My Best & Worst Jobs

The best job I’ve ever had was working as a Clinical Data Coordinator for a clinical research organization called Emphusion in San Francisco. I was responsible for assiduously entering test data from different pharmaceutical company’s clinical trials into our database and querying the data to ensure accuracy. Then I would send back the physical data and other correspondence to the clinical sites all over the world. I really enjoyed this job because I felt that I brought real value to the company. My job was the most critical role in the entire company because the data I entered was essential, one wrong number could mean the difference between a new drug getting FDA approval or denial. I felt like a professional, I earned a good salary, with a cubicle, a business card, my own telephone extension - the whole nine yards. I learned that there are a lot of politics in the corporate world and I feel like I am aware of the standards and I have proven that I can function in a corporate environment.

The worst job I’ve ever had was working as a teller for a check cashing business. This job was heavily customer service based and I had a lot of responsibility because I dealt with money. What I disliked most about this job was that the company had high expectations but extremely low support for their employees. For instance, scheduling me for 12 hour shifts back to back, 6 day work weeks, I would often be the only employee on duty at the time, dealing with out of line customers with no security. The work environment was sometimes pernicious and I was threatened and had to call the police on some unruly customers. One of my coworkers was held at gunpoint and robbed when she opened the store alone one morning. Worst of all the pay was terrible and I was rarely acknowledged for the hard work that I put in. I did not always hate this job; there was a time when I was excited to go to work. I was very shy when I started but working in customer service for so long taught me to be more confident. Now, I’m great at small talk and I’m not afraid to start a conversation with a stranger.  I learned a lot about myself in the 3 1/2 years that I worked for the company and I will always remember the experience. 

There is a huge lack of appreciation for people in blue collar jobs, like tellers, janitors, postal workers, etc. In the check cashing business I learned not to judge people based on appearances and I learned to treat everyone with respect. I am a more patient and kind person because I have experiences with people from many different walks of life; from homeless people, criminals, crazy people, drunk people, wealthy people, disabled people, etc.

Reflecting on Freakonomics

The non-fiction book Freakonomics, by the author’s Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt is about breaking down conventional wisdom from an economics point of view. The author’s accomplish this goal by using real world scenarios, historical examples, and interesting interviews so convincingly that the reader could not argue with their conclusions. I believe the purpose of the book is to teach people that we should be more critical of the information we receive and also to consider that conventional wisdom is often incorrect (at times a direct result of bias and stereotypes created by journalists and statisticians working together to create interesting news stories).

The chapter that sparked the most interesting discussion in our book groups was called “Why Do Drug Dealers live with their Moms”. This chapter included lots of detail about the infamous Gangster Disciple gang of Chicago, IL. The authors broke down the stereotype, or conventional wisdom, that drug dealers make a lot of money. We learned that this could not be further from the truth, in fact, most drug dealers make less than minimum wage. It was interesting to learn that the GD gang structure and hierarchy is similar to a fortune 500 company, like McDonalds. After discussing this chapter in small groups we opened up a large class discussion and we all got that opportunity to volunteer our opinion on the chapter. Some people disagreed with the authors’ conclusion that drug dealers still live at home because they don’t make a livable wage. I enjoyed this particular week because the conversation was so rich and thoughtful.

I thought that this book was written like a text book. It included lots of detail, lots of facts and statistics, history, etc. I have already recommended this book to my mom and a few friends because I really enjoyed reading the book and it made me think about what I consider “conventional wisdom” and challenging the information I receive lately. There were words on almost every page that I did not know the meaning to; I suggested that my friends keep a dictionary handy while reading.

My Reading Habit

So far, I have been enjoying the reading process in Module 2. I have always loved books but I find it difficult now to find time for this hobby. Because this reading is mandatory for class, I have been challenging myself to stick to an assiduous reading schedule by reading in all of my downtime. My reading sessions will range from 5 or 6 minutes to a whole hour. I read on the bus, when I’m preparing dinner, during a commercial break, right before bed, and I make it a habit to keep the book on me at all times.

Because I break up my reading it can be tough to remember where I left off. I make comments on a piece of paper that I keep in my book (like a bookmark) and after every reading session I remind myself where I left off. I also reference this sheet of comments and notes every time I begin to read as a tool to mitigate my poor memory.

Sometimes I have a problem comprehending what I read and after reading a whole chapter I find that I didn’t retain any information. I recently learned how to annotate in my Business Communications class. I write comments in the margins of my book. I will draw happy faces, sad faces as I react to certain parts of the reading and this keeps my mind active. I also underline words I don’t know, and find the definition if I can’t figure out the meaning from within the context of the sentence. I find that when I use annotation methods like these my retention is much better.

I would suggest that people annotate while they read and keep a concise log of comments after each time you put the book down.