Her Story
About Lori
I've dedicated 33 years and 7 months to the City of Chicago Law Department, where I've built my career from the ground up. I started as a legal typist and have progressed through several positions including Legal PC Operator and PC Operator 3. Currently, my official title is Personal Computer Operator 3, though there's an administrative system title that's been on hold for about a year and a half due to arbitration because they changed the title without giving us an upgrade. My work centers on typing, data entry, and customer service, which has been the foundation of my role since I first came in as a typist. I handle a variety of responsibilities including processing 50s (administrative hearings) and 80s (court cases on the county side), checking returned mail to dismiss parties when necessary, inputting motions and scanning them to the system, and working with METS to verify tickets by cross-referencing PIN numbers with Google Maps to ensure inspectors cited the correct properties for violations like trash or furniture outside. I also process new trusts that come in, sending them to the bank and uploading them once reviewed. One of my most fulfilling experiences was working on bankruptcies and judgments, which I found incredibly exciting because I didn't realize how many people and businesses filed bankruptcy. I learned so much from that work, and I used to do mail merges where we'd combine all the information and send out letters. I really loved that job, but unfortunately they took it away. While the work has slowed down considerably under new supervision, I'm someone who loves to stay busy and engaged. I'm a people person who thrives on having meaningful work to do throughout the day.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Lori
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
First, see how the company is, and if you're not comfortable or don't like it, if it's something that is not satisfying or making you happy, that makes you want to come to work, find something that will keep you where you want to go on with your career. If you went to school, that's why you wanted to accomplish what you went to school for, but if you didn't go to school, just do something to find something to motivate you, make you happy, and just don't look at it like 'oh, it's just a job, I gotta pay my bill, I gotta do this, I gotta do that.' Do something that makes you happy, so the money that you make, you can go out and get what you want and what you need sometimes, and go out and enjoy life. Enjoy life yourself if you don't have nobody to go with you. Look at the scenery, what the creation of God had created on this earth, it's so beautiful. Young people should just go and explore life. Explore life as you work, and not just be on the job just because. If you're not happy, move on, find something where you might be happy, because sometimes there are gonna be people who will acknowledge you. It's also not good to always move as much as you can, because then you're not able to accomplish at the end, like if you want to retire. You want to work in a good environment, you want to be happy. We all have a voice, so give your voice if you're not afraid or not ashamed or scared. Speak your voice, give your voice.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is that there's a lot of change happening. Since I've been here the longest, I've seen a lot of people coming and new administration coming, and it's a lot of change. You have to be ready to be adjusted and adapt for the change. Sometimes some change is good and some change is not. Give your opinion, even if they don't want to hear it, because sometimes when people are in high positions, they don't want to hear your opinion, but we work together to get this job done. Like they say, we all have a voice, so give your voice if you're not afraid or ashamed or scared. Speak your voice. The problem here is that people give their opinion, but they don't want to use it. It's like they think you're trying to take their position, but you just want to work in a good environment and be happy. There's no more challenges here anymore, no more increase. If you're that type of person who likes to do challenges or be challenged, then don't stay in that position if you can move on. It's good to stay in one spot after you've been there so long because you get seniority and priority to a lot of stuff that other people don't have.
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