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[Perfectly Reasonable]

My impression was that Marigold worked on a professional basis, with clients other than her father. I don't recall any indication that Dale can do web stuff.

The wonderful thing about tools like Joomla is that people can don't need to know HTML to make web sites. The horrifying thing about tools like Joomla is people are making websites without knowing HTML.

[Farideh]

Marigold is more than capable of putting her own website together. I get the feeling that Dale's 'web stuff' is more along the lines of chat moderation etc, and maybe website upkeep? Once the basic structure of the site is up, keeping the content fresh isn't a hard job.

[Mr_Rose]

Marigold is more than capable of putting her own website together. I get the feeling that Dale's 'web stuff' is more along the lines of chat moderation etc, and maybe website upkeep? Once the basic structure of the site is up, keeping the content fresh isn't a hard job.

Yeah, this; chat moderation especially but publishing articles and general site maintenance, as well as maybe some email screening, plus he can learn the backend stuff on the job relatively easily. Not impossible that they have a forum similar to this one too. Never mind the nearly inevitable FaceSpace page and other social media presence.
Some people might argue that all comes under May’s job title; I say only if she’s paid twice as much and fully prepared to give up what little social life she currently has.

[shanejayell]

Comic up. Poor Claire looks SO anxious.

[_Islanio]

Laughs in working in a bank despite having a degree in physics.

[Farideh]

Claire wants to make sure that Dora really, REALLY knows what she's getting into.

[dawolf]

I'm wondering at what stage Marten realises he needs to quit so Claire can get the job at the Uni library and the first job for her CV...

Marten can learn to barista for a while. Once Claire has found the next rung on the ladder, he can shift back...

Although how many libraries are within living distance of there, not many....

[shanejayell]

I'm wondering at what stage Marten realises he needs to quit so Claire can get the job at the Uni library and the first job for her CV...

You DO realize there's no way to know that Claire would get Marten's job if he quit? There may be other applicants before her.

[Farideh]

True, but Tai is pretty easygoing, so if Marten goes: "I quit, please hire Claire" she'd probably just shrug and do it. She knows Claire since she was an intern and at least she's a fully licensed librarian, as opposed to Marten.

Btw, I like the perspective on the 2nd panel.

[Tova]

She has already interned at that library, so I'm not sure how taking Marten's position would enhance her CV.

[DaiJB]

"it's dried and ground moths"

Nah, it's spiders - ever since Hannelore has been cleaning out the grinder roaster, regular patrons of CoD have been pining for Dora's spider-blend coffee...

[BenRG]

I really don't get this multiply-repeated idea that Marten needs to quit his position to open one up for Claire. I can only assume it's out of a desire to create a conflict in their relationship (which I don't get either). Claire wants to be a librarian. Marten's job is more towards the admin end and would have almost none of the specialised stuff that Claire wants to practice. She'd find it frustrating (especially working under Tai, whose attitude she hates) and unfulfilling.

[dawolf]

You DO realize there's no way to know that Claire would get Marten's job if he quit? There may be other applicants before her.

I DO realize that it's up to Tai (in comic) to make that hiring decision and that Marten would only quit if it was already agreed Claire would get the job. She's completely qualified etc so she's actually a much more suitable applicant than Marten.

Claire has already interned there but "intern" verses "assistant librarian" or whatever the job title is are very different on a CV. If she wants to become a librarian, she actually needs a position exactly like Martens.

[Tova]

Claire has already interned there but "intern" verses "assistant librarian" or whatever the job title is are very different on a CV.

Not really, no.

[BenRG]

Here's some jobs that I think would work for Claire:

1) The Beepatrice Conundrum
Claire gets that job at the sex toy test lab. She doesn't get involved with the product testing but that doesn't stop Pintsize bothering her for 'free samples' or even stuff from the reject bin. This isn't the job she wants but there is a curiously high degree of skill commonality. This is especially the case with keeping the chaotic test records properly organised. As well as having Beepatrice as a common co-star, we can have Marten's reaction. Either he's always startled at Claire suddenly bringing up 'business' matters in weird contexts ("Did you know that they test these things for the ability to resist gunfire?") or he finds that he is actually a voice of experience ("Oh yeah! Mom actually has a collection of those!")

Beeps ends up calling Claire 'boss' and admits that she's relieved to have someone in the office who is 'take charge'.

2) The Crawling Chaos
Claire is literally the only applicant for a junior librarian job at Tisamonic University (an expy of Miskatonic, renamed to avoid copyright issues with the Lovecraft estate). It's a dream job - dealing with antique books, some of which are more valuable than the apartment's yearly lease value. However, the students are... weird. The running joke is that the characters are all very obviously the various Dark Gods and other eldrich abominations. They look human but their conversation often outs them. I think that this would be a lovely chance to use the parodies from Hello Cthulhu - Angry and ineffectual Cthulhu, depressive Dagon and alcoholic The Colour From Space. Oh, and Cthulhu's GF Kitty, who is a gothy catgirl domme.

Then there's the books themselves, some of which are bound in human skin, a few are written in blood, and some actually eat ink and write themselves over time. Depending on how you'd want to handle it, maybe Willow is a student there on one of the university's unique courses and has a personal relationship with a few of the more alarming tomes in general. ("Whoa! Claire! Did you know we can make peach trees whose fruits function as Death Notes?" or "Claire, The Chronicles of the Daeva say that it can give you all you want in exchange for a pint of blood. Do you think that's a good deal?")

3) Small Town Library
This the lowest energy and yet, paradoxically, the most interesting.

Claire gets a job as the head (and only) librarian for a small institution in the area around Northampton/Amhurst. It's a fairly small municipal library with a tiny budget, which is why Claire got the job. They needed someone now and they needed someone cheap. Her only co-worker is an unembodied AI who runs the catalogue and online presence. She gets a couple of weeks' training from the outgoing librarian who is old, in a hurry to leave and generally difficult to get along with because he just wants Claire to take over now so he can get on with his retirement.

Basically, the setting is just support for a lot of small-town in-jokes and stereotypes who come in and Claire has to work out what (if any) kind of book they want. More seriously, Claire's "Libraries are Srs Business" mantra is tested by working at an institution that doesn't have money and whose ultimate management chain don't care. Does she bring books home to rebind and clean up? Does she vent to Marten? Does the core cast end up helping with fund-raising (naturally Pintsize suggests a bikini car-wash and makes it clear that he wants to be part of the team).

[dawolf]

Claire has already interned there but "intern" verses "assistant librarian" or whatever the job title is are very different on a CV.

Not really, no.

So job title doesn't matter at all, only where you work? You intern at a company, that's identical to having years of experience there doing a different job?

[Tova]

Claire has already interned there but "intern" verses "assistant librarian" or whatever the job title is are very different on a CV.

Not really, no.

So job title doesn't matter at all, only where you work?

Believe it or not, job recruiters are a lot more interested in what you actually did in a job than they are in the job title. So being an "intern" is not going to be "very different on a CV" from an "assistant librarian" if they both basically involve being a dogsbody.

[dutchrvl]

She has already interned at that library, so I'm not sure how taking Marten's position would enhance her CV.

^This. Let's not forget that Marten's job is not an actual librarian position or even close to it. It would be like taking a lab technician position when you're trying to become a professor with your own lab at a university. It's just not going to do anything for your chances.

[snubnose]

I get the feeling that Jeph has writte himself a bit into a corner with Claires jobsearch. Where in the comicuniverse would she get a "real" job for her qualification - without moving and thus leaving the comic ?

[dutchrvl]

hm, well, generally speaking every town tends to have a library, plus there are multiple unis and colleges in the surrounding area, especially if you expand it to up to 1 hour drive.

I personally think eventually there will be a shift in jobs occurring with Claire eventually ending up at Smif though.

[Mr_Rose]

One thing about today’s strip; the “drink” that Dora was assembling: look at the difference in levels in that jar between panels one and two - it’s nearly halfway up the cap at the start and quite a bit closer to the bottom at the end. That’s a lot of whatever that was; did Dora just serve espresso paste?

[Roborat]

I like the tattoo on the arm of the random customer.  It looks like she couldn't decide on what she wanted, so she told to artist to just scribble something.

[Farideh]

One thing about today’s strip; the “drink” that Dora was assembling: look at the difference in levels in that jar between panels one and two - it’s nearly halfway up the cap at the start and quite a bit closer to the bottom at the end. That’s a lot of whatever that was; did Dora just serve espresso paste?

Small drink in a large cup?

[Mr_Rose]

One thing about today’s strip; the “drink” that Dora was assembling: look at the difference in levels in that jar between panels one and two - it’s nearly halfway up the cap at the start and quite a bit closer to the bottom at the end. That’s a lot of whatever that was; did Dora just serve espresso paste?

Small drink in a large cup?

Sure, but that was the sugar she was pouring and given the typical size of one of those dispensers, she added something north of fifteen teaspoons, which is more volume than an espresso on its own. So it was probably more like coffee flavoured sugar by the end.

I mean, fine if that’s what the customer wanted, it just seems highly unusual.

[hedgie]

I have seen people do it.  There was one regular at a place I worked who used so much, the sugar thing had to be refilled right after she left.

[Farideh]

I think reading this just gave me a cavity.

[shanejayell]

New comic.

So.... expresso machines explode? 

[Perfectly Reasonable]

Yes, espresso machines explode.

( google is our friend )

[Farideh]

RIP, Mister Burny.

[St.Clair]

Dora had it right the first time.

"No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow."

[BenRG]

I suppose that it's an indication of how tight the staffing situation is at CoD that Dora wants Claire to start now, even though she's still in her interview clothes. I just wonder how she'll look in the 'college student casual' that seems to be the uniform at the shop? Or does Emily still have some of those super-suits she made?

So.... expresso machines explode? 

This one especially. There is some indication that it is an eldritch entity with a short temper and an insatiable desire for worship.

[dawolf]

She has already interned at that library, so I'm not sure how taking Marten's position would enhance her CV.

^This. Let's not forget that Marten's job is not an actual librarian position or even close to it. It would be like taking a lab technician position when you're trying to become a professor with your own lab at a university. It's just not going to do anything for your chances.

That's not the best analogy because a lot of PhD students actually do lab tech work while doing their PhD's. And then after. Friend of mine from my Physics days got a doctorate and was still assisting labs and stuff for years alongside his research.

You think they go straight to running their own labs after graduating?

I have hired people. There is a huge difference when I look at a CV it I see a 3 month internship or a couple of years of experience. And yes: intern verses assistant librarian or whatever Marten's job title is (or could be....there's often flexibility there) also matters.

This isn't controversial. Length of experience and job titles matter. Claire won't have picked up everything she could have learnt in a small internship.

Imagine in 2 years these two statements.

1) "After graduating I worked in a coffee shop for the last two years, I am applying for this job as a librarian because...."

2) "After graduating Smif hired me to join their library team, where I have been for the last two years. I am applying for this job as a librarian because...."

One of those applicants is more likely to get the position.

[Tova]

It's pointless to argue because the point is moot -- if Claire really wanted Marten's position, I'm sure she would have it by now.

I'll just point out that we are in agreement that length of experience matters. Obviously.

And where she gets further experience is completely up to Claire.

[Gyrre]

Here's some jobs that I think would work for Claire:

1) The Beepatrice Conundrum
Claire gets that job at the sex toy test lab. She doesn't get involved with the product testing but that doesn't stop Pintsize bothering her for 'free samples' or even stuff from the reject bin. This isn't the job she wants but there is a curiously high degree of skill commonality. This is especially the case with keeping the chaotic test records properly organised. As well as having Beepatrice as a common co-star, we can have Marten's reaction. Either he's always startled at Claire suddenly bringing up 'business' matters in weird contexts ("Did you know that they test these things for the ability to resist gunfire?") or he finds that he is actually a voice of experience ("Oh yeah! Mom actually has a collection of those!")

Beeps ends up calling Claire 'boss' and admits that she's relieved to have someone in the office who is 'take charge'.

2) The Crawling Chaos
Claire is literally the only applicant for a junior librarian job at Tisamonic University (an expy of Miskatonic, renamed to avoid copyright issues with the Lovecraft estate). It's a dream job - dealing with antique books, some of which are more valuable than the apartment's yearly lease value. However, the students are... weird. The running joke is that the characters are all very obviously the various Dark Gods and other eldrich abominations. They look human but their conversation often outs them. I think that this would be a lovely chance to use the parodies from Hello Cthulhu - Angry and ineffectual Cthulhu, depressive Dagon and alcoholic The Colour From Space. Oh, and Cthulhu's GF Kitty, who is a gothy catgirl domme.

Then there's the books themselves, some of which are bound in human skin, a few are written in blood, and some actually eat ink and write themselves over time. Depending on how you'd want to handle it, maybe Willow is a student there on one of the university's unique courses and has a personal relationship with a few of the more alarming tomes in general. ("Whoa! Claire! Did you know we can make peach trees whose fruits function as Death Notes?" or "Claire, The Chronicles of the Daeva say that it can give you all you want in exchange for a pint of blood. Do you think that's a good deal?")

3) Small Town Library
This the lowest energy and yet, paradoxically, the most interesting.

Claire gets a job as the head (and only) librarian for a small institution in the area around Northampton/Amhurst. It's a fairly small municipal library with a tiny budget, which is why Claire got the job. They needed someone now and they needed someone cheap. Her only co-worker is an unembodied AI who runs the catalogue and online presence. She gets a couple of weeks' training from the outgoing librarian who is old, in a hurry to leave and generally difficult to get along with because he just wants Claire to take over now so he can get on with his retirement.

Basically, the setting is just support for a lot of small-town in-jokes and stereotypes who come in and Claire has to work out what (if any) kind of book they want. More seriously, Claire's "Libraries are Srs Business" mantra is tested by working at an institution that doesn't have money and whose ultimate management chain don't care. Does she bring books home to rebind and clean up? Does she vent to Marten? Does the core cast end up helping with fund-raising (naturally Pintsize suggests a bikini car-wash and makes it clear that he wants to be part of the team).

4) School Librarian
 Be it elementary (primary), middle (secondary), or high school; they all need librarians.

[Nepiophage]

New comic.

So.... expresso machines explode? 

  https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1258

[dutchrvl]

She has already interned at that library, so I'm not sure how taking Marten's position would enhance her CV.

^This. Let's not forget that Marten's job is not an actual librarian position or even close to it. It would be like taking a lab technician position when you're trying to become a professor with your own lab at a university. It's just not going to do anything for your chances.

That's not the best analogy because a lot of PhD students actually do lab tech work while doing their PhD's. And then after. Friend of mine from my Physics days got a doctorate and was still assisting labs and stuff for years alongside his research.

You think they go straight to running their own labs after graduating?

I have hired people. There is a huge difference when I look at a CV it I see a 3 month internship or a couple of years of experience. And yes: intern verses assistant librarian or whatever Marten's job title is (or could be....there's often flexibility there) also matters.

This isn't controversial. Length of experience and job titles matter. Claire won't have picked up everything she could have learnt in a small internship.

Imagine in 2 years these two statements.

1) "After graduating I worked in a coffee shop for the last two years, I am applying for this job as a librarian because...."

2) "After graduating Smif hired me to join their library team, where I have been for the last two years. I am applying for this job as a librarian because...."

One of those applicants is more likely to get the position.

I come from academia and did a postdoc, considering an academic career before switching careers, so yes, I am intimately familiar with how it generally goes.

But perhaps I should’ve been more specific; lab tech work itself is not an issue, but what I meant was taking a fulltime lab tech position after graduating with a PhD ( or after a first postdoc stint, so you will). If you are serious about getting a professor position, it’s not going to help you, because you’d be expected to do postdocs and get first author publications.

As a side hustle, sure, or maybe very briefly when trying to find your first postdoc position, but otherwise it won’t help

I do agree wholeheartedly with your last part though, that its still better than at a coffee shop for your chances

[Cattus]

I've been reading QC since forever and rarely commented but here goes.

I need to know how Jeph can be so consistently funny, insightful, thoughtful, and inventive day after day.  I read other strips and sometimes they are great and sometimes awful but I look forward to QC every day and I am NEVER disappointed.  It's magic.  Jeph, promise us that you will keep doing this until the day you die, which hopefully will be after I die or that you will raise your children to carry on the QC legacy.

[Wingy]

This one especially. There is some indication that it is an eldritch entity with a short temper...

You'd be a little short-tempered too if Bubs threatened you with that concrete saw...
Or Faye wanted to weld a spoiler to your back-side and paint some flames on it...

[Tova]

I do agree wholeheartedly with your last part though, that its still better than at a coffee shop for your chances

I sincerely hope that Claire will not be working at that coffee shop for two years. And the same would go if she'd taken Marten's job, a position requiring no qualifications to speak of, and which can teach Claire little more. She needs to work for someone who is going to offer her more challenge and opportunity than Tai ever will.

[Mr_Rose]

She kinda needs Tai’s job, really. But what even was Tai’s major anyway?

[BenRG]

She kinda needs Tai’s job, really. But what even was Tai’s major anyway?

Not even Tai knows for sure. She was too blitzed out of her skull on dope for too long at college to remember most of what happened during her student years.