If they offer you a job, they probably like you

Had a meeting with my supervisors, plus others, this morning. After the meeting, my bosses asked to me stay behind. Uh oh.

Turns out they wanted to offer (or semi-offer? gauge my interest?) me an additional position. Curently I'm four days a week as a Research Assistant: basically, I do most of the legwork and the ''do-ing'', but bounce things off the Principal Investigators (my bosses), plus have them revise the drafts of project reports that I write.

Turns out there's a Data Archivist position that's opening up, for two days a week. It's within the research center I work at, but funded through some federal grant. Basically, it's a combination of webmaster and librarian of data: maintain an online repository of social (and eventually, spacial/geographical) data sets that people can download (plus the documentation!) to use for Dissertations, research projects, etc. It'll be a mirror of the national archive currently hosted at the Federal capital (ACT/Canberra).

It's a fairly new position. A very nice lady down the hall (Melanie) had been doing it for a month or two, although my understanding is that not much has happened yet. And she had to give it up in favor of a full-time, three-year position -- as until now she's cobbled together a rolling series of part-time jobs.

I like keeping track of things; I like social science data; and I like computer stuff. So, it sounds like a fun sort of job that would suit me well.


One potential downside is that I would be two days a week data person, three days a week researcher -- and that the Data Archivist role would potentially expand, thus squeezing out my research-person activities. Their solution to this was that if the duties expand beyond two days a week, I could job-share with another Data Archivist -- or they could get me an assistant! (Woo hoo! Power!!!) If I got an assistant, it would be an I.T.-ish person, such that our skills and backgrounds would compliment each other.

My other concern is that I really need to wrap up my Dissertation by the end of the year -- and that expanding my workload to four days a week would be a bad idea. Their response was that my adopting the new position could probably hold off until the end of the year.

Hm! So, it sounds pretty good. The only remaining considerations is that they don't want to train me up, then have me leave after a few months. I told them that (so far!) I'm enjoying the job, and I don't see myself trying to shop around and ''upgrade'' just for an extra thousand bucks a year. And that I like working on the same campus as my wife. Eventually, I'd like a professor-type position, but I don't see the Sociology or Criminology programs here having any openings in the near future. So: ''bird in the hand...''


I'll have to talk it over with The Lady -- but I'm leaning towards it. Funny thing is when Melanie told me a few weeks ago that she was leaving for the other job, and should she suggest my name, I said ''nah.'' Funny how minds can change. :)


--GG