The Universe is listening...

Sometime in early July I was "given" the opportunity to join a focus group at work that dealt specifically with the group of employees described as "merit staff". We merit staff are one of many classification of employees in the State of Iowa and fall under the protection of the state bargaining agreement. Because of this legal minefield, my place of employment rarely attempts to learn of issues that are special to our classification due to the restraints placed upon them by the State. Following the flooding in Iowa City, it became apparent that there are issues affecting merit staff that ARE NOT covered by the bargaining agreement and me, having opened my big mouth with a criticism of the treatment towards merit employees by the University, was "honored" with the opportunity to put money where my mouth is. I am so lucky. It's really not that bad but still...I had to laugh at the irony.

Anyhow...at our first meeting a few weeks ago, we were asked a series of questions about how well our respective offices communicate to merit staff. My response? "Not well" and "not in a timely manner", specifically referring to media notices that I read about employee promotions in my department before an email notice is sent to us. Kind of a no brainer, wouldn't you think? Well, with eight of us in this particular small group session, it was surprising how similar some of our experiences were...we were from different parts of campus and yet we shared many issues. One of my comments was that I had been unable to advance in my department because a higher-ranked coworker would claim the more challenging work to buff up her own resume in hopes of advancement, leaving me with very little to promote my own. Technically it's her right to do that but yet she's been talking about submitting promotion paperwork for several years and has yet to complete it!! I laughed it off because I'm used to the behavior by now and I'm really not that concerned about advancement. I enjoy my work and can pay the bills so I'm in a better spot than some, I imagine.

However, lo and behold, the Universe must have been listening because last week I received a call from one of the departments that report to us. They had been looking for an executive secretary and their first round of interviews failed to provide an ideal candidate. Someone (I have yet to learn who) had given them my name and they really wanted me to apply for the position. I hedged and put it off, honestly stating that I really wasn't looking for a new job, but they convinced me to hear them out. Because I do work in human resources right now, I knew that they couldn't formally interview me unless I was an applicant so I spent the weekend racking my brain for dates of employment changes in order to submit my application information. I still don't know when my last position changed and neither does my supervisor. It makes us laugh but I guesstimated based on performance reviews and it'll have to be good enough! Anyhow, at the same time, a friend called me about another position she had seen on the jobline and inquired if I knew who the supervisor would be. I was stymied. It was with the office on the floor above us, so I put on my Sherlock Holmes persona and sniffed out the information for her. There was only one problem with that. It would be a promotion for me as well and I outrank her as well as have more experience. Major guilt trip, but I do intend to submit my name. Then I heard there would be yet another position opening up in a few weeks for the same rank. What the heck!! Do you know how rare it us for these level of positions to be available?? To suddenly have three set before me was just crazy!

It gets better. One of my HR contacts in another department is leaving. I just heard this morning and when I emailed her with my congrats and a bit of ribbing about who would send me "you rock!" emails in the future, she replied that she thought I might be a good replacement for her. I had to set her back in reality on that assumption but otherwise couldn't help but laugh some more.

It kinda makes you want to look at the sky and say "Okay, I hear you! I'm looking at the positions!"