Work Experience Reconsidered — Part 1
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I’ve recently reconsidered the experience that I have got in my CV. Instead of looking at it from the point of view of a potential employer I have looked at it from the learning curve point of view. And when I did so, I realised that each work place highlighted for me certain unfair situations and injustices that were taking place there. For developing a career, perhaps, this kind of experience might not mean much. Nonetheless, it proves to be invaluable when one wants to step into other people’s shoes and really understand where things go wrong, what works and what does not, and why…
My first ever job was an assistant ‘librarian’ in the Academy of Science Library in Saint Petersburg, Russia. I did not pass the exams to the University and had to fill the ‘gap’ year by working and preparing for the following year exams.
The responsibilities of the assistant librarian were to fulfil the orders of the scientists, scholars, and researchers who visited the Library on the daily basis for research and work purposes. The Library consists of several large archives on the four floors that houses books collected since 1714 — the year of its founding by the order of Peter the Great.
There were no lifts between the floors. The archives on different floors had to be accessed on foot going up and down the metal stairs. The orders for books came each half hour and were delivered through special lifts that were installed in each archive room. The orders were pieces of paper that were bundled together and pushed into plastic tubes. And so, from 9am to 5:30pm I would rush through archives pushing the trolley of books before me and running up and down the stairs to fulfil the orders for books.
Despite the great location — the Vasylievsky island in the centre of Saint Petersburg, — a fantastic historical building, the legendary collection of books dated 18, 19 and 20th century, and the high-profile visitors of the Library, this job was not prestigious at all, for it was not pad well. The 2/3 of the salary I was paid went for the monthly ticket to get to work and daily lunches at the Library canteen. The remaining 1/3 was only enough for buying ice-cream, going once or twice to the cinema or buying a book or two. Forget clothes, rent, food, utility bills etc. This 1/3 would never cover that. The question that constantly popped up in my head was — how is it possible that a person who works hard all day gets so little that this money is not enough to live on? And another question that bogged me was — why such jobs and such salaries even exist.
The conclusion: some jobs are not worth the inputted effort and energy as the ROI is close to zero.
#work #experience #CV #job
