My new job: more than you probably want to know

Three weeks ago my life was easy. I had a job I understood and was good at, a little group of friends to go to lunch with, and a ten minute commute. Then, I decided to throw a wrench in things and take a new job in an industry I know nothing about --natural gas pipelines.

If you think a librarian has no business working with a bunch of engineers, you are wrong. Every business has data, and it is a librarian's job to organize it and make it accessible. Without revealing too many details, here is the scope of my project: the company has boxes of documents that are somewhat organized but not digitized. Currently, if you want a document, you go to the archives group and they can locate the box your document is in (hopefully), then you have to sort through files of papers to find it. Eventually, the goal is to scan these documents and put them into some sort of content management system, so users can use search criteria to find a digital version of the document.

So far, the hardest part of this transition (other than waking up an hour earlier) is the cultural change. On my first day, I tried to open my Gmail account to read a work-related article I had emailed myself, only to find the site is blocked. It is also interesting to be one of the youngest employees, as I couldn't contribute much to a conversation about colonoscopies (Me: Yeah, it's important to get those things...").

I am an independent contractor, not a permanent employee, so I often feel like the red-headed step child. The thing I'm most jealous about is the on-site gym the permanent employees are allowed to use. I have to keep telling myself that it isn't personal, and have to remind myself of the benefits of my situation.

Though today is only my 4th day of work, I do think this is the most challenging thing I've ever embarked on, including graduate school. The majority of the people on my team have a PhD, so I'm hoping I can learn from them. It's sort of like playing tennis; the best way to get better is to play against someone who is better than you....right?