(sorry guys, there's not actually a choose your own adventure component here).
The past 6 months, I've been working food service - the past 6 weeks, I've been a cook in a small taqueria here in Portland. At first, I took a food job because it was easy and close by, and I've been taking them since because that's where the opportunities seem to be. Someone quit at my current workplace, so I got bumped up to 5 shifts a week. I'd been in training for a while, and things seemed kind of hectic, but I assumed it was just because I had been learning the ropes and that it was some problem with me.
Jump cut to yesterday. I never know my weekly schedule until the day before the week begins, and even then it is liable to change the day of - 3 times, I've been called in to work on my only day off because a co-worker called out. I'm working 5-6 8 hour shifts a week with no breaks, and I can't bring up how illegal that is to my boss for fear of being fired.
I am tired all the time. I keep working closing shifts and then opening the next day - leaving at 11 PM, biking home, and then coming in at 6 AM. I spend maybe an hour with my boyfriend a day, after he gets out of work. Ships in the night, etc.
A friend of mine showed up drunk at my house the other night. His partner left, and he didn't know where to go. I ask all my coworkers if they can cover for me, nobody can. I beg my supervisor to just let me have the night off and cover for me, she doesn't.
I leave my friend at home and go to work. We get 10 orders in my 8 hour shift. I don't make enough in tips for bus fare.
Bike home. My friend is still there, still drunk (or drunk again, I guess). It's my bf's day off, so he's been taking care of my friend for me. I don't really have the energy to hang out with him, but I stay up late talking anyway. He falls asleep.
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I have a long talk with my bf. I can afford next month's rent and utilities if I put in my two week's notice tonight and just work the next two weeks.
I email my boss and give her my two week's notice, saying that I just can't work in a kitchen anymore for personal reasons. I tell her that if she needs me to stay for slightly longer than two weeks while she finds a replacement, I can do that.
I get an email back with a revised schedule for the next two weeks. I am working one shift. I can no longer afford rent for next month.
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Even as I'm writing this, I know that I have nothing to complain about - I am able to find jobs, even if I dislike them, and can support myself without having to take on a second job. I have a home, and can feed myself. I have virtually no debt to pay off, and am still on my parents' insurance. I am better off than the vast majority of people my age, period.
But I still am unqualified for virtually any job that isn't food service, Uber, or a warehouse.
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I was pretty good at school. I was Dean's list every semester, got the award for being my year's "outstanding senior" in my board of study, was picked to give a talk at the science symposium. I know my school wasn't Ivy League, but it's still one of the more competitive public Liberal Arts schools. (I know, I shot myself in the foot by going to a LA school instead of studying a hard science).
I've held two jobs requiring different skill sets for 3-4 years each. I have stellar references from both. I have a diverse set of skills outside of that, including music performance, pedagogy, and production; sewing; basic carpentry (unlicensed, but I can build a bathroom to code from bare wood); 3 years of customer service experience, 3 years of non-profit experience, and odds and ends here there and everywhere.
There is nothing I want more in the world than a full time 9-5 desk job. I want to know exactly what I'll be doing 3 months, 3 years from now. If it's a job in a field a care about, even better. But the jobs that I have applied to out here - the ones that I have met all the listed qualifications for and then some - haven't even called me back for an interview. I just turned in an application tonight for a job that I would love - working for a music centered non-profit that provides resources to underserved communities. I have 2 years of experience working for an almost identical program back east, and I still feel like I won't get this job.
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Sorry, there's not really a moral here, and I'm sure this is a big ol' mess. I'm just burnt out, and I could use some talking to.
kleinbl00, cgod, francopoli, lil, thenewgreen, can I have some perspective, or some (light) ass-kicking to keep me motivated?
I gotcher perspective right here, homie. 1) You are working easy-to-get jobs because they are also easy-to-lose jobs. This sounds like pure hell to me. I can't imagine it's particularly rewarding, nor can it feel secure. You are being mistreated for money and that's demoralizing in the extreme. You feel like shit because you've been treated like shit and that'll take a little bit to shake off. 2) You are qualified for better jobs but you have no avenues for better jobs. Fundamentally, you moved to a new city where you have no network (or, importantly, no network of friends and family that can shake the tree for you) and that means that you are competing with the desperate and disenfranchised who also have no connections because the good jobs? They tend to go to the people who don't read the want ads. So. Stop beating yourself up, and recognize that you've got a formidable barrier to your happiness. Not insurmountable, but not something you're going to casually breach, either. It's clearly important that you continue to pull your weight. I commend you for that. A strong work ethic is one of the most valuable things you can carry around with you. Your desires are not unreasonable - "stability without manual labor" is a modest goal indeed. But you have no direct pathway between where you are and where you want to be, which will require some lateral moves. First things first, recognize that you're going to have to do bullshit foodservice jobs for a while because they pay the bills (barely) and they buy you time. THAT'S IT. They aren't pointing you where you want to go and they aren't what you want to do. But in the meantime, you're going to keep applying for better stuff, and you're going to keep rattling the tree. Next up, you said you did warehouse work. Have you tried Costco? Again, I'm not suggesting this as a permanent vocation but the people I know who work at Costco love it. They've worked there for years. I've go a friend who has been warehouse for pushing 25 years now and another friend who has been Costco corporate for... shit. 20 years. If nothing else, you will be less beat up while you look for better stuff. Finally, recognize that "getting that awesome job I want" is not going to be accomplished by answering want ads. LIST MAKING TIME Make yourself a list of things that it would be fun to do. Don't be specific to careers, be specific to actions. Now make another list - write those "things that it would be fun to do" across the top and go through and see if you know of any outfits that do those things. LinkedIn is a great place to poke around, and you can also search for similar buzzwords to find companies similar to the ones you're looking at. Congratulations. You are now doing corporate intel. You've got a bit of a matrix now. Really, you've got a scatterplot of potential employers. This gives you something to work from. Now you're going to get stalky in earnest - you're going to learn about those companies, you're going to learn who works there, you're going to learn what they've accomplished, you're going to learn what they have in store. And you're going to determine who, were you to work there, you'd be reporting to. This is going to take some time - a month or two at a minimum. That's okay. Because now you've switched from "I'm terrified" and "I'm unqualified for any job that isn't warehouse or foodservice." Now you're virtually interviewing firms you'd consider working for. That alone is going to be a major boost to your self-esteem because you know what? If you can visualize yourself working there, they can too. While you're working on that list? Well, welcome to the Hubski Resume Club. PM me.
In the future, I recommend not giving two week's notice for hourly labor like this. Two week's notice is a courtesy that makes more sense for salaried workers in specialized roles. The type of roles that will take more than two weeks to fill. If you're working hourly labor at a restaurant, or in retail, or construction, your job takes between two minutes and two hours to fill. If your employer has already demonstrated that they don't treat you with courtesy (everything in your story points to this) then you don't owe them any in return.
I want to expand on this. More generally, when giving notice one should be prepared for their employment ending immediately after they give notice. I think my employer will pay out two weeks, but they've definitely escorted people out within an hour or so of them giving notice (but paid out two weeks). One coworker gave 24 hour notice, as in "today is my last day," because he was concerned there would be a gap in his family's health insurance. He was later hired back and was recently given a company award. There were no hard feelings.
I gave a two weeks notice at my last job, then they started treating me without respect because I was leaving. So I told them that I was not coming back the next day and it was due to their treatment. Called my new job and they let me start early so no problem. Not everybody gets to do this of course, but it was satisfying.
KB nailed a lot of what I was going to say but I will add this. Do everything in your power to never be homeless. NEVER. Have a steady trickle of cash even if it is working shitty food service jobs. Work two of those if needed. Once you are in the condition of living in a car, or on the streets etc, the path out of that is hell. There is nothing romantic about living out of a car, and you end up like me with health issues in a medical chart with "caused by sustained malnutrition" written next to the meds they give you. It is also tons easier to get a job when you have a job, and yea that sucks for a lot of people, but that is the way things are. You sure? This was typed out by a Hubski-er that has how many badges over clothing designs? One more thing. Eventually you will be out of this situation. Remember who your friends are. Remember who helped you, who pushed you and who was there for you. Remember these people and treat them as the most important things in your life. As for the other advise? Others got you covered.There is nothing I want more in the world than a full time 9-5 desk job.
You sure? This was typed out by a Hubski-er that has how many badges over clothing designs? I can understand. The clothing isn't going to be profitable immediately so having an income source in the meantime/as backup is important and also can't buy fabric with no dollars. A nice boring desk job with set hours is ideal because it won't suck up too much of your creative capital and since you know what time you will be home you can build the making into your schedule.There is nothing I want more in the world than a full time 9-5 desk job.
There is nothing I want more in the world than a full time 9-5 desk job. Fuck me, I need to be more grateful. I have to admit that my current 9 - 5 desk job because I didn't give a shit about where I was applying to and what position I applied for. The one I currently have came from a complete joke (admittedly, it helped that I was insane at the time). I applied for a Front End Developer position with a resume that listed the skills I didn't have as "things I would learn in a coding bootcamp" (i think someone here is a frontender and just threw up in their mouth), and they obviously rejected me. But then they called me for another position that they had a month later, I tried it out and failed that. Then they called me in a 3rd time and now I have my current job that I just complained about that I'm probably going to be fired from last week but whatever- I fit into the world somehow. I promise I'll respect my job more. Fuck that food service job, man. Pissed me off reading about it. Your resume sounds impressive as hell. I have an Ivy friend who said he applied to 200 financial places to get to the job he has, and his resume is the most impressive one I've seen in my life. I can't tell if he's lying about how many applications, but it did kind of insert the idea in my mind that there is a numbers game involved. I applied to 10 places, but in a city I've lived in my whole life. I also read an article a week ago about how someone made a bot that applied him to (500?) places. kleinbl00s 2nd point is something I will corroborate on, I did not realize the power of THE PEOPLE YOU'RE A LITTLE ACQUAINTED WITH but it is underrated, should be the stat that I wish people told me to focus on in Life RPG.
When I had to get my 2nd job out of college I sent out probably six resumes a week for five months. That's what? 120 resumes? I believe I got four interviews. The job I eventually landed was at a company advertising in the paper (dating myself there hard) but it was for a position they didn't know they needed until they met me. When I needed out of that job I made calls to people I knew, got two offers, got turned down for two others, and ended up in a new position four days after I talked to the right rep. It is FAR easier to make a move when you have a network. This was all - shit - eleven years ago. In 2009, when things were slim, I actually applied for something on Craigslist. It was a highly specialized job; it was also exactly what I had been doing from 2000-2007 so I was eminently qualified. I was also (in my estimation) one of maybe two dozen people west of the Mississippi who had any business applying for that job. I got the interview, got to look over the position, and long story short it was about eight times too much work for about one third as much money as it deserved and it was temp contract to boot so within about two minutes of sitting down the "interview" went from "tell us why you're qualified for this job" to "lemme tell ya just how fucked you are because I can tell you need Seal Team Six, you're paying McDonald's and you're recruiting like Labor Ready." It was abundantly clear I wouldn't take the job if they offered it to me, so they said I was the most qualified person they'd met so far. Curious, I asked how many people they'd interviewed. "About twenty five." (jaw drops) "How many are you interviewing?" "We've got another fifty today." (long pause) "How many resumes did you get?" "About five hundred." _________________________________________________ Moral of the story: the more people that see the job, the more people will apply. That does not mean that more qualified people will apply but it does mean that when you're part of a wide net cast, you better be able to distinguish yourself early and often.
What's wrong with a small practice? I mean you can always get unlucky with your boss but many doctors are compassionate and reasonable people, especially in areas like Seattle and Portland where they tend to be pretty progressive. I don't think it would be worse than FLACs previous work environment and with experience Flac could easily quit and get another job due to demand for competent and experienced staff.
If there is a particular job or a particular industry you want to work in, then your new job becomes getting that job. Work tirelessly to get it. If you really want that nonprofit job, then pull out all the stops. -Write a song titled, "why I need to work at a music non-profit," record it and send it to the CEO. Write the CEO, owner, President of any company you want to work for. Let them know that you'll literally work in the mail-room to start. Let them know that you're passionate, hard working, reliable and smart. Let them know that you want them to hire you, observe your performance and see that you are one of the best decisions they've made for the organization. When you go to the castle, see the king (or queen). That's how you get your dream job. Also, start going to networking events. Portland has a vibrant tech and startup scene. Meet people there. Make business cards that say "flac -the best hire you've ever made." With your phone number and email below." Network, network, network. Cause guess what? If it's your dream job, it's about 20 other people's dream job too. All those other people are working, networking, writing the king. You need to be doing the same. But you have something none of them have. You are extremely creative, and you should never forget how valuable that is. That will differentiate you from your peers for the rest of your life, if you let it. Your creativity is a very powerful weapon. Use it. Good luck, my friend. "If you will it, it is no dream."
Also, ditch the drunk friend. edit: And, get confident, stupid!
Weren't we all that drunk friend once? But I see what you're saying.
I've steadily come to the conclusion that you can help yourself, you can help others, you can help both in any mix you choose, but the more you help others the less you can generally help yourself. I have always actively sought to help others and usually stretch myself too thin to do much on my own account. But I've only recently recognized that this tendency has cost me position compared to some of my more selfish peers. I do not intend to change my behavior - I can't suddenly become a selfish prick even if I wanted to. But I'm growing an appreciation for just how much self-preservation and self-determination is necessary to excel at competitive careers. If your weekend is spent helping your friends move, it isn't spent finishing that screenplay.
Hey there. I'm in job hell too. Recent psych grad — takes forever to get through the application processes for the jobs in applying for — and I'm working at Walmart. They're paying me more ($10.50) than subway ($7.25) because of my experience that I got at subway before I graduated. I'm in the deli now. There's a reason my bs jobs are in the food industry. I'm hungry. So hungry. Brother and mother have been sending care packages of blue apron and veggie chef. Between five finger discount and my relative's help, I haven't bought groceries in 3 weeks. Tomorrow, I'm going to the blood bank to make some money on my day off. Then I'm going into an interview for a manual labor staffing agency. I nearly left subway a week before employment with the same staffing agency last month, and I'm glad that I didn't because they found out they couldn't place anyone in the factory that we all had orientation for. Instead I went to orientation at Walmart after my shifts at subway. Twelves don't suck when you know you're making progress. The lesson? No company out there automatically deserves your loyalty. May be the mom and pop stores do, and I didn't apply to many of them on purpose (for all kinds of reasons). But other than that, you owe nothing to any company. I feel dirty, yes, but Im only playing the game to eat. Some thoughts: Subway gives you a free six inch per 6 hours on the clock. Not so hungry anymore Walmart pays more and they're orientation with put you on the computer doing video lessons for 35 hours or so, easy money. Factories mostly work you 2nd or 3rd shift going in but you'll start closer to $12-$14/ hr. Look at Amazon, where you'll sell you soul away and walk a dozen miles a night, and you might make more like $16/hr On Craigslist, you can find paid surveys to do from scientists and statisticians. $10- $50 each (haven't done any yet Uber does leases and you can do uber to pay it off ($400 security deposit). I was thinking about doing it to get a car and going to lyft to make better money (tips) but I didn't have $200 let alone $400. I couldn't sell myself well enough to land the job, but you can try call centers. It'll take a while to get started, but care.com has been the best money maker for me this far. It connects a service provider for housekeeping, baby/dog sitters, music teachers, and other things to individuals. I helped a guy move out of his apartment, that he stayed in for 10 years at least, in one week. I know what it's like to pay rent using credit cards for three months in a row because there's no money coming in. I know what it's like to walk to work, bike the mile to the bus stop in the rain using sunglasses as a windshield to catch the bus on its way leaving the bus stop, and work for less than your average dive into a wishing well for quarters will provide. I'm under tornado watch until after I get out of work now, and my bike is oiled up and chained outside. Let me tell you, you can do it and come out on top. Keep your head up and keep on going.
Fuck, I hope things start looking up. I usually subsist off of coffee and green tea until I get to work, then eat all my meals for the day there. I actually love cooking, and I hate that food service makes me not want to cook at home anymore. Best of luck making your way out of job hell - do you live in a city?
Is serving good money where you live ? I know some places in American have painfully low hourly wages for servers so the tips are less great but when it's good, it's really good and honestly not as soul crushing as people think. Grocery store cashiers have it way worse in the soul crushing department and they make good old minimum wage.
It's a tough town to get started in for some reason. Apply to food service jobs at places you'd actually like to work. If you are back of the house only take jobs that split tips. Have a resume when you apply, you usually won't get the job if you don't have one. Go in during a slow time earlier in the day. If it's at all possible chat someone up before you ask for a job. Say something you like about the space or read their good yelp reviews, or talk about what ever it is that makes them special (where they get their coffee, the hand massaged chickens or the the fact that they are vegan). Introduce yourself, shake hands and look them in the eye than ask if they are hiring. Best job I had in this town was a Craigslist add down the street from my house. It was a newly opened bar. I walked in early in the day, two owners were there. Started chatting, told them three things I liked about their build out, introduced and chatted for another twenty minutes, had a drink with them and finally told them I saw their craigslist add. Started work the next day. People come, in and ask if I'm hiring and push a resume in my hands. Little eye contact, no social interaction, no handshake no introduction. If I was hiring I wouldn't hire them. Most people apply like this, so anything more you can do than that gives you a big leg up. I've gotten one person an interview for a job (which they got) that payed really well this year and found another person a place to live which is cheap and agreeable, I'll ask around and keep an ear out for ya.