Wanted: A Great Job!

I've been in Germany for a year now and am feeling settled in. The kids are adjusting well. We've gotten their schools sorted out. I've found them pediatricians, orthodontists, eye doctors, sports clubs, and tutors as needed. They've made nice friends; and the initial transition drama has faded away. The household is set up, major appliances purchased, closets and shelves built, lamps hung, etc.

Life has returned to a normal routine for the family in most regards. But there's one big exception: I've not returned to my own career. Now that everyone else is taken care of, it's time to focus a bit of effort on my own needs.

I've completed all the residency paperwork and obtained my German driver's license. I've built a network of wonderful, supportive local and expat friends, joined a book club, began some volunteer work with an exchange organization, and even held a mini-job for most of the last year, providing English tutoring and assisting faculty at the children's school a couple hours each month. But I need more.

I need a great job.

What's a Great Job?

I am a subscriber to the philosophy "without dreams there is no need to work and without work there is no need to dream." I also believe I can pursue both work and dreams by doing what I love, and loving what I do. And that's what having a great job is all about. It's not about the money; that's just a nice by-product of a great job.

A Great Job is one where I engage with a team of bright, fun people, collaborating on interesting challenges with ample opportunity to take my own initiative. It's one where I can contribute to providing an outstanding product or service; where my unique skills make a difference in the success of the organization. It's also one where I can continually develop my skills by learning from great minds around me; where I respect and am inspired by the people I call colleagues, clients, and vendors.

What Would I Do at a Great Job?

I cringe a bit each time someone asks me "What do you do?"
The short answer is: I'm a Communication Professional. That's what my formal education prepared me to become and the essence of what made me successful in the positions I've held.

But I've applied my communication skills in very diverse settings, often filling an undefined void in dynamic organizations. I connect the dots, build relationships, refine processes...make things work, or work better...

A little bit about my background and past Great Jobs...
During four years of graduate school, I studied, conducted research, and taught classes in three communication fields: health, cross-cultural, and organizational. I worked extensively in local hospitals with resident physicians to improve psycho-social communication skills with patients from diverse cultures.

Then for nearly ten years I worked for an innovative Public Policy firm in Michigan. My titles included "Project Manager" and "Research Methodologist" but the responsibilities were rather broad and changed as the business grew. Our clients represented an incredibly wide range of fields including: education (charter schools and education voucher systems), work force development, small business economic impact measures, natural resource uses and tourism, health care policy, etc. The myriad of subjects in which I developed content expertise along with the opportunity to take on tremendous responsibility made it a really Great Job!

After moving to Maryland, I continued to consult for my previous employer and clients, but dedicated spare time to numerous non-profit organizations where I helped create major outreach and fund-raising events. The worthy causes I was able to promote (from an historic theater to international youth to a mental health association) and the fabulous volunteers and sponsors I dealt with made my freelance consulting a Great Job!

Eventually, I was asked to do some software testing at an interactive media firm that specialized in online education. The clients there were mostly large medical societies or science foundations. Being a small and dynamic firm, that role also grew quickly to include not only quality assurance but content management, project management, product support, client training, and technical documentation. I was constantly learning new technical skills and transferring that know-how to new situations. The fast-paced, cutting-edge technology environment paired with brilliant colleagues made that a particularly Great Job!

The common thread to success in these Great Jobs: a positive attitude with excellent communication and organizational skills and an ability to connect people and technology.

What Are the Tangible Benefits of a Great Job?

Another question I cringe at: "What are your salary expectations?"
A truly Great Job offers priceless intangible rewards: personal growth, professional development, job satisfaction, new friends, interesting travel, the ability to look forward to each new day at work with smart, fun colleagues.

Financial compensation is only one tangible benefit among several very important considerations. How flexible are the hours? How far is the commute? How much vacation time is available? Are there annual or performance bonuses? What kind of travel is involved? Are there company perks, such as a car, airline miles, conference attendance, or discounted products/services available?

The most important benefit I've had across all my Great Jobs: Fantastic "bosses" who offered a finely-tuned balance of flexibility, financial fairness, and fun on the job.

Where Do I Find A Great Job?

I've been blessed to have most of these Great Jobs find me. The owners of the two firms where I've worked the longest were associates or friends who asked me if I could help them out on a project. Those part-time, temporary positions quickly evolved into very rewarding Great Jobs that I was sad to leave - but life moved me to new places. Most of my freelance work came to me through referrals. So now I'm building my network, meeting interesting and smart people, and trusting that with the right connections, another Great Job will come my way.

If you happen to know someone in the Essen or Düsseldorf area with a Great Job opportunity ripe for a vibrant bilingual communication professional, please, send them my way!

My professional data can be found on LinkedIn.

My Life from My Brother's Perspective?

In less than 24 hours, my "kid" brother, his significant other, and their combined five children arrive in Germany for a 2-week visit. I'm very excited to see them all and to welcome them to my new home and my new country.

But as I've been cleaning the house, shopping, planning day trips in the region, and otherwise preparing for their stay, I find myself wondering what my brother will think of my life here. What differences will he notice; what rituals will he find odd? How will he judge me and my life compared to what he used to know?

Will my brother be surprised that our one fridge is half the size of either of the two we had in Maryland? What will he think when he sees that we now buy milk and juice in little 1-liter paper boxes, rather than mega 1-gallon plastic jugs?

I suspect he'll find the scale of many things here - including our house and yard, to be much smaller than he expects.

Will he notice that none of the windows or doors have insect screens?

I expect my brother might be startled when we're sitting around the living room in the evening and electric shutters over all the windows roll down automatically and entomb us in secure darkness :)


Will he wonder why there are two buttons above the toilet for flushing (will he ask what's the difference between them)?

Will he be surprised that the towels, which we hang dry after washing, instead of using an electric dryer, are a bit stiff and scratchy - as opposed to the super soft-fluffy towels we always had in the States?

Will my brother miss breakfasts of pancakes and waffles and bacon, as we gather around a table of bread rolls and jams, cheeses, honey, and Nutella?

He already knows we now have only one car, rather than two, having ditched the mini-van before we moved, but will he be surprised when he realizes how much and how far we walk everyday? Or ride our bikes? What will he think that the kids ride trams and trains to meet their friends in neighboring cities?

When we head out, will be be surprised that we pay for use of public toilets? That we need to put a coin in the grocery cart? Or bring our own bags to the stores?


I look around at the life I have here, which is starting to feel normal and familiar, and wonder what will be strange about it to my brother?

But no matter how odd and out of place things may seem, one thing will be very much the same: I'm still the big sister and he's my grown up baby-brother :) And I can't wait to see him!

Love Happens

In the summer of 1989 I had a market research internship at a multinational company in Hamburg, Germany. I didn't have much to do after work during the week, as my friends were up in Kiel and I could only visited them on weekends. One day a friend of the family I was living with stopped by to visit them. He was kind of cute and close to my age. He invited me to join him and his friends to play billiards. Sure, I thought, why not?

Billiards twice a week with a group was soon supplemented with walks in the park, dinners, an occasional night out dancing. We had a good time.

I was heading back to the States at the end of August and was just ending a long-distance relationship I'd been in for a couple years. I didn't want another overseas boyfriend.
But he and I had become good friends and since he didn't need to start his college classes until October, he decided to return to the States with me for a few weeks. Why not? We had fun together, why not hang out for one more month?

He returned to Germany in the fall and life went on. We stayed in touch. He wrote letters. Lots of letters. OK, he wrote a letter everyday we were apart for the next two years. Yes. EVERY. DAY. I still have the boxes of hand-written notes on pages of tissue-thin airmail paper. Maybe we've got something here?

On breaks from college, we visited each other. Then, April 28, 1992, he took the big leap, packed a large military-style Duffel bag, his computer and his stereo, and arrived in the US with an open return ticket. He thought he might stay a year. Or 20....

On June 26, 1993 I married my best friend. We've walked a long winding path together. Four kids, eight international exchange daughters, three apartments, three houses, two states, two countries, a German Shepherd, and countless good friends have all been on that path, so far....

Yeah, I think we have something here. We have fun together. We work well together. Why not hang out another 20 years or so?

:)

Bitten: I've been MeMe'd Now, too

Last week I got an interesting note from a fellow expat blogger, Diana, at Raising Expats. She had tagged me in a meme blog and challenged me to carry it on. Since I'm fairly new to the blogging world, I was unaware of memes passing through the community. If you're also a little late to the game, a meme is "an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture" and here's a meme primer for you.

Diana, an American raising two young children in Germany, replied to a series of questions sent to her, and then penned her own for me and ten other lucky bloggers to oust ourselves with, whilst passing the baton to yet another set of bloggers. It's blogging chain mail. But no one promised me 10 years of luck if I participated, nor threatened me with gross bodily harm if I broke the chain. And since I'm feeling game today, I'll play along.

First, here are THE RULES as shared with me:

1. You MUST post the rules.
2. Answer the questions the tagger sent for you in the post, and then create 11 new questions to ask the people you've tagged.
3. Tag 11 bloggers, however, you can break the rules and tag fewer people if you want. Make sure you hyperlink their names/blogs.
4. Let them know you've tagged them!
5. Have fun!

Now, here are Diana's questions for me, along with my ADMISSIONS and CONFESSIONS :)

1. What is the craziest thing you've ever done that you will admit to online?
I jumped out of an airplane! A few years ago I went parachuting and it was the most amazing, exhilarating experience!

2. Are there any choices you would have made differently knowing what you know now?
I’d like to think not…everything in life is a lesson, good, bad, funny, sad....Learn from the past, but keep your feet and smile forward.

3. What is your earliest childhood memory?
My grandfather entertaining me and my brothers with magic tricks, like pulling a quarter out of my ear. Gramps died when I was 16, during my exchange year. Still miss him.

4. Was there one event in your life that changed everything?
Definitely: Winning the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Scholarship to Germany and heading off to a host family and school in a country where I did not speak a single word of the language was a life-changer in every way.

5. Have you ever had your heart broken?
Very much so.

6. Ten years ago, did you think you would be doing what you are doing today?
Not sure any of us can really imagine what we’ll be doing in 10 years, but living in Germany was not off the radar.

7. Follow up on Q6, what did you think you would be doing 10 year ago?
Ten years ago I was living in Maryland, pregnant with my fourth child, and on a brief hiatus from my career. I must have suspected in 10 years I’d still be in the US, have rebuilt my professional life and been a pretty “normal” working mother-of-four juggling kids’ sports and laundry. And that is exactly where I was one year ago, before the sudden relocation to Europe! 


8. Where do you want to be in 10 years from now?
I definitely want to be out working again, with lots of opportunities to travel! All four of my kids will be adults and I’ll have the freedom to spread my wings. Joining the Peace Corps is also not out of the question.

9. Have you been to your High School reunion?
No. I considered going to my 20th reunion, but the timing for the trip to NY didn’t work out.

10. How many countries have you lived in?
Just lived in two: the USA and Germany. Have visited a handful of others.

11. What unknown musician would you recommend?
I wouldn’t call them “unknown” but perhaps lesser-known. I’m a huge fan of the recently disbanded group “Fools and Horses” but their leader is still doing solo music and I strongly recommend you check him out: Matt Hutchison

Next, are my QUESTIONS FOR YOU, now in the hot seat:

1. How would you describe yourself with exactly six words?

2. What’s a great book you can recommend for my next vacation read?

3. What are the top two countries you want to see that you’ve not yet visited?

4. Do you collect anything (what)? If not, is there something you’ve thought about collecting?

5. If you could name a lipstick color, what would it be?

6. What outdoor activity do you most enjoy?

7. Which non-profit organization do you (or would you like to) passionately support?

8. Which household chore do you most loath?

9. What’s the earliest “appropriate” time of day to have a glass of wine?

10. If you could have one of the following personal service providers come to your home free for a year, which would you most want to have?

a)      house-cleaner

b)      a meal planner/cook

c)       a personal trainer/fitness instructor

d)      a masseuse

e)      a nanny

11. What’s the oddest thing anyone ever asked you?

Finally, the awesome BLOGGERS I'm tagging in this game are:
Check out their pages, because they are all amazing, interesting women from across the globe! Reading their blogs is like taking a trip around the world right from your living room (Many of them can be found on the Blogger Map).


1. Land of Bean
2. Emma's Expat Adventures
3. Hip As I Wanna Be
4. Somewhere between facebook and flickr sits fiona
5. KettwigeFrau
6. Blah-Blob-Blog
7. das Blog
8. Latte Love
9. Sabje's Blog
10. Life in Lajes
11. Decoy Betty

So, thanks for playing along. Later this week, back to our regularly scheduled programming :) Have a beautiful day!