Hmm. I've been working for small businesses for 11 years now. My previous job, it was just me, I was basically salaried and could work whatever hours I wanted as long as I got everything done, but I had to be there to ship the products every morning except Sunday.
I'm working for a different small business now, bigger, 8 including me, and we're looking at temps. I still get the understanding and flexibility, but now I have benefits and paid days off? Paid vacation? Paid holidays? Regular lunches out at restaurants and regular catering? Free snacks? And several people, including me, have dealt with loss of a loved one since I've been hired, and the way they handle it is amazing? Bereavement leave for the unexpected loss of my pet?! A card signed by everyone too?
The boss called me in for a meeting, and I was worried I had fucked something up. No, we talked about how the current project is taking so long because I'm having to go in and clean up thousands of lines of data input by people unfamiliar with the process, and download documentation of my sources. I was told that I shouldn't have to be doing that and I need to report that to the main manager. He also offered his contacts' services to sell my house and find me a rent house, and help furnish it. And then he gave me a raise?! The meeting was great, he kept praising me for how much I've streamlined the processes in the office and that he couldn't have found a better person for my position, and how much relief I've given the other people in the office. My position is a new one in the company. I'm the one that adds all of the data to our specific program. When a new customer comes, I completely set them up in our system now.
So, like, the next day, I made a cheat sheet based on the training papers given to me, customized for the project, and opened myself up to questions from everybody in the office. I actually like it. I do enjoy teaching, but I could never do it all day. But also, walking the people who ask through my process means that I have far less to do on the other end.
Also, the other day, I literally taught the big manager how to use a function in our system. Like, I'm on par with my managers' and business owner's knowledge of the system we use.
The office people are impressed by the fact that I can fix every office machine and find all the tax documentation. It's because I look for it. I look for the machine manuals. I go through at least 4 legitimate looking sites trying to find the info I'm looking for. I was trained to fill in the blanks on the pre-formatted spreadsheet. So I find enough information to fill in the blanks.










