View Full Version : another job to apply for
Okay this is something I really think I can do, however the challenge will be to get my department to see me in a very different role. If you read my longwinded annual review vent I got a little discouraged to go forward until I realized my supervisor could see me as just through her eyes and not be accurate.
This is for a data person, analytics to be precise. And it is not front line child care which is what I am seen as good at. A lot is part of collecting data, using data and being responsible for ALL the data that is required from grant funders and the federal and district funders. It is also collecting data and using the process of our quality improvement plan. I have an advantage because I was with the first schools to pilot this process. Also this is part of a move towards a shared data drive where the afterschool partners will be able to input and access data. So we could get reading scores on the children who do homework club with an outside provider and see that effect compared to the ones who do enrichment science. One strength I have is building partnerships. I sit with the programs that come to my school and talk about what they need for their funders, what information we should track and how they can help with our goals.
So i need a real boost to my cover letter and resume! I have a masters in education so I will be very clear that in addition to education classes I have statistics at a graduate level and a course on the legal issues of privacy and equity. If you have any ideas on how to frame my experience as an after school program supervisor then feel free to chime in, otherwise send a good wish or prayer that if this is a good place i will get it. (the difference is $13K a year)
Hmmm. This is a bit of a challenging one to provide good feedback on. I don't want to throw cold water on your enthusiasm, but I would think long and hard about whether or not this job has even the possibility of success, given the challenges you know exist in your organization. You have already discussed at some length how confusing/frustrating/hard to keep up with the reporting process is already. Do you really want to be totally responsible for getting data that other people have to provide? I've been in a similar situation and it was one of the things that led to my conflicts with boss at HSSJ. I was supposed to be designing projects, but needed input from other staff. However, since they did not report to me they would often fail to respond to my queries, even after repeated prodding. Boss would not back me up as he was a totally ineffectual manager. This led to delays in completion of some of the project designs. Another issue I would have would be asking for and not getting feedback from boss on everything from the planning process to draft versions of the designs. Then he would decide just shortly before things had to go to the board that he didn't like what I had done and wanted it done another way. Often in direct contradiction to what he had told me to do in the past (which he typically did not remember, hence the lesson I learned to document EVERYTHING I discussed with him in a follow-up email).
I guess what I am saying here is that I think it is great that you may have an opportunity to step up in responsibility and use your higher level skills, but PROCEED WITH CAUTION! You love working with kids and families. This position won't give you that. Plus the issues you have already seen with management setting unrealistic targets. On the front lines you can point to the actual situations and the people you are working with to try to explain why those targets are unrealistic. When it is all about the data the onus may be more on you. You will need to ensure that you can design effective systems to collect the data you need, and make sure people comply and cooperate. Sounds like a nightmare to me, to be honest. And I am pretty damn good at designing systems and ensuring compliance (I manage to get roughly 50-60 monthly narrative reports in within 2-3 days of the deadline from my grantees).
Sorry this is such a "Debbie Downer" reply, but it comes from a space of really caring about you and wanting the best for you.
That is okay, I understand. I find that a lot of my issues are directly from my supervisor who seems to have little oversight. When I talk to people across our organization it is more reasonable, people are just plain nicer. Some of the people working closely with this position are the ones I have wanted to work for already. The grants manager is the one who sat with me after my interview for another job and talked me through how to improve interviewing. The other person with my boss's job for other schools is just great, I have worked for her before briefly and would love to again. Last year when I ended the year with different schools in a different program I had challenges but I liked it, and I liked my supervisor. One of the issues with my supervisor is keeping us separated from the rest of the department, in my dealings learning my unique program last year I had to make my own connections and learn aspects of my job that my boss doesn't know and everyone was helpful. This year they seek me out to make sure I know what I need and if I have the support because I think it is understood. I think I probably just griped about my boss not knowing my job and telling me straight up she didn't need to, but so many people (the people I would be working with) helped me get through and learn fast.
I can see from what I have said how this looks like a dangerous move. I will take that into consideration. I have no guarantee of having an interview even and then I can ask some good questions and always turn it down. So if I get an interview I will take what you said to build good questions, even to start informally researching things. I need to see if my assumption is true, would this take me out of the more toxic chain of command into a more positive and realistic work group? I don't think this person is leaving due to dissatisfaction, she had twin babies about 6 months ago and there is no talk of her jumping to another organization. Knowing why someone leaves is pretty important.
Sorry this is such a "Debbie Downer" reply, but it comes from a space of really caring about you and wanting the best for you.
Yup. Responsibility without the authority to carry it out is to be avoided whenever possible. ZG, if you go for this job, make very sure you have the clout to get what you need to get the job done.
I am not an expert in HR, but I want to jump in here. Zoe, I have been in your position (work wise) and have alluded to it over the years. I am sorry, but this job sounds as if it is horribly wrong for you. I believe that your skills are strongest in working with people and creating consensus, and conversely are weakest in detail and completion of paperwork. I think that what you are really looking for is a way to make more money (I also worked in a poorly paying nonprofit system), and also the opportunity to work with a different supervisor. Perhaps the best that you can do at this time, is to see if you can transfer to a placement in a program that reports to another supervisor. Then, you can continue to seek emplyment that pays better. But, though you would make more money and report to a different supervisor I feel that this position of a data person is not a good fit for you at all. Sorry to not be more encouraging, but I left the "right job" to get away from a specific board member and I ended up taking the "wrong job" to do so. I should have developed a much better strategy! Good luck and be patient.
I am with the others, sorry. I know we don't know each other IRL, but I just don't see this as a fit for your natural skills.
I have a job in which one aspect is managing the data quality in a large database. Getting different areas to actually send data over in the correct format to be maintained in our database and then working with internal staff to get it correctly imported is one of the huge ongoing thorny issues, much less getting them to play nice in the sandbox when I have no authority over them. I come from a heavy project management background and (I happen to think) I am doing a lot better in this area than the previous person, but it is HARD! Building partnerships sounds nice and fun until you get into the politics of folks who don't like each other personally, have no concept or care of the larger mission, have been doing something some horrible way for 10 years, etc.
To me, the larger question (and I why I don't think you sound like a great fit) is do you actually want to do data analytics all day? An ed stats class is likely completely different from the day to day existance doing reporting. Yes, there may be stats but it will likely be contained within a software package so you feel like you are a monkey pushing a button (that was part of my previous job, head "button pusher", ha). Will you have any authority to act on the trends you see, or are you just handing the reports to someone? Will that frustrate you? Does this coursera course get you excited - https://www.coursera.org/#course/bigdata-edu ? I'm signed up and it makes me squeal a little bit, haha. Just some thoughts from a data nerd.
Okay, trying to listen since apparently I do not listen well according to my boss. The bright side is that I overheard from the facilities manager (at a school some people forget they are there and talk about anything in front of them) that my director is looking for a new job. Just one person gone, her or my boss, makes a world of difference!
I hate to say that! I sound like my director who swears she could do her job if only certain kids weren't in our program. Today was okay but my other staff person called. She is in the hospital with pneumonia. That is serious, they don't always admit you. I called my boss and her first response was to make sure I get a DR's note from her for missing training. She always says that when someone is seriously sick, and sometimes recalls to say she hopes they get better.
So is getting the data producers who do not like each other and don't want to change to play nice easier or harder than getting 5 yo boys to walk directly to the bathroom without one altercation? My image for what I do with kids is herding cats with a water pistol.
So is getting the data producers who do not like each other and don't want to change to play nice easier or harder than getting 5 yo boys to walk directly to the bathroom without one altercation?
It is harder. :D With the adults you have people who have much larger concerns and broader perspectives on things than on what you want them to do right now; they can be quite entrenched in "the way we've always done it" and "what's in it for me"; and most of them probably are your size or larger, so the old intimidation-through-proximity thing doesn't work that well, either.
Although sometimes the adults will act like 5-year-olds, too.
I would say it is completely different, not necessarily harder or easier. I don't enjoy spending long amounts of time with any large group of children, so I would go crazy trying to lead any group of five year olds and for me that would be much much harder.
I doubt you would have any direct authority over those folks you need the numbers from, and even though the reporting is mission critical, they will be entrenched in their beliefs. You can't even squirt them with the water pistol.
For example, I've been working on a website change that affects the data my area "owns" but was requested by a department, and the change is actually some they want that does benefit them. They have been beating around the bush for nearly two weeks...they said they tested, tech guy saw no one tested. Round and round. Since you post here a lot about work dynamics and issues with coworkers, I just wonder if that kind of stuff would eat at you too much. I have developed a pretty thick skin (I don't take it personally) and I'm pretty sure there are folks out there who call me the dreaded "B word" behind my back, but I get projects completed and also try to maintain good working relationships with these folks even if I am prodding them along trying to get them to do stuff. Dept head and I have exchanged about 5 emails today totally unrelated to website or testing regarding other work related goings on.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.