Remember me? Please Pay Me Again? To Work From Home?
January 4, 2015 7:56 PM Subscribe
I left my previous job late last year to go driving around Australia. Now I have had to come back to the city for medical reasons, and would like to approach them for work again. There's a catch: the medical reason is that I broke my spine, am wearing a halo brace, and my ideal situation would have me working from home. How can I approach them?
About the accident: Freak waterslide accident wherein I dropped myself on my head and broke T1, T3, and T4. Fortunately no spinal cord damage! My treatment consists of wearing a halo brace for another 2 months which allows me almost full mobility. My biggest obstacle is that I can't currently drive and live in an area poorly serviced by public transport. I am reluctant to lean on my family too much for lifts, especially since we live in an area 40 minutes away from the CBD.
I was in my old position at a research institute for five years and left on good terms with my employers and the managers of several projects. They even sent flowers when I had my accident.
Reasons this might work:
- The team secured funding to do a particular research project, which the key person doesn't want to do as it's additional to her core work. She would be thrilled to hand over to me (this is confirmed).
- The team secured some general funding to do a lot of different projects.
- The team recently lost their statistician. I'm not a statistician, but am studying economics and comfortable with data.
- I could probably commute once or twice a week if required.
Reasons this might fail:
- As a research institute, they prioritise work for PhD students who will work for "free".
- Working from home is unusual for this workplace (but not unheard of).
- Funding is generally allocated to specific projects, which are fully staffed.
- My replacement starts this week, and will be taking over most of my projects and will probably do a better job.
- I wasn't very good about staying in touch on the road, and they might feel abandoned.
I need some help composing an email to state my case, with the hopeful outcome that they have some work that I can do primarily at home.
Also, here's me in the brace.
About the accident: Freak waterslide accident wherein I dropped myself on my head and broke T1, T3, and T4. Fortunately no spinal cord damage! My treatment consists of wearing a halo brace for another 2 months which allows me almost full mobility. My biggest obstacle is that I can't currently drive and live in an area poorly serviced by public transport. I am reluctant to lean on my family too much for lifts, especially since we live in an area 40 minutes away from the CBD.
I was in my old position at a research institute for five years and left on good terms with my employers and the managers of several projects. They even sent flowers when I had my accident.
Reasons this might work:
- The team secured funding to do a particular research project, which the key person doesn't want to do as it's additional to her core work. She would be thrilled to hand over to me (this is confirmed).
- The team secured some general funding to do a lot of different projects.
- The team recently lost their statistician. I'm not a statistician, but am studying economics and comfortable with data.
- I could probably commute once or twice a week if required.
Reasons this might fail:
- As a research institute, they prioritise work for PhD students who will work for "free".
- Working from home is unusual for this workplace (but not unheard of).
- Funding is generally allocated to specific projects, which are fully staffed.
- My replacement starts this week, and will be taking over most of my projects and will probably do a better job.
- I wasn't very good about staying in touch on the road, and they might feel abandoned.
I need some help composing an email to state my case, with the hopeful outcome that they have some work that I can do primarily at home.
Also, here's me in the brace.
Response by poster: Thanks. I forgot to mention that we need to stay for a further three months for rehab, so I would ideally be looking for a six month contract. Though we would like to start travelling again afterwards, we're holding off a decision on when that is until the extent of my recovery is known.
posted by roshy at 9:23 PM on January 4, 2015
posted by roshy at 9:23 PM on January 4, 2015
How long would the particular research project last? ie: could you say you would like a contract just for that project? Would that project work naturally go to your replacement if you didn't pop up?
posted by the agents of KAOS at 12:22 AM on January 5, 2015
posted by the agents of KAOS at 12:22 AM on January 5, 2015
Best answer: Having worked at a research institute myself, I know that there is always a dearth of reliable, skilled employees and that most grad students are flaky and often require more hours to supervise than it takes for someone else to just do the work themselves. So hiring you back should be a very attractive option.
Don't just ask them for work, ask them if they don't have any work or don't have enough to keep you busy for all the hours you want to work to also please refer you to other PIs (principal investigators) at the institute who might need your skills.
Let them know that you will need to work primarily from home while you're still in rehab but can come in as necessary for team meetings. (I advise making the effort to see them once a week regardless, even if it's just to meet for lunch, to avoid being "out of sight, out of mind.") If/when you get the job, set "office hours" at home where they know they can reach you immediately by phone or email. IMO, this shouldn't be too difficult for them to deal with -- many researchers collaborate with colleagues at other institutions and thus are used to having to work with people who aren't in the office next to them.
posted by Jacqueline at 12:34 AM on January 5, 2015
Don't just ask them for work, ask them if they don't have any work or don't have enough to keep you busy for all the hours you want to work to also please refer you to other PIs (principal investigators) at the institute who might need your skills.
Let them know that you will need to work primarily from home while you're still in rehab but can come in as necessary for team meetings. (I advise making the effort to see them once a week regardless, even if it's just to meet for lunch, to avoid being "out of sight, out of mind.") If/when you get the job, set "office hours" at home where they know they can reach you immediately by phone or email. IMO, this shouldn't be too difficult for them to deal with -- many researchers collaborate with colleagues at other institutions and thus are used to having to work with people who aren't in the office next to them.
posted by Jacqueline at 12:34 AM on January 5, 2015
Best answer: I would just drop an email to whoever you are friendly with that is also in a position to put you forward for work. Say that now that you are back in the city for treatment for 3-6 months, you would like to pick up some work (anything!), you really need a mix of office and home-based work because of the issues in commuting with your brace, and do they have anything / could they ask around to see if anyone has anything.
I think as a known quantity, the work-from-home thing will bother them less than if they didn't know you and they are also likely to be sympathetic to your circumstances. I'd emphasise that you'd be open to anything (if that is true) because you don't want them to feel that they couldn't offer you work that was lower (money/prestige) than the role you left.
I wouldn't worry that they'd feel abandoned by you not being in touch while you're away - that happens. If I had a staff member in similar circumstances, I'm not going to create work that doesn't exist for you, but I'd feel bad for you and would look around to see if there was something for you.
posted by AnnaRat at 1:51 AM on January 5, 2015
I think as a known quantity, the work-from-home thing will bother them less than if they didn't know you and they are also likely to be sympathetic to your circumstances. I'd emphasise that you'd be open to anything (if that is true) because you don't want them to feel that they couldn't offer you work that was lower (money/prestige) than the role you left.
I wouldn't worry that they'd feel abandoned by you not being in touch while you're away - that happens. If I had a staff member in similar circumstances, I'm not going to create work that doesn't exist for you, but I'd feel bad for you and would look around to see if there was something for you.
posted by AnnaRat at 1:51 AM on January 5, 2015
Response by poster: Thank you for the advice. I emailed two of my old supervisors, being sure to incorporate your suggestions, and the response back has been quite positive. I'm not quite back in the saddle yet but the horse is in sight!
posted by roshy at 7:02 AM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by roshy at 7:02 AM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
It sounds like can't hurt to ask. They may also be able to give you leads on other labs that could use your skills. It sounds like they know your skillset, if not summarize that and ask generally if they would be interested in rehiring you or know of other positions that might suit.
posted by momus_window at 8:49 PM on January 4, 2015