What jobs should I be searching for?
February 15, 2022 3:35 PM Subscribe
I am administrative coordinator in the office of the president of an ivy league university on the east coast. I have worked there for 5 years, and have been promoted once in my time there. I like the work, but am starting to feel like I'm stagnating and want to look around and see what's out there. Help me narrow down the types of jobs (preferably remote) that I would be qualified for. Further information about what I've been doing for the past 5 years below the fold.
I have a bachelor's degree in creative writing, and my work for the past five years has been split pretty evenly between: preparing form letters; fact checking, proofing, and formatting articles, speeches, and memos for the president and other high profile members of the office; reorganizing and maintaining both the physical and electronic file systems for the office to make them more user friendly; and managing and streamlining our correspondence workflow. I am the office go-to for formatting, dealing with excel, wrangling adobe, and solving generic computer problems that don't quite rise to the level of needing IT's help (aka anything that doesn't need administrator permissions). If possible I'd like to lean more heavily into the organizing and streamlining systems or proofreading/fact checking parts of my job, but am open to hearing about all sorts of kinds of jobs you think I'd be qualified for.
I have a bachelor's degree in creative writing, and my work for the past five years has been split pretty evenly between: preparing form letters; fact checking, proofing, and formatting articles, speeches, and memos for the president and other high profile members of the office; reorganizing and maintaining both the physical and electronic file systems for the office to make them more user friendly; and managing and streamlining our correspondence workflow. I am the office go-to for formatting, dealing with excel, wrangling adobe, and solving generic computer problems that don't quite rise to the level of needing IT's help (aka anything that doesn't need administrator permissions). If possible I'd like to lean more heavily into the organizing and streamlining systems or proofreading/fact checking parts of my job, but am open to hearing about all sorts of kinds of jobs you think I'd be qualified for.
As it sounds like you might be qualified for a long list of jobs, can you help narrow it down by adding what line of work or industries are most interesting to you, quality of life factors your prioritize, or anything along those lines?
posted by Goblin Barbarian at 6:41 PM on February 15, 2022
posted by Goblin Barbarian at 6:41 PM on February 15, 2022
My default answer would be civil/public servant, at the local, state, or federal level.
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:47 PM on February 15, 2022
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:47 PM on February 15, 2022
Instructional design could be worth considering: there are lots of opportunities both within and outside of academia, many remote. Academic instructional design, which I have more experience with, can look like partnering with an instructor to build digital materials or an online course (so it involve some of the tech wrangling you've been doing, but more creatively) and/or checking to ensure materials meet standards like helping students accomplishing a course's learning goals and being digitally accessible. Luke Hobson's website provides a good introduction to help explore.
posted by dapati at 8:43 AM on February 16, 2022
posted by dapati at 8:43 AM on February 16, 2022
Organizing and streamlining sounds like program management or project management to me, especially in an area like marketing (as opposed to a highly technical area like software development or manufacturing).
Proofreading and fact-checking could translate into a marketing communications manager role, especially one where you're primarily focused on writing blog posts and doing some light market research (as opposed to doing a lot of press briefings and budget management).
posted by neushoorn at 10:32 AM on February 17, 2022
Proofreading and fact-checking could translate into a marketing communications manager role, especially one where you're primarily focused on writing blog posts and doing some light market research (as opposed to doing a lot of press briefings and budget management).
posted by neushoorn at 10:32 AM on February 17, 2022
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posted by lovelygirl at 4:21 PM on February 15, 2022