So, I got a new job! In August 2022 I started working as a freight conductor for Canadian Pacific railroad.
Covid turned what had been the best job into the worst. I was a software trainer/consultant for a higher ed software company. Pre-Covid I traveled all over the US teaching new users how to work in our software, and consult with existing client schools on improving their use of our software.
When Covid hit, we stopped traveling and did our training online. When I first started working for that company, one of the other consultants told me that “once you become an outdoor cat, you never want to be an indoor cat again”. That was true for me.
I trained online like everyone else, hoping that someday we’d go back on the road. Sadly for me, as time went on, the company decided that teaching online was to be the new way of doing business.
I loved training in person. I hated training online. No more in person training meant it was time for Jason to find a new job.
I began my search with similar positions in similar industries. There were many out there, but I didn’t make any traction with any of them. While looking for a new position, I continued to work for the software company. The company, taking advantage of the online work situation, made changes to how we scheduled sessions with clients. It made the workload far greater and made it more difficult for consultants to make their bonus thresholds.
This has been the pattern at every salaried position I’ve had. Over time, for different reasons, more and more is expected. Additional tasks are added, and supporting resources are withheld.
Work was part of who I was. Part of my identity was founded in my work and position. I thus fell into the trap of giving my employer more and more of me.
As changes progressed at work, and my search for a new position continued unsuccessfully, I came to a significant change in what I wanted. I’m willing to work hard and long, but I decided that if a company wanted more hours from me, they were going to have to pay for it. Thus, I needed to look for an hourly job, not a salaried one.
Where to go? The thought was liberating. I thought of learning a trade, like electrician, or going to school to be a chef or baker. Every job that came to mind required going back to school. It saddened me because with one kid in college and another on the way soon, going back to school was not practical for me.
Then, sitting in our living room one evening, Kara said “what would you think of being a train conductor?”. She was looking at an Instagram ad for a CP job fair. I was open to the idea. We watched a few youtube videos about train conductors and I decided to go to the fair. I liked what I heard there. I interviewed on the spot and was offered the job! The scary part was the hour-long drive home to tell Kara that I’d accepted a new job.
More than a year later, I like this job. Like every other job, there are ups and downs, positive and negative aspects, but for the most part, it fulfills what I was looking for. I’ll tell you all about it in part 2.