Working at the zoo - advice sought

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hello, all. Just wanted to gather some smart peoples’ opinions on my work situation.

So in January, my boss, uh, Sharon, the education manager, was promoted. She’s now assistant general manager. I’ve been acting in her role since then, and will continue to do so for another 6 weeks, when I’ll hand the acting gig on to a colleague, Delia. Sharon arranged this so we could both try out the ed manager job.

The ed manager reports to the zoo director. Currently, this is Graham, who has been at the zoo for 30+ years, and will be retiring in September. He’s effectively retired already - takes long weekends with his accumulated leave, is very reticent to take on new projects, is completely over dealing with the bureaucracy. You know, classic grumpy old guy.

The city is also technically in a hiring freeze, so there’s extra paperwork required to get the ed manager position filled. It has been exempted from the freeze, but may not be actually advertised/filled for another 6 months, or longer.

OK, I think that’s enough background info. I have to decide whether to:
a) apply for the ed manager job
b) stay at the zoo in my original job, zoo educator
c) get out and get a real job with a living wage

I am a bit interested in strategic leadership, but, as I think everyone knows, the nuts and bolts of budget/staff management are a bit blah. So far, the ed manager job is a whole lot of bureaucratic nonsense, with less teaching, less animal time, and more sitting around answering emails.

So, gut reaction?

2

But you still get to pet the bears any time you want, right??

3

(a) For a simple reason, you are contemplating leaving the profession anyway so you might as well tray and max out the opportunity before moving on. If you like it, great! If you don’t, then you can choose ©.

4

Stick with whichever gig allows you to do the most of whatever it is you like about your job.

I was a writer/editor for years. Then I got promoted to Boss of Copy Editors and Graphic Designers. They got to do all the fun stuff – all the work that made me enjoy my job. My job turned into performance appraisals, approving leave, hammering on the chronically tardy, and budget management. I made a lot of little charts and spreadsheets, but I didn’t get to write, design, or edit anything. After six years of that, I resigned, promoted my senior graphic designer to take over my job, and took a lowly peon copy editor position at another company. Bliss ensued.

5

Depends on your long-term goals. if you are ever planning to go into any kind of leadership role knowing the staff management & budget stuff well makes a big difference. At some point in your career you will need it unless you are always planning to stay at the lowest levels, or in something so specific you can be promoted without any kind of business management background. FTR, I am speaking from the experience of working my way up in non-profit arts and culture. Yeah, there are program things I wish I had more time to get into, but my background is now diverse and deep enough that I will never see my job go on the chopping block as long as the organization exists. It’s a long-term trade-off - less hands-on fun stuff, but way better pay and more security. Plus everyone loves the person who does the crappy work that makes their life easier, especially if that person writes the paychecks.

6

A. If that doesn’t work, you can still fall back on B or even head out to C.

If you get A and don’t like it, then there’s still C.

B gets you nowhere. A is a promotion. C is the great unknown.

7

Thanks folks. I’m a bit wavery on long-term goals; sometimes I think I could continue being a zoo educator forever, but then I do a lot of programs in a row and get bored. It’s the same joy on their little faces.

I’m trying (and failing) to write pros and cons of each option. I get bored at work easily and have switched jobs, or continents, every few years before now.

I’m a bit curious about how the new zoo director will change things up. Noone ever walked into a directorship and said, hey, let’s keep it all the same. I think whoever is in the ed manager job when the new director comes in (date still TBC) will have an interesting time forming that relationship. Zoos need education departments, but how much support will the new director provide?

Hmm. Much still to ponder.

8

Stay away from the Lions.