It's Off To Work I Go...Part I
WARNING!!! The following post is really really long. It's the first time I've written about my job and I had a lot to say.So I’ve been meaning to write posts on a couple subjects, one of them being my job and my experience thus far in the working world. Why has it taken me so long to write about my job? I mean, I spend at least 1/3 of my day there 5 days a week so one would think I would have a lot to talk about. In fact, I do, but part of the reason I have waited so long to write about my job is that I wanted to make sure I had given my job a long enough trial window instead of immediately writing about my experience without having had enough time to ruminate and compare my experience with others. Since I’ve officially been a part of the American work force since I was 14 and having worked every year since then, I had some expectations as well as some hesitations when I graduated and gave up the carefree life of a student for a full-time job; but before I get into all of that, I should probably at least summarize what I actually do.
What Do I Do?
I currently work for Discover Re, a captive insurance, alternative risk transfer, and reinsurance company. Technically, we’re owned by St. Paul Travelers Group (more about this later), but operate relatively independently, handling different lines of business. My official job title is “underwriter trainee,” but personally, I think I’d emphasize the “trainee” more than the “underwriter.” I’m based in our headquarters in
Where’s The Fire?
Ok, so that’s a summary (albeit not very short) of my current job. As a first job, I cannot complain. I’m paid well and have good benefits (for the moment.) I generally like the people I work with and the hours are pretty much to die for. I’m expected to work a 9 hour day with a one hour lunch plus I get a lot of paid vacations. So given all of this, what would there be to complain about? Well, to be honest, a lot.
Boredom Strikes Back
First off (and most importantly) I’m bored out of my friggin’ mind. Every day is the same thing and I don’t even have enough work to do to fill the day. As I said earlier, my job is supposed to be a mix of studying for my CPCU and doing ad hoc work for different departments. The ad hoc work is pretty much nonexistent. A couple weeks ago, I did a rotation with one of our captive insurance groups, which was good. I was actually sitting in on meetings and assigned projects. The main problem was that my assignment with the group was for only six weeks. With the first week being wasted as an “orientation week,” and the sporadic workflow, it probably amounted to a total of one week of work. Worst of all, none of the work was necessarily substantial or material. The reason behind that, in my opinion, was two-fold. First, some of the more complicated stuff was just easier for someone more senior to do rather than to have me do it. I can understand that to some degree. Second, because of the finite time I was assigned to the group, there was no reason to give me any long-term projects. Instead, I was relegated to assisting on projects, which just frustrated me because I wanted to do my best, but since none of the projects were really “mine,” I often found myself lacking information or access to things I needed to really do what I was assigned. What resulted was me turning in things that were sufficient, but not amazing given my lack of resources. I also got called out for mistakes on one of the reports I wrote. One of the mistakes was out of my control because it required me to analyze information I was never given. The second mistake was not even a mistake. My boss just didn’t read my report all the way through. That pissed me off because to me, it meant that my work really didn’t matter. At least not enough to read. Other than that experience, my actually work experience has been very limited. I’ve even e-mailed my boss and other people, telling them that I’m looking for work to do, but to no avail. So instead my time is spent studying.
The Bane of My Existence: Studying