zeekie: take two.

I received a job offer a couple of days ago, and I took it. I think it's going to be my final job of the semester, and I'm fairly happy with the way all the pieces have jigsawed.

The first job I accepted was an internship with Tor Books. I applied for the internship in June, while I was still writing for Digital Life, but I wasn't called for an interview until I came back to New York. That was in late August. I can honestly say that I wow'd at the interview, so when the internship was offered I took it knowing that I had earned it. I started work in September, and so far the internship has been very productive and fun. I think I really got lucky with this one. I had done no research on the company's internships, and lately I've been hearing from friends that my experience is atypical. I have classmates working at Rogue Pictures, VH1 and a couple of theaters and independent film companies, and I understand that large companies have little use or duties for interns. That is, duties not related to coffee-making or dry-cleaning or photocopying.

To be sure, photocopying is a staple of my internship, but I've also learned many other things. Like how a contract is negotiated; what determines the size of an advance; and other nuts and bolts of the publishing industry. Add to that a daily dose of wackiness thanks to the ever-growing slush pile, and I think I have one of the best possible internships that anyone can get. Of course, any contacts that I make will undoubtedly be helpful in the future.

The second job I got was with the university. Because I had already determined to move off campus, I wanted to make sure that I'd have enough money. Unfortunately Tor Books doesn't pay interns, so I thought I'd look for an on-campus job. I initially wanted to work in the library proper, but the job I ended up getting - working the counter in the library's media center - has so far been easy and helpful to my schedule. I'm not taking that many classes this semester, so I've been able to finish all my readings in the downtime at this job.

I also realized that I quite like the service industry. I like helping people get what they need, although sometimes I do wonder whether I'm overcompensating for not being a social whiz outside work. But the bottomline is, this job gives me a steady income, fellow NYU students like me helping them, I like helping my fellow NYU students, and my bosses like me for that. So it's a giant like-you-like-me orgy, and I'm getting paid for it. Which is not a bad position at all to be in.

The next job I took was with Gay.com. As I've written about it before, I won't go into great detail here. The website is set to launch at the end of the month, so hopefully reception will be good.

And finally the last job: which is the one I accepted only a few days ago. It's a mystery shopper position, which is great for a number of reasons:

1) I get to buy things and keep them, all on the company's tab.

2) I get a transportation allowance, which I think I might be able to save on.

3) The salary is unbelievable.

On a purely dollar-per-hour basis, this is the job that undoubtedly pays the most. By a very, very large margin. Of course, it sometimes necessitates some traveling, but that is really nothing compared to the benefits. I've already received my first assignment, and while it isn't particularly glamorous, it does solve a few household-item-buying problems. And I'm sure that future ones will include testing some swanky restaurant. (Fingers crossed here.)

So that is my job list, at least for this semester. I'm fairly certain that I can keep all but one (Tor) in my remaining semesters. Two out of them - Gay.com and mystery shopping - are on my own time, so it won't be too hard to work out an internship and library work schedule. Besides, I'm only missing seven classes in three semesters to graduate, so I'm going to ease up on academics and load up on work credits instead.