About a week ago, I wrote that I was beginning a year end evaluation,
and promised that results would follow. So, today, the last day of many
people's work year, the results for my file...
1. Has the work that I've done this year made me feel competent and
challenged? In an odd way, yes. Though the freelance assignments have
been farther apart than I'd have liked, I came out of them more savvy
about music and sound editing, more comfortable about walking into new
situations, and more confident about technical troubleshooting in the
absence of a tech support person. And in between the freelance
assignments, I wrote children's stories, a daily blog, and more zingy
cover letters than I can count.
2. Is what I'm working on giving me satisfaction about what I'm putting
out into the world? Well, I went into the year believing that I would be
producing content for children, and, with the exception of the
children's books in progress and the notes to teachers that I have written
for my own kids, that has not happened quite the way I'd pictured. I
can say, though, that I have been very satisfied with my participation
in the Children's Media Association (CMA), so perhaps this goal is just a
longer term one than originally anticipated. As for the rest of what
I've done, I have tried to put my own stamp on assorted editing
projects. Oh, and I'm very satisfied with doing a daily blog.
3. Interesting interactions with interesting people? I would have said
that this was an area that needed work. After all, there have been many
days of sitting at home or in an edit room, interacting with not much
of anybody, interesting or not. When, however, I consult my appointment
calendar from the year, the written record says different. I attended
numerous CMA events and followed up with coffees and lunches with
members. I reached out to people whose work I'd heard about for years
and got to hear about their careers first hand. And I made new friends
who had absolutely nothing to do with my career.
4. Is it working for my family? Financially, not so great, but
logistically, it's pretty nice to be able to drop off and pick up my
kids, to be home for deliveries and workmen. And otherwise? That
depends on the day. To be determined at the next evaluation.
5. Would I do something (or many somethings) differently? I can't deny
that I'd like more of a structure, with a few more "knowns" and a few
less "unknowns." I would, perhaps, branch out in my search, considering the idea that my
next thing might not be in television. And I would try to focus more on
learning and less on searching. And try to be a bit more satisfied
with how things are, even if there are a lot of pieces I haven't yet
gotten right.
Conclusions of 2012 Year End Evaluation:
1. While employee was lacking in generating funds, she gained new skills and contacts.
2. While employee fell short of a complete transition to children's
media, she made significant steps and should continue to do so.
3. Employee should continue to work on learning while maintaining the strong relationships she has developed over the year.
4. Employee should aim for an open-minded approach to new projects,
rather than concentrating only on tasks relating to her past experience.
Overall, a solid evaluation--things to work on, but significant progress and growth made over the year. File complete until 2013.
Signed,
Me
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