changes
As some of you guessed, the stuff going on that I couldn’t talk about is that I’m changing jobs. I’ve accepted a job offer from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) to work on workforce development issues, mostly focusing on issues of job quality and public and private supports for low-income workers. I’ll be leaving my current job in 3 weeks and starting at CLASP almost immediately thereafter.
I’m very excited. It will be a chance to work on a much broader set of issues than I’ve been working on, and to write under my own name. And I won’t have to argue for policies that I think are misguided.
But I’m also more than a little nervous. After nearly 10 years, I can do my current job in cruise control mode. I know exactly what is expected of me, and I’m good at it. The idea of facing a totally empty desk and trying to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing is sort of intimidating. I was a very different person the last time I started a new job.
I also have a lot of good friends at my current job who I’ll miss. I spent most of today walking around the office and telling people so that they’d hear from me before my boss sent out a group email. It was emotionally draining. It doesn’t help matters that I’m the third fairly senior person in my office to leave since January. I know the series of departures makes morale even worse, and I truly feel badly about that.
I’m taking a pay cut, which is always a little scary, but I think we’ll be able to get by. My guess is that I’ll probably wind up working a bit more hours than I currently do, but I’ll have more flexibility in when I work them (e.g. if I take a morning off to do something kid-related, I can make it up working from home later, rather than using annual leave). I won’t be the only one in the office with young kids, which is encouraging.
I’m not sure what this change will mean for the blog. I started writing this blog in part because I was so frustrated with what I was writing all day. Maybe without the pent-up frustration, I’ll spend more of my free time exercising, or watching TV. Or maybe I’ll use this blog as a space to try out ideas that I’m thinking of turning into more polished pieces. I’ll have to see how it goes. I’ll keep all of you posted in any case.
May 1st, 2006 at 9:59 pm
Good for you, Elizabeth, for taking this bold step! I suspect you won’t have any problem whatsoever filling up that empty desk and figuring out how to make a difference on a day-to-basis. And I have no doubt that the good ol’ USA will benefit from this change. Thanks for your courage and best of luck with this new endeavor!
May 1st, 2006 at 10:05 pm
Congratulations!
May 1st, 2006 at 10:14 pm
hooray for you! congratulations!
May 1st, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Congratulations, Elizabeth!
May 1st, 2006 at 11:23 pm
Congratulations Elizabeth. I hope the blog does survive the job switch, but I’m not going to begrudge you the excercise (or even the watching tv) 🙂
bj
May 2nd, 2006 at 7:35 am
Congratulations! Hope your new job is fulfilling and that multiple raises will be forthcoming soon. 😉
May 2nd, 2006 at 8:55 am
Congratulations!
May 2nd, 2006 at 9:15 am
Congrats, Elizabeth! And here I thought you guys were buying a new house. 😎
May 2nd, 2006 at 10:35 am
Congratulations, Elizabeth! Your new role sounds like a fantastic opportunity and I am sure that desk won’t be bare for long! I won’t begrudge you the exercise or TV watching either, but I have really enjoyed this blog and would love to participate in the conversation as you start thinking about things in your new position. Good luck!
May 2nd, 2006 at 12:46 pm
Hear, hear!
May 2nd, 2006 at 1:13 pm
Congratulations!
The brain drain from the federal government under Bush is really staggering, no?
May 2nd, 2006 at 3:13 pm
Mazel tov, Elizabeth! I’m really thrilled for you. And looking forward to reading whatever you produce in the future, whether it’s policy papers or thoughtful blog posts.
May 2nd, 2006 at 3:23 pm
Congratulations! Finding a place that “fits” you and where you can be an active parent, too, is worth a pay cut.
May 2nd, 2006 at 9:21 pm
that’s great news, congrats! Hope you manage to keep the blog going, though totally understandable if you decide not to.
May 2nd, 2006 at 9:29 pm
Wow! Sounds like a wonderful opportunity and it looks like a great organization to work for.
May 3rd, 2006 at 6:18 am
Congratulations! I too hope you continue blogging, but don’t feel obliged…
May 3rd, 2006 at 10:36 am
Congratulations on your new job. I had some opportunity to work with folks from CLASP a few years ago, during welfare reform, and it is just a great organization. I hope you’ll be very happy in your new role, but I join the rest of your readership in hoping you’ll keep blogging, too.
May 4th, 2006 at 7:42 pm
HIP HIP HOORAY! HIP HIP HOORAY! HIP HIP HOORAY!
May 4th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
Congratulations! I’m so happy that you’ll be out there fighting the good fight!
May 5th, 2006 at 8:58 pm
Hey Elizabeth – I remember CLASP from back in my DC social justice days. What a great place to work (not talking about the workplace environment, because I know nothing about it, but about the quality of the institution and the work they do)! And what a coup for them to get you! Congratulations! (And I’m happy to hold your hand through the beginning-a-new-jobness, having done it twice in the past year, after doing the same thing for a very long time, in the same place for eight years.) Becca
May 23rd, 2006 at 9:26 am
A bit late — I’ve been traveling a lot — but congratulations and good luck.