Daily Grind - the Job, McJob, and Careers Thread

[maudmac]

Working Kittens, salutations. Here's a thread for work talk. I can't believe we didn't have one of these already! (And if we did, and if I am blind, please blame one of those other mods. )



After many years in retail, which will Kill. Your. Soul., I've gone back to school. Working there was never meant to last so long. I'd taken off from school in a fit of despair over not knowing what I wanted to do with my life and thought I'd just work for a bit while I figured it all out. Heh, I never did and still haven't, but, did I mention, retail will Kill. Your. Soul? So, on the verge of having a murdered soul, I said "Fuck it, I still don't know what I want to do, but it's sure not this."



So, Kittens, here's a thread for us to talk about our jobs, mcjobs, careers, etc., whether we love them, hate them, or are indifferent; for us to talk about our lack of work, if that's the case; for us to share horror stories and/or stories of how magnificent and fulfilling our work is, and anything in between.



So...what do you do for a living?

---

don't make me come up there - satan

[Gatito Grande]

Still unemployed.



GG 'Nuff said (for now, anyway) Out



Will it be OK to post links to resumes . . . for possible networking purposes? (I doubt anyone here could hire me . . . but you might know someone, who knows someone who could. )

[maudmac]

Of course, GG. Link away. I hope you can be in this thread celebrating your new job one of these days. Good luck to you.

---

don't make me come up there - satan

[vix84]

Good thread idea.



My tale of woe? I couldn't imagine doing anything other than writing as a career. For some reason, I didn't think about the logistics of finding a job, and enrolled in a university degree with creative writing as my major. Then I graduated, full of idealism and creativity, and realized the realities of finding a job. It's almost impossible. So I'm working full-time in an office, completely unrelated to the arts/literary field. I keep telling myself that I'll start writing again soon.



Don't get me wrong, I loved the course and don't think there was anything else I should have done. It's just hard to achieve dreams in the arty world and you need some kind of back up plan.

~*@.......We are the weirdest person in the world.......@*~

Edited by: vix84 at: 3/22/05 3:20 am

[angel of salvation]

Vix84 I agree with you! Its so hard to find anything in the arty world when its so competitive and everyone wants u to have a backup plan...

The subject of jobs and the future is always lurking here...doing my A-levels so its either get a job or go to uni...and i dnt really like the second option...4 or sumthing years or sitting round and drawing things for a portfolio, or writting, or singing and making music...I don't need degrees in that. jus talent and a whole wad or luck. I'm missing the luck part and the moment....*sigh*



It stresses me out sometimes, thinking about where i'm meant to go next...its hard enough thinking about what I'm doing 2morrow in school. I love to write, or draw, or sing...so what shud I do? sit and wait to see what happens? i think thats what's turning into...bleah



The current job status is unemplyed. I don't even have a part time job hah! I used to work with my Tae kwon do school, but he was trying to brainwash me into being like him and give up all my dreams for his job, so I said no and quit. Stick that in ur pipe and smoke it So I'm just sitting round waiting for that job of mine to cum round the corner...but I'm not all sad. I guess I still have my parents to keep me supported sumhow and my hunni said that he'd support me no matter what So I'm happy...for now...meh



Jess xxx



ETA: this is a lil more long winded then i thought it would be hahaha oh well

'You're my angel of salvation, and hope, and strength...your my multi-angel'-Jay (My baby)

"Denial, Party of one, You're table's ready"-Spud

]|My Anime Site|[

Edited by: angel of salvation at: 3/22/05 4:57 am

[Triscuit7]

At moment I'm of two minds about my job. 'Tis retail (I manage a bookstore in a mall in Philadelphia) and at times I feel that it does suck the life out of me. I've been at it for 11+ years (7 as mgr) and never expected it to be so long. It started as a job to bring some money while I got together enough "energy" to continue in my chosen profession: working on my dissertation. So years later very little has been done on the diss. Time is always an issue, but so is desire. It's hard to get motivated when you know you'll be one of 100s applying for a university/museum position. Add in that the salary is going to be less than what you make as a bookstore mgr and you start to wonder if it's even worth it. The issue is complicated by the fact that I had a falling out with my advisor -- word of advice: NEVER work for your advisor (they have too much power as it is) -- who happens to be one of the most powerful people in my field.

So yes, I'm working retail. I couldn't do it in any other venue than books. I'm more or less content. I don't generally finish the day in tears which was all too common when working for my advisor. I don't have an ulcer (which I was definitely working on 11 years ago). At the moment it's a bit much, but then I'm overtired. Christmas in retail is a bitch and although it's March, I haven't had a chance to recover. There's always an adjustment after Xmas when you have to reset the store (Jan-Feb) which was complicated by a new way to do a clearance sale (good for the company, bad for me). A new fire inspector visited and that meant lots of juggling in the backroom, followed by spring mgrs' meeting in early March, and the writing of my assistant mgr's review. Basically it adds up to around 7 days off since Feb. 13, two of which were taken so I could sit in the mgrs meeting. So I'm tired, but still hopeful that I can get settled down to normal in April.



Ciao, Melissa

******************



Do something totally irrational and let the enemy think himself to death. (Pyanfar Chanur)

[penguin of death]

i like the sound of this thread....and for that reason i am going to use it to ramble on a little about careers and worries etc....



Vix84 i totally know what you mean. i'm two months away from finishing a film studies degree with my specialist subject of screenwriting. not only is it one of the toughest industries but i am also in the UK (the british film industry will not take a risk on anything other than realism film or freaking rom coms!)



i always knew getting into my ideal career would be difficult but it is slowly dawning on me how hard it is going to be. one alumni even noted that you basically have to go to the US if you want to getan agent etc... so i guess its 'Here is come!' to the good ol' USofA. lol



on the up side (geez i wish!) i'm part-timing it at a cinema... retail sucks yes, but, free films!!!!! advance screenings etc... if i had to be in a shitty job for the rest of my life it'd be this one.

The BISCUIT will only dare to be just a BISCUIT when it is with its TRUE FRIEND the POTATO

[TaraBaby77]

Hey there kittens...



A lot of you know that I'm in the military and currently (again ) deployed in Iraqi. Well, I just wanted to share a little article about what our squadron does in the Air Force and how we are part of the bigger picture of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I hope you enjoy. =)



www.af.mil/news/story.asp...=123010047

Aaron

'Tarababy77'

---

"Don't buy into all the media crap. Love yourself for who you are, not what others THINK you should look like. It's DEFINITELY more important in this life to love each other despite our imperfections." - Amber Benson

---

[tybee317]

I freakin love this thread already!



Back to the business, I took a little more technical bent, I am a Nurse, a RN to be exact. Graduated not too long ago, and you know how people always say, be careful what you wish for. Damn it, they were right! I am in a OR (perioperative) training program that takes about 9 months. Guess what, they expect us to be on time and there every day, if you are not it throws the surgery schedule off. Back to the real world, big time.

We have been in orientation for the last 2 weeks and today the timekeeper person and our instructor dropped the not so touchy feely bomb on us. A laundry list of the do's and don'ts, I hate those. Our instructor runs the class similar to Stalag 17 or the Hen and Chick model (I call it).

Any way you slice it, our instructor is hell on wheels, and the whole staff knows it. I wonder sometimes what I have gotten myself into, but the training is worth a lot $$$. Surgery is fascinating to me, saw two cryo ablations of the prostate today.

___________________



If you believe in telekinesis, raise my hand!

[Shinnen]

Nice thread. Jobs.



After close to 3 years having no permanent job (mostly freelance but with little to no stable working experience, most clients won't hire you freelance), I got very depressed and got dangerously close to doing something many would hate me for.



Now it's been close to 7 months that I found a permanent position (non-executive) at a local film distribution and cinema management company as a Publicity Assistant. I like the work I'm given here. I get to go for movie premieres and free tickets to preview screenings as well as screenings of movies from other companies (when my boss decides she doesn't hate my department for that day). I do work for 3 departments mainly and two departments truly appreciates me as I'm the only designer who keeps strictly to deadlines and tries to meet those deadlines earlier. This is where my job starts taking a toll. My immediate boss hates and constantly tells me my department is so useless that she has to count how many days people from my department actually turn up on time rather than counting how many days they turn up late. I've been suffering this backlash from the moment I joined the company. No one wants the other two designers to do their projects and is always begging me to do for them. In return... two bitches in my department seems to put me in a bad position by telling me I'm negligent and lazy and rude. I know people who tell me I should look at the perks. Which I do. I have a huge Angelina Jolie banner in storage. The Mrs Smith key art. Tickets to movies. Some nice friends in Distribution Dept and a bit of money each month to tie me over with bills. I got my confirmation 3 months early, heavier workload (taking over the executive's work and the other designer's work and have no increment in salary while the other two has). That's work for me. Good part. It's the closest to movies I'll ever get. Oh... and I don't earn enough to pay income tax... no income tax... that's the best part of having a peanut salary where the boss thinks it's worth white gold.



Good Luck to those who are still job hunting. It canbe very depressing but soon you'll find something.

CheerZ

Shinnen



She's the most amazing girl in the whole world. She's the only girl who makes my heart beat faster and slower at the same time. When I'm not with her, I'm not living. I'm not existing until I can hold her in my arms again.- hence i'm not here now

Edited by: Shinnen at: 3/23/05 6:32 pm

[SJ]

I've just finished a Screenwriting Course and I agree it's a difficult industry to get into.

[RaiStarr]

My job rocks. RAWKS even. I work at a game store. It's kind of an off the wall game store which sells Magic the Gathering and Warhammer and Cheapass Games and Steve Jackson games. Part of my job description is to play the games with the customers and convince the games that they rock so they will buy them. I also have pretty good job security because my family bought the store this past December.

Forgive me now! Tomorrow I may no longer feel guilty...

[sam7777]

I work in IT and my job sux. When I started a decade and a half ago, I was really excited about the technology. Now it's all patching and firewalling to prevent break-ins and I can feel my life's breath just eaking out. I'd like to switch to something else and got a multimedia degree four years ago just in time for the Dot Com bust when no one was hiring full time for multimedia. Still trapped in the IT grinder and looking to see what I can do next. I'm shy of schooling given that the $$ spent did not pan out into a career change. Sigh.

_____________________

I still see dead lesbian cliches

[WebWarlock]

I came here after getting laid off from my dream job. So I owe the Kitten for saving my sanity on that.



Spent some time unemployed, some time underemployed, went back to teaching, wrote a book or two.



Now I am back. I back to doing the work I enjoy full-time. COurse the 10 hour days are a drag, and I don't get to come here as often, but the steady paycheck is very nice.



I have to admit I do like my job. I work at an online university. I do the educational stuff (curriculum and pedagogy) for the online courses. I enjoy it more than plain academics (did that, hated it) or simple tech stuff (got bored with that really fast).



BTW anyone here who has a Masters degree (or higher, or is getting one) and wants to write course content for extra $$$, send me an email! Please include your Kitten board name to since that is how I know most of you really.



I have always said that I will always help out my fellow Kittens when and where I can.



Warlock

Web Warlock, web.warlock@comcast.net, The Other Side.

Liber Mysterium: The D20 Netbook of Witches & The Dragon and the Phoenix: New Adventures of Willow and Tara

"We’re gonna light up the dark of night like the brightest day in a whole new way."

Edited by: WebWarlock at: 3/25/05 6:57 am

[sheila wt]

This is a very cool thread!



I'll be graduating on May (finally!!!). I got an associate degree in digital video production and now a bachelors in Journalism and Broadcasting. My dream job would be work with video production. I love video editing and working with cameras and wish I had more time to play with it.



I worked for 3 years with television production and liked it a lot. But, after a 3-month internship with TV news, I just confirmed what I already knew: I really don't like it!



One of the first things I'm going to do when I graduate is going back to writing. I always had a dream of writing a book so, getting a job or not, I'm going after my dream.



Right now, I work at my university's computer lab (I'm not a citizen, so I can only work for the university without a work permit). I already sent for my work permit, so I'll be able to work anywhere in my field for a year (they call it "trainning permit"). Before this permit expires, I have to find a company who will hire me, like me, and sponsor my work visa so I can stay here and apply for a greencard. I don't even consider the option of this nor happening, because nothing would make me leave my partner.



Of course, if American gays had the same rights as the rest of the population, we wouldn't be worrying about this...

------------------------------

Sheila

[Auburn]

It pickles me off that all our dreams and hopes are dashed because the world is so harsh and throws too many obsticles at us. But I definitely believe the saying "If you enjoy your job then you'll never work a day in your life."



Since I was about nine I wanted to be a nursery nurse because I absolutely love kids and I'm a big kid myself, but here I am 11 years later with a full diploma in nursery nursing and I hate it with. A. Passion!



I love the children and they are so refreshing to work with because of the way they see the world, but the people I met in my training and when I became fully qualified were the most uncaring people you could ever meet. I found it hard to get along with my co-workers because they were so unenthusiastic and rude in every nursery I worked at (about five)! So here I am back at college doing psycology although where that's going to take me I have no idea, it just seemed like fun and interesting subject.



I don't know what I want to be or what I'm going to do, I'll just see where the wind blows me

"This is getting ridiculous. The first assassin kills the second assassin, sent to kill the first assassin, who didn't assassinate anyone until she assassinated the second assassin sent to assassinate her!" ~ From Angel

[mscheckmate]

I have two careers, and they're very different from each other. My degrees are in music performance, but I also have forty or so units of business and accounting. For my main job, I'm a classical musician and music teacher. I especially love community college teaching, because I teach a lot of students who are the first in their families to attend college: it's really cool to work with people who don't take education for granted. For my other gig, I'm a tax accountant enrolled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service. I would prefer to limit my tax practice to representing individual performing artists, but I always end up doing several landlords' returns, and the occasional partnership, estate, or trust. I like tax accounting, as opposed to more generic CPA stuff, because it involves trying to make real-life sense out of the tax code, and then explaining the regulations to my clients so that they can feel more comfortable with the whole process and take better care of their own finances.



Anyway, this time of year gets really busy for both professions, so I'm operating on a constant sleep deficit. Eventually, I'll probably do more tax accounting and scale back some of the non-college music teaching.

In the evenings I shall read to you while you work your cross-stitch in the firelight. And then we shall go to bed, our bed, my dearest girl...from "Sisters," by Lynne Cheney

[angelofinsanity]

I work at subway *bangs head on table.....repeatedly*

BUT!!! on the bright side, once I graduate, (if i graduate) I'll be a certified physiotherapist

-----------insert witty sig here------------

[angel of salvation]

I like Subway....prob not that great when u work there but....meh....Hey good luck with the graduating. I add to that with the banana



Jess xxx

'You're my angel of salvation, and hope, and strength...your my multi-angel'-Jay (My baby)

"Denial, Party of one, You're table's ready"-Spud

]|My Anime Site|[

[Tempest Duer]

I need a McJob. I don't want one. I don't want to work; I hate the idea, but I do need the money, since I'll be moving out of my parents' house in less than a year.

I got bitten by a drunk lesbian! Does that mean I'll turn into one?



~my friend Mary

[Alia16]

Never work in the coffee business.



"I'll have a no foam, nonfat, decaf, grande latte with only one shot, and two splendas in the bottom."



No joke, this guy ordered this yesterday. So frustrating. You can only take coffee so far. I just would like to get that off my chest. =)

i feel pretty, oh so pretty!

[Triscuit7]

So what's the point in ordering a latte with no foam? But I suppose it could have been worse: he could have wanted soy milk instead of nonfat....



Ciao, Melissa

******************



Do something totally irrational and let the enemy think himself to death. (Pyanfar Chanur)

[Gatito Grande]

Kittens, I have a hugely important interview on Wednesday (for a job which could be perfect for me). As many of you know, I have been stuck in Unemployment Land for, like, forever.

Please, PLEASE send good wishes, prayers, positive vibrations, and any extra GOOD KARMA you may not be using, my way? 3PM (EDT) Wednesday.

GG Thanks! Out

[oneyedchicklet]

My fingers, toes and eyes are crossed GG. Sending good vibes your way.

I have two very important doctors appointments today. One will say whether I can go back to work next week. I'm not unemployed but still out on disability. Stupid heartattack. So I'll need good thoughts too. I really hate being home. I have no one to play with and I'm going insane.

Love to All,
Barb

[chewy 19]

Poor B and that stupid heartattack, you should be home resting...and you have your cats to play with

I also have some big news but I'm not allowed to talk about it until 5-23-05 so I might post then.

[tybee317]

Good luck to you GG, sending good karma your way, zzzap! Interviews can be exhausting, do something nice for yourself.

Personally, now that I am working, having to get up at 0500 every day is a real bone crusher. I'm still not used to that. Yesterday the cardiac nurse worked all day, went home, was called back in at 9 pm for an emergency, worked until 2 am this morning and was back at work at 7 this morning. I need some of those vitamins!!! I'm not on call yet, but it will be in the next couple of months.

[singgirl]

Well...I've been unemployed since the beginning of January. I've been in college for the past 3 years, but have no degree, I ran out of money. Now I am having a problem getting a job without a degree, the market here is really bad. BUT I have a job interview and drug test (eek) in 6 hours...I don't want the job, but it's not a McJob, so I'm going for it. Please wish me luck.

[kimberley]

Hope this is not too late but im wishing you the very best of luck. I'm looking for a part-time bar job, anyone know if any like that one in Coyote Ugly really exist? hahaha

[Bozwell]

actually there is a coyote ugly in manhattan if i am thinking correctly. never been there though so couldnt tell ya if its like the one form the movie or whatnot.

so, ive come to realize 2 things.

number one: working 2 jobs and going to school SUCKS MAJOR ASS.

number 2: working for the board of education and having to suck up and do what im told so they pay for me to go to school SUCKS EVEN MORE ASS.

god. i just wanna help kids man. just leave me alone and let me get my degree so i can try to keep the little hoodlums off the street and in school. thats not too much to ask for, is it?

but NOOOO. they bounce me from office to office and stick me with the absolute WORST of the WORST kids in the entire school. i get to try and hunt down 16 and 17 year olds who don't listen to anyone, and get them to come back to classes. then, if i didnt have enough to do, they stick me with official attendance which means i have to go to ALL the teachers in school and collect their attendance folders for 9th period so we can scan them into the computer. half the time the teachers dissapear so im running all over trying to catch them before they leave with it. 5 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS im running up and down because the stupid custodian is to lazy to make me an elevator key and NO ONE ELSE ever lets me use it.

< huff> sorry im just stressed. ive realized in a few hours i gotta wake up and do it all over again. plus its tuesday which means i have class tonight on top of everything. < sigh>

Boz

[tybee317]

Boz, so sorry that you are stressed. Remeber, this is only temporary, sometimes that helps when you are having a truly suckomatic day.

When I was in school, I worked at a restaurant. Restaurant folks like to have a good time and get in at the right one and you can make a lot of $$$ cash. It was great, I worked in the evening as a bartender and sometime waiter. Restaurants are usually flexible, which helps if you have a big exam to study for, I just had to convince someone to work for me, or we traded shifts. It can be a fabulous job while going to school, other Nurse friends of mine worked in casinos while in school.