I just want to be a receptionist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a secretary and I absolutely despise it. I would trade it for any one of your jobs.

The grass is always greener. These are all just fantasies we are talking about. I don't know that anyone would hire me to be a receptionist or secretary because I have no experience or qualifications but I'm not likely to leave my job as a professor to find out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I knew it was time to leave my big-time serious job when I was longingly looked at the female janitor cleaning the bathroom one time when I was in there, and thought, "I so wish I could do that job."

STFU you know you would hate her job. You don't even clean your own toilets at home

Don't you think her point was that when she had that thought, and she knew she didn't really want to be a janitor, it was a sign that she had come to hate her job too much? No need to be hostile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I knew it was time to leave my big-time serious job when I was longingly looked at the female janitor cleaning the bathroom one time when I was in there, and thought, "I so wish I could do that job."

STFU you know you would hate her job. You don't even clean your own toilets at home

DUH. That is what I was saying but clearly you did not get my point. My job was so awful, that I had that thought, even for a sec? That was enough to make me make the decision to leave. And no, I did not then become a janitor. Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

My current job is "web monkey." Not my official title, but it might as well be. I do very routine technical work (I am an editor, not a tech person) from home for about 24 hours a week.) It is easy and not at all stressful. Not very fulfilling, but that's what the rest of my life is for. I have no desire, ever, to manage people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have fantasies of a number of jobs that you stop thinking about the moment you leave and don't think about again until you show up the next day.

Barista
Sales clerk

I used to think Librarian but they are always reading about new books, new tech, etc. I just want to be the person who quietly shelves books.

I believe this particular job is performed by library volunteers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have fantasies of a number of jobs that you stop thinking about the moment you leave and don't think about again until you show up the next day.

Barista
Sales clerk

I used to think Librarian but they are always reading about new books, new tech, etc. I just want to be the person who quietly shelves books.

I believe this particular job is performed by library volunteers.

Right! Because the position is so great you don't even need to pay people to do it. There's probably even a waiting list to GET to do it. I probably couldn't get "hired" to do it for free!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Secretary here again--this whole thread is very degrading. "I wish I could leave my high-powered, highly-paid, high-responsibility job so I can just sit at the front desk smiling and drooling, and not have a care in the world." Maybe I should become a housekeeper, a nanny or mow lawns--those people seem so happy and carefree!

Ugh.

I'm sorry, I don't think you should feel degraded. I've had jobs that I could "leave" at the end of the day and leaving at 5:00 and I've had jobs like the one I have now that is never done, and where I could always be doing something after the kids go to bed. It's draining to never feel "off" of work. That's what is driving this thread, I think, not the idea that secretaries don't do real work.

The thing is that not all admin jobs are the sort of thing that you can just leave at 5pm. I am a legal secretary in a medium sized firm (there are about 100 people here total including attorneys and admin people). I work for 3 attorneys who are all at various points in their career (new associate, mid-level associate and partner). Because they are all in different practice areas and need varying kinds of support, I am essentially doing 3 jobs at the same time, which is usually fine but occasionally is really overwhelming. I have on-going projects that I'm responsible for, and when I make mistakes (as everyone does from time to time), there are consequences for those mistakes. It is not a flexible position, either. I've needed to go to the dentist for about 3 months now, but we have been so busy that I have barely had time to take a quick lunch break. I do get emailed and called at home for things (not as much as at my previous firm, but it still happens).

I also cover the reception desk from time to time. That lady is in charge of booking almost all the conference rooms, doing all the catering requests, making sure that guest offices are reserved, etc. The desk has to be open, with someone answering the main phone number, from 8am until 7pm. If there is no one available to cover her lunch break, she doesn't get one. If someone calls and they're angry about something, she's always the first person who gets yelled at.

I agree with what a lot of people on this thread are saying. I am actually in this job because I don't want to deal with the major stressors that I see a lot of my friends who have highly paid and high stress level jobs enduring. But I think that all you "grass is always greener" people need to keep in mind that every job has its stressors. You might think that the stressors of my job are more manageable than the stressors of your job, and maybe they are, but maybe they're not. My best friend is a nurse who spends 12 hours a day on her feet. If she makes big mistakes, people DIE. That actually makes my boss's job of advising clients about legal issues look pretty mellow, since he gets to sit in a chair and his decisions are not directly tied to anyone's ability to stay alive.

[Anonymous]

Jesus, 13:03, this is a light thread about being a particular kind of receptionist. Everyone knows that all jobs have stressful parts. OP was very clear to imagine a job with as little stress as possible. Just because some versions of that job might suck doesn't make this game a bad one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so tired of my job. I am sick of thinking, dealing with deadlines, and working hard (when I'm not on DCUM, of course). The idea of answering the phone, greeting guests, and maybe even making copies sounds so nice right now. Sigh. Anyone want a really overqualified secretary? I'll take a big pay cut. I don't want to quit my job, but I could figure out a way to live on less.

At our K-8 school, there was a super-educated mom who I think was a SAHM. She was very involved and the president of the parents' council. Her youngest kid graduated last spring. The school receptionist left this summer, and she became our school receptionist. I thought, good for her!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As for how to get your foot in getting a government AA job? Apply for Temp/intermittent/seasonal first, get your foot in, learn all the government software/system. you will naturally get hired as soon as a perm position is available.

Hope it helps.

Really? I work in a fed office. Our HR person said they got hundreds of resumes for the PT, temporary GS-5 admin position they advertised. There was no promotion potential. Everyone at the top of the list had veterans preference. My impression is that there is no hope for those of us without a military background.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Actually, I am a lawyer, and believe it or not I worked as a receptionist/AA to put myself through school. And yes, it was hard and I know well that the grass is not always greener.

The PPs who pointed out that this was a light-hearted fantasy to find a job devoid of stress and pressure were spot on. I could have just as easily said I want to get paid to surf the internet and shop, but imagine what a sh*tstorm that would have started.

[Anonymous]

I actually like this thread because it's practically sacrilegious in DC to admit you don't want to keep rising higher and higher. I did in my 20s, and now in my mid thirties I have a kid, and I sort of don't care if I'm not ever elected to the Senate, I don't ever run a major organization, or don't travel to every country in the world.
I think I'd like to work in a yarn store. Not own or run, just run the cash register and knit for most of the day or help others. Ahhhh....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I actually like this thread because it's practically sacrilegious in DC to admit you don't want to keep rising higher and higher. I did in my 20s, and now in my mid thirties I have a kid, and I sort of don't care if I'm not ever elected to the Senate, I don't ever run a major organization, or don't travel to every country in the world.
I think I'd like to work in a yarn store. Not own or run, just run the cash register and knit for most of the day or help others. Ahhhh....

Are you going to try to do this or does the money not work out?

[Anonymous]

I say this sometimes too! And I thought I was the only one. I am an elementary school teacher and it can be exhausting. On your feet all day, making split second decisions all day long, not getting a few minutes to go to the bathroom, etc etc. One day, I would just love to sit down (!) all day at a desk and type on a computer. Maybe answer the phone. Sounds like heaven to me. But the grass is always greener they say. I am sure if I ever took a job as a receptionist, it would be busy, busy, busy all day long.

[Anonymous]

I was a receptionist in college and it was a great job! I often think that it's the best job I've ever had.