Right now I work as a tutoring coach. I’m the most experienced and senior coaches there; even a meager 2 years of working there is a loooong time in a job that hires a lot of people who come and go because of school and other obligations.
Working there has made me really love the job. I have been discussing applying as a director (manager) when I graduate. The Director position requres a Bachelor’s degree, which I will be getting this year. I thought it prudent to get the ball rolling on discussing applying for a position there now, so that when I graduate college I could be in a position to be (hopefully) hired quickly.
The prospeect of being a manager there has been exciting. I have gathered a lot of feedback from people about it. Some people are very supportive, believing that the skills I have gained from working there and the connections I have made with senior staff members will help me if/when I become a director. Some people warned me that it might not be as great as it seems, and I’m pretty aware that I’m seeing the whole thing with rose colored glasses. I won’t be raking in the dough doing this job; it has similar levels of thanklessness teaching offers. But in spite of it I enjoy the concept of doing it, and it would be a great personal acheivement for me to get the position after I graduate.
This evening I was talking about my future plans to my Director after my shift was over. She mentioned a new position that has opened up in the company. The company is expanding, and apparently they have a manager shortage. Some centers have a rather high turnover rate for managers (part of this is because people get promoted really fast in this company). The new position is like a ‘substitute director’. I would go around and work at centers which were short a manager, helping the staff out with day-to-day tasks. It would be only part-time, but it would also be kind of in between what I am doing now and a permanent managerial position. I have been seriously considering applying for this position first, for a number of reasons-
-
It is part-time, which means I wouldn’t have to give up all of my other current part-time jobs if I wanted to try it out.
-
It gives me a chance to see what being a director is like, without the same level of personal obligation.
Right now I’m trying to groom my resume to show the recruiter that I am Director material. I’m really hoping that my current experience in the company will help me. Working as this ‘in between’ position would help even more and would make the transition from ‘worker bee’ to ‘boss bee’ a little easier.
So my question is, should I try it? Or just go straight for the Director position?
