She works hard for the money...

I started thinking about all the jobs I've had in my 20 years of work. I don't think most of my friends realize all the crazy (and interesting!) jobs I've had. I thought I'd let you take a peak into my unique work experience. (Just a note - I may not remember them all.)

I really don't want this to turn into a job interview type of thing so I won't go into why I left each job - that would make the blog much too long! In short I'll explain that normally I left full-time (office) jobs to go back to school full-time. And I left part-time (retail) jobs to start working a full-time (office) job.

My priority was getting my 4-year degree and somehow paying the bills. Normally I'd work for two quarters and then go to school for two quarters. I started college at Ohio University in 1990, then moved back to Dayton and attended Sinclair Community College and got my associates in 1995.

I then went to Wright State University, took some time off while I was working at the University of Dayton, and then returned to Wright State to finish up. So after twelve years, four colleges, and multiple changes in my major, I finally got my B.A. in Mathematics. This is when my priority shifted to finding a job based on my degree. (I didn't get my teaching certification, so education jobs weren't an option.)

Ready? Here we go...

• Camp-of-the-Woods in Speculator, NY (1989).  I worked at this Christian family camp the summer before my senior year in High School. I worked with kids in the mornings during chapel, then the craft shop in the afternoons. On Friday nights I worked in the guard shack and on Saturday mornings I did housekeeping.  

Working in the nursery at Camp-of-the-Woods

•  McDonalds (1989). I worked there one day. I never got my paycheck though because I didn't return my uniform. (I still wonder what my mom did with it.)

• Chick-fil-A (1989-90, Christmas 1992). I got the job the day after my training at McDonalds. (Which is why I didn't return to Micky-Ds's.)

• The Bombay Company (1990-91). My mom loved that I worked there. Actually, she loved the discount that I got. :)

• Leeward Craft Bazaar (which is now Michael's Crafts) (1991). I got this job while working at the Bombay Co. I only worked there for a month, they didn't like working around my Bombay schedule.

• Kelly Temps (1991-98) - that's when I decided to use my typing skills to make money. My first few jobs were things like counting pages of documents for DP&L, tearing off the sides of printer paper (remember those?), and making copies of files including taking out the staples and stapling them again. All very tedious, boring jobs, but they paid a lot more than retail jobs.

• National City Mortgage (through Kelly Temps) (1991). I started with scanning in documents, and then the documents needed shredded (which took 2 weeks). And then I typed letters for the people in Customer Service. This was back in the day of the old-fashioned word processors. When you hit the return, you couldn't go back up to the previous line. Seriously.

• Monograms Plus (Christmas 1991). This was a kiosk right outside of Bombay Co. I actually worked at both places, and sometimes at the same time. 

• Pillsbury in Wellston (1992). I did an engineering co-op at the plant that made Totino's Pizzas and Gino's Pizza Rolls. You don't really care about the oil inventory project I worked on, but I'll tell you there was a taste test every morning at 10:30 am. My favorite part of the job!

• Resident Assistant at Ohio University (1992). I actually did this job at the same time as the co-op job. Strange but true. 

• Avon Representative (1992-1993). I did really great until I moved from Athens to Dayton and lost my customer base. 

• Athens Flower Shop in Athens, Ohio (February 1993). I removed thorns from roses for a couple weeks and did a few deliveries. Contacts from this job let to the next.

• Math Tutor (1993-current). Wow, I loved it! So much that I changed my major from engineering to Math. 

• President Tuxedo (1993-95). I invaded men's personal space (took measurements) and did alterations. I loved working in the wedding industry! 

Measuring my brother for a tuxedo (yes, really!)

•  LCI (through Kelly Temps) (1994). I was the receptionist/office spy. I wouldn't rat on my co-workers so the head person in Cincinnati let me go. 

• Misc. temp jobs (1994-1995). These included spraying cologne on men at the mall, and working at an auction.

• GM's Moraine Assembly Plant (through Kelly Temps) (1995). I started off as a secretary during the kick off of the new model year and when that ended, I test drove GMC Jimmy's and Chevy Blazers. (Awesome job!!)

• ITT Automotive (through Kelly Temps) (1995-96). My first experience with working with databases, and checking personal email at work. :) (My boss let me use his computer to check my emails once or twice a day.)

• Dayco Products (through Kelly Temps) (1996). I worked in Accounts Receivable and did various other office duties. 

• Pier 1 Imports (1996). Loved working there, loved the employee discount, but honestly the pay was really bad. They did teach me excellent customer service skills though.

• Cat Fanatics (1996-97). I became the Assistant Manager. And then at 89 days they let me go, just like they had done to the previous three Assistant Managers. (Benefits started at 90 days.) 

• Equinox (1997). I sold Equinox products, mostly water filters. And then they were shut down by the Federal government because it was a pyramid scheme. 

• University of Dayton (1997-1999), Compliance Clerk in the Office of Compliance and Affirmative Action. Back to working on databases. 

• Miami Valley Fair Housing (1998-2002), Fair Housing Tester. Great job that combined looking at apartments and houses and getting paid. 

• Russell Tuxedos (1999). Nothing like President Tuxedo and so I didn't enjoy it as much.

• Dayton Vineyard Church (1999-2001). I can't remember my title but I did the desktop publishing and web publishing, and begged volunteers to come in to stuff the programs (bulletins) on a weekly basis.

• Mary Kay Consultant (2000-current). I was half-way to a red Grand Am but then some tragic stuff happened and I put everything on hold. I never got back into and just buy for personal use now.

• Nesco Recruiting Services (2001),  Receptionist. I was working at the other end of a temporary service. 9/11 happened while I worked here, I'll never forget that.

• Books-a-Million (2001-2002), Barista. My favorite part was watching the sun rise and the awesome customers. Maybe someday I'll open my own little coffee shop. :)

• Colliers International (2002-2003), Real Estate Broker Assistant. I got Mr. Dave Tobeson organized and had a great time working in that little office. (I'm still in contact with Dave, one of my favorite bosses, and definitely the goofiest one.) 

*** I earned my Math degree June of 2002 and my emphasis on jobs completely changed. I was ready for a regular job that would last years. 

At my graduation party

• The Mazer Corporation (2003), Contract Editor. (I know several friends just groaned when they read that.) I did editing on mostly Social Studies books even though I was hired to do Math books. Their Math contracts fell through as my 6-month contract came to an end.

• Hospice of Dayton (through Spherion Temps) (2003). I worked in Human Resources doing background checks and running finger prints. While fingerprinting a new employee, I asked about the job she just left. Two weeks later I started her old job.

• Dinsmore & Shohl (2003-2004), IP Docket Clerk. (IP is short for Intellectual Property = patents, trademarks, copyrights, domain names, that sort of thing.) While working for D&S I met someone who worked at another law firm who needed an IP Docket Clerk. I applied for the job out of curiosity, and the other firm offered me a 20% increase. D&S offered me a 3% increase.

• Thompson Hine (2004-current), IP Docket Clerk. And here I am at the same job for over six years! I believe I've finally found that long-term job that I needed. (Until Jason gets his masters degree, then we'll see if that dream of clowning professionally will be next.) ;) 

My co-workers call me the Docket Queen.

 A bit of irony I'd like to point out. One of the projects I'm working on is going through Dayco's websites. It was kinda funny adding their link to my blog - it felt like work. Also, Dinsmore & Shohl handled Cat Fanatic's trademarks. They went out of business and I had the pleasure of marking their cases Abandoned in our database and also putting a huge X on the front of their files. It felt like justice, it felt good.

* The small print (which is actually italics). All companies are listed by the name I knew them by. The links will take you to their current site, which has their current name. However, several companies are out of business, which is nothing new in Dayton, Ohio.