Little Things about Work

[Kakuna Matata]

Unless you’re among those privileged enough to not have to work, or if you have won the lottery and have invested your money wisely, you either have a job already or will need to get one in the future. Though you would most likely want to have a career over a job. Or, if you’re really fortunate, you have found or will find your calling in life. (Preferably one that has a positive correlation with money.)

Regardless of which of the three you have or will have, they all have aspects or elements that can be irksome. Ideally, these are balanced out or outweighed by the positives to your line of work.

Like it or hate it, your work has or will provide you with various experiences in the course of your time performing it. Take this opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of your work, your likes and dislikes about it, certain experiences you’ve had while working, etc. Or, if you have yet to start working, feel free to ask for advice about finding a job, interacting with co-workers and bosses, or questions and concerns in general about joining the work force.

Conversations do not necessarily need to follow one, solid topic; anyone can bring up a new event relating to his/her experiences with his/her work at any time.

RULES

1. Keep the discussions related to your work or the work of other members.

• A moderator may give a public warning if he/she finds that the discussion has become off-topic per the thread rules. This is a sign that the current discussion needs to be stopped. Ignoring this can lead to warnings/infractions.

2. You’re free to put your own name up on this website, which is your choice concerning your own privacy. However, take a moment to decide whether it’s the best idea to include the names of your co-workers, bosses, or your workplace.​

3. Sometimes it helps to vent. Feel free to express your emotions/feelings, but please keep it at a level that won’t make your fellow members uncomfortable.​

4. Debating with someone about their views and stances on work is okay, but do not attack the person directly. We are all unique individuals. As such, no one person will have the exact same experiences as another. Please keep this in mind and be respectful of your fellow members when posting here.​

5. When asking for advice, remember that the advice given is not a full guarantee. Again, we are all unique individuals. What works for one may not work for another. Use your best judgment when considering the advice that has been provided.​

 

[Mintaka]

I applied for a lab assistant position in my school. I hope I get the job. The pay isn't very good, but it'll pay for my daily trips between home and school.

Last time I worked as a lab assistant was frustrating, as I was kicked out without a warning. XD

 

[Kakuna Matata]

@Mintaka Why did they kick you out? Abusing smilies in your lab reports? xP

 

[Mintaka]

@Mintaka Why did they kick you out?

That's the part I was bothered with; I went to the lab 8 AM in the morning, expecting work, and the intern said I wasn't needed and I should pack my stuff. XD

Abusing smilies in your lab reports? xP

In that one and only lab report I filled, I filled it out fine! XP

Sometimes things in jobs/work just...don't turn out well. XD

 

[Almonds]

Sometimes things in jobs/work just...don't turn out well. XD

I quite agree.

I currently work at a private academy to teach little kids around 10 years old. They're all cute and adorable, but kids rarely listen to teachers... XD

 

[Kakuna Matata]

That's the part I was bothered with; I went to the lab 8 AM in the morning, expecting work, and the intern said I wasn't needed and I should pack my stuff. XD

That's happened to me a couple of times before. Most were due to misreading the work schedule, but once was because the manager of the day failed to call me. Wasted that gas for nothin'.

In that one and only lab report I filled, I filled it out fine! XP

Sometimes things in jobs/work just...don't turn out well. XD

Know that feeling too. xD

 

[Rayne]

So you guys were dismissed because you came in at the wrong time?

I feel fortunate that every job I've held has been very flexible about time. I've held 5 positions already and not one of them had a dedicated schedule.

I guess with the nature of the work I do and the congestion in the region, flex-time is a common occurrence around here. I don't think I could ever work a rigid schedule.

That's the part I was bothered with; I went to the lab 8 AM in the morning, expecting work, and the intern said I wasn't needed and I should pack my stuff. XD

You didn't even get an appropriate word from your supervisor? That sounds awfully frustrating being turned away by an intern.

 

[Lupin Fiasco]

ah man jobs Dx I need to get a job asap, but I just can't seem to get one no matter how much I try Dx & I need one bad to support my sick mom & grandma (yes, I'm in the cliched college student being the man of the house taking care of family role Dx ). I also need advise on being more social for the workplace because I'm very introverted & cynical, which I feel would hold me back if I even got a job

What's funny is I had a job 7 years ago when I was 12, stockin' mini fridges in a corporate building for $20 an hour xD my how it down spiraled since then

 

[Kakuna Matata]

So you guys were dismissed because you came in at the wrong time?

I feel fortunate that every job I've held has been very flexible about time. I've held 5 positions already and not one of them had a dedicated schedule.

I guess with the nature of the work I do and the congestion in the region, flex-time is a common occurrence around here. I don't think I could ever work a rigid schedule.

Whoops, seems I forgot to reply to this. ^^;

I wasn't dismissed (it actually worked out very well for me, since I used those two extra hours to go with my dad to take "my" car in to get fixed that morning anyway), just kinda sucked I came early when I didn't have to be there and didn't have anything in mind that I needed to purchase.

My schedule for the most part is very flexible. One can't get out of working weekends for more than one or two, unless you had a very good reason like for school-related things or mission trips or something (there was a cashier who got out of it for two months for those reasons). Otherwise they're pretty good. When went in for the interview I told them right off the bat that I would be going back to school in the spring, and they were fine with that. When the time came I switched from 'always available' to working every other weeknight and every other weekend, which in turn became a big factor in me moving up in the world and being transferred to the candy department. (Ok, not really. Still get paid the same, but I prefer candy to registers because the time goes by faster, you don't really have to "know" the products because people buy what they like to eat, and you deal with less pissed off people.)

Rigid schedule...ew. Fixed schedules are nice though, I kinda wish I had that for weekends.

ah man jobs Dx I need to get a job asap, but I just can't seem to get one no matter how much I try Dx & I need one bad to support my sick mom & grandma (yes, I'm in the cliched college student being the man of the house taking care of family role Dx ). I also need advise on being more social for the workplace because I'm very introverted & cynical, which I feel would hold me back if I even got a job

What's funny is I had a job 7 years ago when I was 12, stockin' mini fridges in a corporate building for $20 an hour xD my how it down spiraled since then

Sorry to hear you have so much responsibility and stress to handle.

Honestly, I'm really introverted compared to my coworkers. It's not that I hate them or anything, I just don't share a lot of interests with them. But I'm not unfriendly to any of them. It's sort of hard to explain.
If you don't mind small talk you should be able to get by.

Aw. Did you leave by choice for college?

 

[Lupin Fiasco]

Sorry to hear you have so much responsibility and stress to handle.

Honestly, I'm really introverted compared to my coworkers. It's not that I hate them or anything, I just don't share a lot of interests with them. But I'm not unfriendly to any of them. It's sort of hard to explain.
If you don't mind small talk you should be able to get by.

Aw. Did you leave by choice for college?

since you put it like that, if I can get by in school, I can get by at a job. But actually, I forgot to specify, is that I'm not concerned about dealing with coworkers, but dealing with customers (like if I worked at a fast food joint) cuz I just know the sheer amount of ignorance I would have to handle & I know I'd blow up cuz I don't handle ignorance well, most likely me ending up getting fired, & basically have to be nomadic with my jobs. & I guess the reason I say this is because if I do get a job, it's most likely gonna be one where I gotta communicate with people, such as a fast food joint, & I don't communicate well with people.

Yes & no. I probably shouldn't speak so surely yet, but after finishing my freshman year of college last year, I know college is not a place where I belong, which is the no part. But I still go as par my choice cuz well, I'm no Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, & America's capitalism is a pain in the ass to deal with without an education (hell, even with one).

 

[Kakuna Matata]

since you put it like that, if I can get by in school, I can get by at a job. But actually, I forgot to specify, is that I'm not concerned about dealing with coworkers, but dealing with customers (like if I worked at a fast food joint) cuz I just know the sheer amount of ignorance I would have to handle & I know I'd blow up cuz I don't handle ignorance well, most likely me ending up getting fired, & basically have to be nomadic with my jobs. & I guess the reason I say this is because if I do get a job, it's most likely gonna be one where I gotta communicate with people, such as a fast food joint, & I don't communicate well with people.

Yes & no. I probably shouldn't speak so surely yet, but after finishing my freshman year of college last year, I know college is not a place where I belong, which is the no part. But I still go as par my choice cuz well, I'm no Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, & America's capitalism is a pain in the ass to deal with without an education (hell, even with one).

Aaah that's what you meant. Some days the customers' ignorance of the establishment or whatnot can get to you. It helps, for me anyways, to keep in mind that "ok, they're not here as often as I am, of course they wouldn't know where *insert item here* is" or "I don't work that department at all, but I'll go help them find someone who does know what they're talking about to come help them." Benefit of the doubt really, along with not giving into the fundamental attribution error, which is very easy to do if you're not conscious of it.

After I started working in retail I became more conscious of how I act while out and about shopping and whenever possible try to be as kind and courteous to the people who have to work at such places for various reasons. They don't want to hear about your crap or deal with your bad mood and, unless they're being a jerk to you, they don't deserve it. I keep this attitude when it's the reverse and I'm the one working instead of shopping.

So basically keep the golden rule in mind, when you can. You'll probably get treated like crap at least a few times because working in fast food or retail at the bottom of the ladder isn't exactly the most difficult or demanding job on earth and thus people won't view your job as highly as they would as that of a neurosurgeon. However, there wouldn't be an establishment without a bunch of people at the bottom to hold the whole thing up. In my experience, people generally just want to get whatever they came for and get out in a relatively quick manner. You have your role of helping them get out of there, and they have their role of playing along and helping you do that to the best of their abilities.

What makes you think you don't belong there? If anything working in fast food or retail reinforces that you need an education because you don't want to be stuck there forever. xD

 

[Lupin Fiasco]

Aaah that's what you meant. Some days the customers' ignorance of the establishment or whatnot can get to you. It helps, for me anyways, to keep in mind that "ok, they're not here as often as I am, of course they wouldn't know where *insert item here* is" or "I don't work that department at all, but I'll go help them find someone who does know what they're talking about to come help them." Benefit of the doubt really, along with not giving into the fundamental attribution error, which is very easy to do if you're not conscious of it.

After I started working in retail I became more conscious of how I act while out and about shopping and whenever possible try to be as kind and courteous to the people who have to work at such places for various reasons. They don't want to hear about your crap or deal with your bad mood and, unless they're being a jerk to you, they don't deserve it. I keep this attitude when it's the reverse and I'm the one working instead of shopping.

So basically keep the golden rule in mind, when you can. You'll probably get treated like crap at least a few times because working in fast food or retail at the bottom of the ladder isn't exactly the most difficult or demanding job on earth and thus people won't view your job as highly as they would of a neurosurgeon. However, there wouldn't be an establishment without a bunch of people at the bottom to hold the whole thing up. In my experience, people generally just want to get whatever they came for and get out in a relatively quick manner. You have your role of helping them get out of there, and they have their role of playing along and helping you do that to the best of their abilities.

What makes you think you don't belong there? If anything working in fast food or retail reinforces that you need an education because you don't want to be stuck there forever. xD

Thank you so very much for actually taking the time out to explain that in 3 paragraphs, that really helps =] I tried to explain the problem to other people & it just did not click in their heads as to what I was trying to get across, despite them knowing me, not figuring out the problem is very relative to my personality, but I digress. Now that you've explained it I'm mostly relieved. But I just know there will be people who will cop an attitude for the sake of it, I don't care what anyone says about southern hospitality, people love to friggin cop attitude just because! XD

Well college is a huge social ordeal. me & social don't mix. my freshman year was so, so, horrible. granted I was in northern Louisiana rather than down here in south Louisiana, where the people are very different, so at least that's alleviated this year. but still, I dunno about you, so I may be preaching to the choir, but just because this is the most blatant easiest example I can use, being a non drinker among the typical college student crowd is like being a smurf among snorks; it's just a challenge when going against the grain. It sounds like a rehash considering being different is something I was used to all throughout school, but college is just different somehow, I can't quite explain it. Plus, I know I'm not ready to be in college or a college setting, I'm a person who's a very very slow bloomer socially, it took me til 7th grade to get used to elementary school & by then it was 2 years too late! socially & mentality I'm just not "here" nor "there" for college; the society, the work, the mentality, it just isn't resonating with me, especially since I'm a slow starter. Now I could sound like I'm just spouting the typical freshman experience, but when I have surveys & word of mouth that factorize my college experience so far as horrible compared to 40 other freshman college experiences as great (my senior class from high school), I just gotta assume it isn't for me; or I could accept the very lesser chanced it was just coincidence everyone from my senior class except me enjoyed college, but that's just whistlin' dixie to me. But I digress, I gotta get through it for an education, but it doesn't motivate me any more. For some reason I'm very unmotivated (I guess cuz I'm a "radical leftist hippie" xD )

 

[Snoozle]

Work sucks, kids. Stay away as long as you can.

3 years of university here I come.

 

[Synthesis]

Oh, God, work. The only job I've ever had was at Elvery's Sports about 30 minutes from my house, which I had to do as part of a work experience module last year. It was such a horrible place to work in, even if it was only on Fridays for a few months. I was not used to not being told what to do and the other people who worked there advised me to "keep busy" - that might sound easy, but when there is about 20 minutes worth of jobs to actually be done it becomes so frustrating pretending to stack and restack all the boxes. Not to mention when I had to shine the shoe shelves in the footwear section, customers kept coming up to me and asking me questions and telling me to get them those shoes in a different size.

It doesn't sound too tricky, right? Wrong. Thousands of shoes filled the warehouse round back and it was horribly categorised. I'd have mini panic attacks every time I went in and tried to find the shoes that matched, let alone finding different sizes. I wasn't the only person who hated the job there; all the staff bitched about the manager continously and they did nothing whatsoever except they had mastered the art of acting busy. After like the sixth or seventh week, I gave up and went with my friends to see Due Date and one of the latest Harry Potter films instead of going to work. Then, about three weeks before Christmas, I told my mom that I only had a week left and I told the manager likewise. So I got off at least two weeks and no one noticed.

I will never work in a sportswear shop again.

 

[Mintaka]

Wish there was another coworker where I work. At a small cramming school, I work mainly at the desk to answer the phone, place orders for books or other material, etc. Sometimes I'd need to prepare documents for the teachers. And cleaning up after the day is over is also my job. Sometimes when a student remains after class for makeup sessions (I despise them, the sessions, not the students), I'd need to teach them. It's unfair when I was told that mainly I'd be doing paperwork before I applied for this. At least it isn't very difficult to teach, and most of the time, it's just watching over the student so that they finish the late assignment, or taking the quiz they missed.

 

[Almonds]

I still work at the private academy, and gosh, it's getting demanding than ever. My boss keeps pressuring me to work for longer hours, when I really can't since I'm still a student.

Though, teaching kids is a really rewarding job. Every kid is like a level 99 Magikarp. They all have the potential to become a monstrous level 100 Gyarados, but that one level is so hard to reach.

 

[Zesty Cactus]

i like my job
i work at a telecom company corporate store (i don't think it's against any rules for me to name them, but i won't just to be safe, if you live in Canada you will figure it out probably anyways) we have 3 sections in my store: one for cable tv/internet/home phone, one for cell phones, and one for video and game rentals. i am trained to work on all 3 "sides" of the store, but mostly i do video with the rest in rotation, its wherever they need me for any particular shift really.

i love my job, most of my customers are SO NICE and i like working with people. *_* and i get free rentals! 8D

 

[Sleepless Nights]

my boss is such a twat sometimes.

i work at game stop and i've been there since october.
but i was just holiday help so i wasn't really trained all that well because i was supposed to be temporary. but then two girls quit and i was left to take all their hours for the mornings and now i'm hired on. but i know little to nothing except where most of the games are and...well.. that's pretty much it.
i'm not getting many hours now because the holidays are over so i got like... 4 hours in two weeks x_x
i still love it there. even though i get called a n00b all the time. and i'm the smallest one there so all the guys make fun of me and feel like they need to me "men" and reach above my head to help me get things like 3DS's, Star Wars Old Republics, and pre-owned PS2 memory cards.
at least i get a 15% discount ^^

 

[Mintaka]

Eck, simply said, had to face a customer's complaint at my job and it wasn't very pleasant. The customer's wording was even crushing. -_-

At least from the stressful experiences in part-time job, my patience is increasing in general (like tolerating small mistakes that others make). Also I'm getting to understand those small mistakes that you experience as a customer. Like, a waiter forgets to give you a cup of water due to being so busy? Or your order was brought wrong? Yeah, those events are still annoying and shouldn't be done, but I became more patient in those situations. "Eh, no big deal. He's busy at the moment, I can ask another person should they pass the table", "Gah, it's rush time, so naturally they'd be so many orders going that it can be confusing. They will take responsibility however they can if I ask anyways".

 

[Almonds]

Recently started working at a department store - children's clothing corner.

Well, for one thing, there's nothing much for me to do except find spare clothes of the right sizes. Since it's kids clothes, usually the "mother" customers know pretty much everything they need, and they choose what they want without difficulty. Not much advice from me needed XDD

But it's a little boring when the mothers are gone in the late afternoon - to pick up their children from school, to drive them to clubs or private lessons, or prepare dinner.