA’s website that the Triangle fire remained the most deadliest workplace tragedy in New York City’s history until the 9-11 World Trade Center attacks, 90 years later.   The early labor unions and organizations and the subsequent laws governing labor worked to protect the American labor force.  

A Day in the Life Series -- meet Elizabeth, Radiographer

Elizabeth, radiographer and member of The American Association of Radiologic Technologists and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, works part time for The Bone Densitometry Center. 

Elizabeth likes her “simple and stress free” job, seeing a minimum of 4 patients a day.  Elizabeth says that her boss is nice, but that she doesn’t see him when she is at work.

After she drives her daughter to school, Elizabeth heads into work.  When she gets to work, she warms up and calibrates the x-ray machines.  She pulls up her patients’ previous bone density scans.  Patients are scheduled in 30 minute blocks and the dexa scans take approximately 15-30 minutes.  Elizabeth job also includes determining the billing code for each patient and sending this code and information to the insurance company.

Hearing her patients’ stories, especially her older patients, makes up the best part of her day.  The down side – dealing with very sick patients.

Elizabeth wears a lab coat over business casual clothing.  Her office provides coffee, tea, and water and she does not eat lunch at work, unless maybe a pharmaceutical representative brings in lunch.

Elizabeth does not feel that she is a typical American worker, answering, “No. I am a Mother first.   This job is secondary. My family definitely comes before work. I feel very lucky that I do not have to work everyday. I only work per-diem.”

A Day in the Life of A Modern American Small Business -- Smak Parlour, Philadelphia, PA

Think fast—I say Philadelphia, you say:  cheese steak or Liberty Bell.  Or maybe pretzel or Eagles; Ben Franklin or Betsey Ross; US Mint or Franklin Institute. 

I hope that after you read today’s A Day in the Life post, you will add Smak Parlour to your Philly list.

Imagine working alongside your best friend in a chic pink boutique store – in your own small business partnership.  Katie Loftus and Abby Kessler have the best jobs ever, are happy to go to work every day, and get to dress in the clothes that they design and sell in their boutique store. 

Here’s how they describe a typical day in the life of a Smak Parlour owner:

Get to work @11am (most days), leave 7pm (most days).

The job greatly varies from day to day. There are a lot of hats to wear! Just to name a few: servicing customers, pricing, steaming and putting out new merchandise. Placing orders with vendors. designing the windows, merchandising the floor. Cleaning and organizing. Taking pictures of items for web and cleaning them up in a graphics program. Updating website, sending out orders, blogging, twittering, fbooking. Ordering new merch, office supplies (business cards, bags). Paying bills. Scheduling, mentoring and evaluating interns.

Katie and Abby describe the best part of their day -- working with their best friend.  Accounting and quickbooks fall into the least favorite category.

Here’s how Katie and Abby (SP for Smak Parlour) answered a few more of my questions (HBG for Helitzerblousegirl):

HBG:  Do you have a good boss?  Are you a good boss?

SP:  We like to think we’re good bosses. We treat our employees and interns very well (the way we’d like to be treated).

HBG:  Do you feel that you are a typical American worker?  (For instance, I’m a partner in a law firm and I do what most lawyers do – read, read, read).

SP:  We suppose we do similar tasks as other boutique owners

HBG:  Has your job required you to do something unusual (see my blogpost about climbing down into a manhole to see a steam pipe system).

SP:  Haha that’s crazyJ

HBG:  Do you feel that you contribute to making our world a better place to live?

SP:  Yes, we make fashion fun! 

HBG:  Thanks Smak Parlour for participating in the A Day in the Life series and providing my blog audience with a look at a vibrant and successful American small business.

http://www.smakparlour.com/

A day in the life of an American worker series continues -- working to define the modern American labor force

Today, please meet Elise, Operations Manager, Defense Contractor (located in Virginia).

Elise desribes her typical day: 

I get to work at 7:30 and leave at 4.  I mainly work on any issues or problems the different functional groups are having with scheduled work that week.  Since I have been here a while I know a lot of the goings on behind the scenes than others, so I do get asked for guidance on different things.  I do reports for my boss and the VP of our group on what current actions/problems we have.  The most interesting and varied thing I do is Incident and Problem Management so anything that does not follow processes or goes wrong I get to investigate.  Occasionally, I go to our main contractor’s office, not too far away.

Elise enjoys her co-workers, has a good boss, and works in an office with a Keurig machine and three lunch rooms, but eats lunch at her desk.  When asked if she wakes up happy to go to work, she responds, “indifferent.”  The worst part of her day is commuting and meetings. 

Elise receives a salary and is not a member of a union.  She wears suits or dress pants with blouses or sweaters to work.

In my series of questions, I asked, “does your work make the world a better place?”  Elise believes that she contributes to the world through her volunteer work – teaching English as a second language, being a Pen Pal to a child in order to encourage reading, and volunteering with a local soccer league.    

Elise feels that she is a typical American worker, “even though my kids can never explain [my work] exactly.”

More about Paige, Homeless Shelter Intern

Paige eats lunch at the shelter and eats the donated food that the homeless eat.   Since the shelter relies upon donations, the food varies from day to day:

day old pastries from a local cafe, homemade casseroles dropped off by a church group, chocolate covered strawberries leftover from the mayor’s ball, canned goods way past their expiration dates, and lots of mashed potatoes, enchiladas, and sandwiches of questionable hygiene.

Interns at the shelter work 40 hours a week, starting wage $6 an hour.  The interns also receive room, board, and health insurance.  Paige is not a member of a union.

Paige describes her boss as amazing, trusting, and accommodating, a boss that gives her responsibility and autonomy.  Paige also has high praise for her clients, the homeless, stating,
“the homeless are the most inspiring, loving, hilarious, and frankly amazing people I’ve ever met.  They are like my family and I’m so in love with them.”

Paige says that the hardest part of her job at the homeless shelter is that about 20 homeless people die each year and that the average life expectancy of a homeless person is around age 48..  Recently, one of Paige’s favorite clients, who was camping in a low lying area, drowned in a flash flood. 

In response to the question, are you a typical American worker, Paige responds:

I do feel that I’m a typical American worker in that I am working my butt off to earn money and make a living for myself.  And since I earn maybe $15,000 a year I join in solidarity with other low income wage earners! 

But I don’t feel like a typical American worker in that I really, really, really enjoy what I do and I have little to complain about.  I am fulfilled by what I do, challenged mentally and physically, still have lots to learn, and I have enough money to lead a simple but quality lifestyle!

Paige is a modern American worker who has worked in a variety of jobs and clearly finds satisfaction in her work. Her resume includes backstage hospitality for the performers at Wolf Trap; professional dog poop scooper for DoodyCalls; manning the overnight shift phone lines for a suicide and crisis hotline, environmental organizer for The Wilderness Society, and work at a holistic retreat center and at an oil change shop. 

Why does Paige seem so happy about work – her words sum it up:

I generally only engage in employment that I’d be willing to do for free.  This doesn’t mean that my jobs aren’t challenging and stressful at times, but really, life is too short to spend the majority of it doing something that is unfulfilling!... But I think that working with the homeless is my calling.  It just makes me feel so alive!!! 

A Day in the Life of A Modern American Worker series starts today!

A day in the Life of a Modern AmericanWorker

Paige, Homeless Shelter Intern/Shift Supervisor

Paige works at the St. Elizabeth Shelter, a 28 bed homeless shelter for men, women and children in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

Paige is the type of worker we all hope to hire  – she does the job that needs to be done and says that a written job description could never encompass everything she does. 

When asked whether she feels happy to get up and go to work in the morning, Paige answers:

Absolutely.  It is a super fun job, and at least during my shift, the shelter is filled with lots of laughter and shenanigans.  This is because I lucky enough to have the ability to enforce rules and policies while keeping it fun for the guests! 

Here’s how Paige describes her typical day at the homeless shelter:

I work eight hour shifts, usually 7am to 3pm or 3pm to 11pm.  As a benefit of my intern status, I live in a semi-secret apartment above the shelter making my commute roughly 30 seconds.  The day shift mostly involves the restocking and cleaning of the shelter, supervising community service workers and volunteers, and handling the needs of homeless folks that drop in looking for services. 

The evening shift involves checking the guests in for the night (breathalyzing them, searching their belongings, etc.), doing new intakes, making sure dinner gets served on time and chores are completed, and generally handling any issues that inevitably arise (a fight, the power going out, a drunk and rowdy person showing up at the door, someone having stinky feet, etc.).  

Homeless folks knock on our door 24/7, so a large chunk of time is spent helping them (giving out blankets, mail, toiletries, etc.).

I generally work my shifts alone, sometimes with the aid of a volunteer.  This means that I am often the only employee in the building, and the lives and safety of all of our guests rests in my hands! 

Our guests are in crisis, and usually suffer from mental illness, histories of violence, and have various health problems and substance abuse histories, so this is a very exciting group to manage and you never know what could happen. 

Every now and then I do need back up, so I keep the police and paramedics on speed dial. 

In my next post about Paige, you’ll find out what she eats for lunch at the homeless shelter (hint:  from homemade church casseroles to chocolate covered strawberries!) and why she feels in solidarity with some American workers.