The Atlantic

I’ll Make You Copies. But I Have Dreams, Too.

So tell me: If I’m mostly an administrative person, what is an administrative person worth?
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I recently landed a final-round interview for a dream job: senior research coordinator. Actually, I hadn’t dreamed about it, but it offered a way out of my current role—and it felt like a dream because I’d stopped being able to imagine myself doing anything so illustrious. For a few days, I pictured myself doing thankless and sharply written research. My prospective boss was famous in his field, somewhat famous outside of it, and the range of responsibilities would have included tasks as varied as grabbing lunch and ghostwriting articles.

Given the chance, I would have excelled. I saw myself finally “fulfilling my potential.”

At the interview, though, after the pleasant initial greeting, I was immediately redirected toward titles that appeared more aligned with my current “kitchen-sink” job, such as program administrator and program assistant. I was applauded for my initiative, and my would-be boss’s interest had been piqued by my

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