On Monday, I had my first "training" class for my new part-time job. Whoever said, "There's no such thing as a dumb question" should be shot. The trainer went over some very basic items -- the minimum number of hours, system requirements, the pay rate, scheduling hours and how to invoice. She had a nifty powerpoint (which she had already sent all of us prior to the training) to cover all of the key points. Sure enough, she got interrupted every few minutes by someone who would say, "I have a dumb question... " and then proceed to ask something she had just explained. The poor trainer would perkily respond, "As I just said...." and then proceed to answer the question. I was annoyed for her. The only thing that kept me from saying, "Seriously? Do you want these people working for you?" was the fact that I was getting paid (or will be getting paid) for putting up with their stupidity for an hour.
I'm actually kind of excited about the job. It seems easy enough. I will be reviewing "red flagged" ad content and either approving the ad or denying it based on Microsoft's terms of use for advertisements. For instance, there are certain words and phrases that Microsoft has deemed prohibited on their website(s) -- words that deal with terrorism, pornography, illegal drug use, etc. If someone submits an ad for their website(s) that has one or more of the prohibited words, the ad gets sent to an editing queue for review. An editor (me) will then review the ad content and see if the word or phrase really is harmful or if it's safe. If it's "safe", then I click "approve". If it's not, I click "reject". No phone work. No dealing with people. Just me and my computer mouse, clicking away. There is no maximum number of hours and the work is available 24/7. The project will last until the end of October. And I will get to put on my resume that I was an editor for Microsoft's Ad Center, which may impress someone someday, considering I wouldn't mind getting into editing professionally. My work is monitored for accuracy and speed. I have to do at least 875 ad reviews per 15 hours of work. Blah blah blah. I'm not worried. Plus I'm sure I'll get to see some pretty interesting advertisements. :)
On Tuesday, I signed up for a "walking challenge" at work. They are giving us pedometers which we are supposed to wear all the time and then every Monday, log the number of miles/steps we walked. At the end of the challenge (in September), there will be prizes awarded to those with high numbers, along with other prizes and such. What the heck, right? I get some exercise and a free pedometer.
Today, I got an email from a recruiter for a job I interviewed for a few weeks ago that the job has been put "on hold" due to company restructuring. I was disappointed at first, because the job had sounded pretty good -- closer to home than my current job, non-managerial, straight hourly work, salary close to what I'm already making, paid overtime, monthly bonuses, small office staff, and a male boss (no offense to my female friends -- but I work better with male bosses than I do female bosses.) Then, after the initial disappointment, I realized that it just wasn't meant to be at this time and having the job be put on hold now is better than me getting offered it, giving my two weeks' notice and then having the job fall through at the last minute and then be unemployed without any way to file for unemployment benefits because I quit my job.
Now, I'm going to go relax a little. My next training session is Friday night. I have a few 2-hour training sessions spread over this week and next week and then I can start working regularly. I haven't quite decided what nights/days and hours I'm going to work to get in my 15 hours. I guess I'll play it by ear and do a couple of hours a night... and if I feel like doing more, I can do more.
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