Blog Number 7

Jake Byma
Seasons Center
3/16-3/20
6 hours
1.  This week was a shorter week.  I was not able to work Monday because I was still coming back from Spring Break.  On Tuesday we got right back into scoring.  I came in before class for a couple hours of scoring.  After class I came back for a few more hours of scoring.  I also packed a few case files and copied some files into the database.  There was not really that important of a learning experience this week.  I was supposed to come in for a few hours on Friday but Trevor texted me that he didn't have anything for me to do so I could take the rest of the afternoon off. 
2.  I feel good about the work I am doing.  I know that it is not the most difficult work and that there are countless people competent enough to do it.  But being able to help is really nice.  Trevor and I also had a talk for awhile on Tuesday about if I would think about staying on after I graduate and how that whole process would go.  I will admit it is not my ideal work place/type of work but it is a job and could open some doors for me in the future. 
3.  The only real problems that I encountered were more from personal reflection and thinking about if I would want to work there.  The way Trevor explained it to me, it seems like my contract would be based out of Storm Lake or Spencer.  But I would spend 3 days a week in Sioux Center.  Because my contract is out of one of those other locations, I would not be refunded for my gas money when traveling there and back the two days I would need to.  He said that trek out there can be a negative and he wouldn't paint the picture rosier than it actually was.  Maybe I could use expert negotiation tactics to see if they could work something out for me that way.  Trevor also mentioned something about loan repayment so that could be a huge plus for this job.  He encouraged me to apply, and I ended up doing so that Saturday morning. 
4.  I want to know how much personal information everyone learns/reads in case files and how they deal with disturbing information or if they just brush it off as nothing.