job thread

[Glen]

there used to be one of these floating around, i always thought it was a good place for discussion and/or venting! where do you work? what do you like/dislike about your job? where do you hope to work in the future?

i've worked at american apparel for the past 9 months. it's an awkward mix of bearable and discouraging. i think it's probably best if i dispell some myths about it though! it is not a hot spot for 'hipsters'. i'm fairly certain most of our shoppers are <18, which is strange considering the attempted demographic shift in the company that started about a year ago ("classier", which goes pretty far in explaining how completely unaware of his own company dov [the ceo] is; people don't want classy clothes with slutty advertising). the second most frequent shopper is the gino. you americans call them guidos, i'm not really sure why we canadians call them ginos, but we do. either way the meatballs need their purple v-necks.

i don't see the company lasting more than another year. i think the debt the media diagnosed us with was exaggerated, monetarily we seem to be kind of alright but the company is just run so poorly. our head office is inundated with high school dropouts who wanted to work for a chic new up-and-comer of a store a few years ago.

an example of the irrecoverable loss wrought by the malfeasance of my superiors: we started doing this awful thing called order fulfillment. what that means is, when you buy something from our online store, instead of it just being sent to you from the warehouse, any store in the country that carries the item is expected to ship it to you, with regards for neither logic nor proximity. many moons ago, two different people bought individual containers of nail polish through our online store. these people were both in toronto. now, the colours they ordered existed in large quantities in all 7 of our toronto stores. however, it was up to us to send them from ottawa. the customers do not pay shipping. the nail polish was big enough to transform a letter into a parcel, meaning it cost 9 dollars per to ship them. that's less than the cost of the polish itself. stuff like this is very common. i mentioned it to a head office envoy who came to our store recently, and she didn't seem overly interested. i'm fairly certain nothing will come of it.

the second and last example, since i didn't intend to be this much of a mopey martha, is the current director of canadian operations. dov runs america, and this man, dan, runs canada. dan is not a very productive man. he's snide, he's hectoring, and he flirts with underage girls. the main problem with him though is that he was an outside hire. one day dov was shopping at aldo, and dan was a salesman who gave him outstanding service. dov's reward for such service? give him control of the canadian side of his company. i mean, i guess in some ways canada is a lot like a shoe, and if you can handle a shoe well, you can--

oh ok ok one more one more. we have bi-weekly conference calls wherein dov talks to every store at once and we all listen to his frenzied, coke-fueled rants about how to improve sales. usually we watch, through the magic of science, things on his computer. a few weeks ago he spent 45 minutes of the hour long conference call doing a video chat with us, showing us his new dogs.

it's not all bad though. when it's busy there's a lot to do, but when it's not you don't really have to do anything. most of my time at work is spent leeching wifi from the apple store next door, or reading. there's enough free time that i find myself having a book for work and a book for home at all times, to double my fun.

i don't intend to work here forever, but i do kind of want to stick around until the ship sinks. i really need to go back to school. i don't know what i want to do yet, but i do like diplomas. they're like ribbons for mons kinda, and everyone knows how much i like ribbons for mons.

 

[mattj]

I work at True Manufacturing. We build "industrial" refrigerators for restaurants, etc. We don't build the huge walk in fridges like at McDonalds or whatnot where you store rows and rows of boxes of frozen goods, but we build the very large Stainless ones you'll see here and there (Walmart, etc).

I really like my particular job, which varies from repairs, to cleaning, to packaging, to assembly, to driving the forklift to get parts, to even IT problem solving with our new computers and printers, etc, etc. It's simple. It varies throughout the day, and from day to day. I have a lot of great long time co-workers that I get along with. I can forget about my job when I get home (very little responsibility). It pays very well for this area and this economy. When most companies around us (especially factories) were laying off, or closing during the recent economic downturn the owner cut as much as he could, held on, and we made it through just fine. I've also got one of the nicest, and most helpful supervisors (now).

A lot of people have a lot of complaints about True Manufacturing; terrible supervisors, no air conditioning in the summer, very picky about attendance, etc, not at all understanding about illnesses/injuries/whatever, but all in all I feel absolutely blessed to work there.

I'll probably be sticking around ... for good I guess.

 

[SMZ]

I'm currently studying Medical Laboratory Sciences, if all goes well and I don't change my mind I'll continue to M.S. in Blood Bank, which should be my field of work hopefully. Of course I could choose another M.S program, or not choose to continue for M.S. at all.

 

[Optimusje]

Its only a weekend job for some extra money as im still studying, but I work at a big furniture store here in the netherlands (leen bakker if anyone cares). I sell all sorts of floors and everything sleeping related (so beds, matrasses, etc). As its a rather cheap store, there are loads of different customers that come visit. There are the crazy ones (drunks or junks) that just walk around and fall asleep in a bed (or just randomly tip over in the hallway), but thats just a small part though. Its mostly the immigrants that are annoying the fuck out of me. Last week I spent 2 hours helping this somalian guy buy a bed, because the only things he could say were "me" and "that", which is annoying as fuck. There is generally a load of foreigners coming for the really cheap stuff. Whenever theres a polish dude in the store, I know that im gonna sell him the cheapest carpet there is. Whenever theres a turkish family, they always want a closet. Its surprising how some kinds of people always buy the same stuff...

Ahwell, atleast i get to see some whacky shit, makes for good stories :)

 

[McGrrr]

Where do you work?

I am a semi-senior auditor at the London head office of a medium sized accountancy firm in the UK with ~3,000 employees. My employer sponsors my professional studies along side my full time work. I am past the halfway point of my 3 year training contract and have completed 9 out of 14 professional exams towards my ACCA qualification.

What do you like/dislike about your job?

I am disillusioned with regards to my profession as a whole. If an audit were not required by law, perhaps the industry would be more competitive and provide better value to both clients and investors. Our priorities are as follows; 1) cover our own arse 2) recover our costs 3) cover our client's arse. Audit is basically a massive arse covering exercise.

My job itself oscillates between the fascinating and the mundane. I have discovered two frauds since December; one from each end of the scale in terms of sophistication, and this has been very satisfying (although it is not within our remit to actively look for fraud). However, meeting business people and speaking to them about business is by far the most interesting and rewarding part of my job.

The other side of the coin is the sheer volume of bureaucracy involved. Audit is also not a profession for the faint hearted. Everything I do is reviewed by a manager whose role is to look for shortcomings in my work. Once (s)he is satisfied, the files are reviewed by a director (and sometimes two) who will usually raise further points. In short, being criticised for what I do is half the job.

Where do you hope to work in the future?

Not in audit. I am here to learn, but I will probably move on as soon as I am ACCA qualified. I can jump ship for a ~20% salary premium within industry, finance or banking.

At some juncture in my life, I would like to teach.

 

[Zacchaeus]

It's practically impossible to get a job as a high school student, so no job for me. Everyone hires the piece of shit illegal immigrants or college students before high schoolers

 

[VKCA]

It's practically impossible to get a job as a high school student, so no job for me. Everyone hires the piece of shit illegal immigrants

well hey now...


I had a job over the last summer. My boss was pretty sweet. And I could go to work completely fucked and it was fine. I hope to have one again this upcomming summer. But I have to do chem over the summer. So we'll see how that goes.

 

[Layell]

Right now I’m taking full time courses over the summer but when I was working I was at an amusement park working as an assistant supervisor. I worked there four years, I was promoted at the start of the third year. This mostly consisted on selling overpriced junk and dealing with the randomness of a day at the theme park.

The problem with many people when they go to these places is that it’s supposed to be a highlight of the summer. Very few care to do any planning beforehand. They don’t realize the advantages of bringing a bottled water, nor do they expect the copious amount of walking they do, (as a side note I lost like 15 pounds working there going from stand to stand with all the heat, who needs a gym?). Check what day you want to go as a word of advice, sometimes parks have culture days, don’t go on these days, even if it’s for your home country or whatever. It’s not worth it. Long weekends are a bad idea too.

My staff were always great, and I was well liked. I really think that’s important because seasonal jobs like that don’t rehire later in the year. So every year we’d start off with a ton of cashiers, and by the end of the year we’d struggle to keep things open. Since I was liked people rarely quit out of anger, but others were completely rude to their own staff. One rude girl had about 5 people at the end of the year, when I took over her area the next year I kept about 12.

I’m studying theatre so if I return later I’ll likely be heading towards the entertainment department, even if it is a pay cut. I had considered transferring before when I was in high school but at the time I was really getting into theatre I was offered a promotion and took it.

 

[cookie]

It's practically impossible to get a job as a high school student, so no job for me. Everyone hires the piece of shit illegal immigrants or college students before high schoolers

 

[whistle]

last summer i was an intern at a pharmaceutical company's diagnostics division. it sounds pretty cool but i basically didn't do any lab work at all, about 40% grunt paperwork (basically revising old testing procedures to comply with fda codes/audit instructions), 40% analyzing testing records and making reports in excel, 20% whatever needed to be done (kit packing, random lab help, etc). it was my first look at the corporate world so it definitely gave me a lot of things to think about as i consider my future career options. but the paperwork i had to do really killed me.

i just submitted an application to be an ochem ta next year at my school. pretty psyched. i fucking love ochem. now i need to find a lab position.

in the far future... who knows, i have no idea where i want to be in 10 years.

 

[Lanturn314]

So far, I've only held one paying job in my life, which was at Forever 21the summer after my senior year of high school , a store the sells really cheap yet fashionable clothing. I never really liked working there, since my coworkers were really shallow, our breaks weren't long enough, and our customers were often inconsiderate. It also only paid minimum wage, but at least it was money.

Now, I just do volunteer work in various places, and I have an unpaid lab position, as well (I get college credits towards my graduation instead). These are a lot more enjoyable, plus even though I'm not making anything now, as long as I stay on my career path and end up getting through medical school, I'll have a stable, well-paying, intellectually-stimulating, and rewarding job for the rest of my life. So I guess I can't complain.

 

[CaptKirby]

I buy and sell pokemon cards. I plan to move into also buying and selling yugioh cards soon. It kind of fucking rules. The only problems are dealing with bad condition cards and dealing with kids who cannot understand the words "no". Everything else fucking rules.

Glen that shipping part of your post actually sounds unreal (not that I am accusing you of making it up). I mean, I know there is probably some sort of kickback some companies can get for shipping at some level of business, but whatever they are doing sounds like they are completely ignoring common sense. You can eat some marginal costs and survive, but not whatever it sounds like they are eating.

 

[biggie]

I'm an accountant at a school for children with developmental disabilities, and I can honestly say that for the most part I enjoy it. I started there as an intern in 2008, which I have no clue how the hell I obtained. From then I impressed my superiors and was given an accountant clerk position, even though I was still an undergrad at college. Once I graduated I was promoted to full accountant status and I've been there since. My brother actually goes to school there, so it's nice to be able to be so close to him. The only thing that I would change is some of the people that work around me. They are sometimes not the hardest workers and plus, with me being the youngest, I usually get delegated undesirable work.

 

[Firestorm]

glen, what you said pretty much goes with what a friend of mine who used to work part-time at AA said. She walked into the store, they said "want a job", sent her head shot to head office, and got the approval to hire her. Think they asked her for her resume after the headshot too. Not sure if they needed that.

I'm currently working with RIM (protip: BlackBerry is the product name, not company name) as a co-op student / intern in Product Management. I love being able to work on something that many of my friends will be using soon. Being in a position to make a decent amount of impact on the product also rocks. Not to mention I love the industry as wireless and technology is super interesting to me. The people I work with are also great.

Things that suck? Waterloo is a huge step down from Vancouver as a city.

Honestly, I would like to get a full-time job here once I'm done my degree (this fall) and will probably be discussing it over the next month or so. That or somehow transition into the games industry as that's the only other field I'm as interested in.

It's practically impossible to get a job as a high school student, so no job for me. Everyone hires the piece of shit illegal immigrants or college students before high schoolers

You'll become an amazing Republican candidate for US President.

 

[gene]

starting my second summer at the same company as an engineering intern tomorrow. last year, i pretty much worked on only one project the entire time that involved coding. unfortunately, i don't have much of a programming background, so it was usually a bit confusing. not sure what i'm gonna be assigned to this year, but i hope it keeps me more involved and less bored. 9 hours tick by so slowly when you're stuck.

really glad i never had to do any bitch work like filing papers or getting coffee. some of the other interns last year weren't so lucky.

i graduate next year and i'll probably stay in the industry. but first i gotta work on moving to a city that isn't shit.

 

[StarmanXL]

Since I'm out of school for the summer I've been applying for jobs like mad. So far I've put in at least five applications to be a lab assistant at the hospital my dad works at, applied for a paid internship where my mom works, hit up the temp agency I worked with last summer, asked my family and friends if they could hook me up (my uncle is trying to get me a job tutoring kids in algebra which while I really don't wanna do that a job is a job although from the looks of it I won't get hired anyway) and have been scouring websites and been putting in applications to a fuckton of other places. I hope at least one calls me back.

Jeez. I just hope I can get a job out of grad school, if I even make it into grad school.

 

[theamericandream38]

I buy and sell pokemon cards. I plan to move into also buying and selling yugioh cards soon. It kind of fucking rules. The only problems are dealing with bad condition cards and dealing with kids who cannot understand the words "no". Everything else fucking rules.

Glen that shipping part of your post actually sounds unreal (not that I am accusing you of making it up). I mean, I know there is probably some sort of kickback some companies can get for shipping at some level of business, but whatever they are doing sounds like they are completely ignoring common sense. You can eat some marginal costs and survive, but not whatever it sounds like they are eating.

You should really look into Magic: the Gathering cards, I know several people who have been very successful being mtg dealers alone (let alone other tcg games as well).

As for me, I didn't have a job during the school year this past year but hopefully I will be able to get something this summer like I did for last summer! I have a call about an internship tomorrow so hopefully that goes well =)

 

[CaptKirby]

You should really look into Magic: the Gathering cards, I know several people who have been very successful being mtg dealers alone (let alone other tcg games as well).

As for me, I didn't have a job during the school year this past year but hopefully I will be able to get something this summer like I did for last summer! I have a call about an internship tomorrow so hopefully that goes well =)

yeah unfortunately we know very little about magic so far...we know that there is a big market, but hear that it is so competitive there is not much room for profit mongering

 

[theamericandream38]

yeah unfortunately we know very little about magic so far...we know that there is a big market, but hear that it is so competitive there is not much room for profit mongering

Yeah that's kind of true I suppose (and definitely true about the large amount of competition), though the dealers that I know do a lot of business and definitely have a fairly high markup on their ratio of what they buy stuff at and what they sell it for (ex. I sold a card for $280 and was told they usually sell that card for high 300s)

 

[Glen]

I buy and sell pokemon cards. I plan to move into also buying and selling yugioh cards soon. It kind of fucking rules. The only problems are dealing with bad condition cards and dealing with kids who cannot understand the words "no". Everything else fucking rules.

Glen that shipping part of your post actually sounds unreal (not that I am accusing you of making it up). I mean, I know there is probably some sort of kickback some companies can get for shipping at some level of business, but whatever they are doing sounds like they are completely ignoring common sense. You can eat some marginal costs and survive, but not whatever it sounds like they are eating.

i wish i was making it up. it's things like this that no one in a position of power in the company gives any fuck about. i'm sure complete lack of common sense worked fine back in 2005 or whatever when every girl wanted shiny leggings and the company was booming, but it's far past its prime, and that's why i expressed my doubts about the longevity of the company.

also i sell yugioh cards online too! definitely a good market. i can't speak for mons cards since i don't play that game, but i do recommend getting into yugioh selling if you don't mind spending either a fair amount of time figuring out stuff that's going to be valuable in the future, or playing the game well and having that knowledge as a by-product.

glen, what you said pretty much goes with what a friend of mine who used to work part-time at AA said. She walked into the store, they said "want a job", sent her head shot to head office, and got the approval to hire her. Think they asked her for her resume after the headshot too. Not sure if they needed that.

oh yeah lol how could i forget? the company revolves around image. both its image as a conglomerate and its employees individual images. any requests for a raise require a photo sent to head office for approval, assuming your manager approves. recently the floor manager turned down hiring a gorgeous girl because he didn't like her eyebrows. it's insane lol. the whole company image thing extends even further, in the sense that in some ways they try REALLY hard to maintain the illusion of a well-run company, things like all-too-frequent inventory checks that just end up costing the individual stores money. if only their efforts were put into actually running the company properly!

another great anecdote, only about a year ago did they start adding sensor tags to merchandise. dov plainly refused many times before, even going as far as to say, during a press conference, something along the lines of "if you covet a look so much that you resort to stealing it, you deserve to wear american apparel." I AM NOT KIDDING.

 

[Unreality]

This is what I do.

No, seriously, I just got offered a summer intern job at TripAdvisor. This is especially exciting for me because it is my first job, and I have heard finding a job is very difficult for teenagers. It will be a job at a computer and that's what I like to do, so here's hoping it will be a good match.

 

[StarmanXL]

I wasn't aware Yu-Gi-Oh cards were worth much anything; I just assumed that was one thing kids with no business sense collected assuming they'd be worth a fortune later. Well I still got a shitload of cards laying around so maybe I can pawn 'em to get a new pair of headphones or something.

And for all you guys who moved to find a job, how was it, and how'd you go through with it? I'm hoping I can get a job someplace not in Indiana--preferably on the west coast or something--but I'm not sure it's really feasible. I'm not even entirely sure how the market is for neuroscience majors over there.

 

[Glen]

I wasn't aware Yu-Gi-Oh cards were worth much anything; I just assumed that was one thing kids with no business sense collected assuming they'd be worth a fortune later. Well I still got a shitload of cards laying around so maybe I can pawn 'em to get a new pair of headphones or something.

And for all you guys who moved to find a job, how was it, and how'd you go through with it? I'm hoping I can get a job someplace not in Indiana--preferably on the west coast or something--but I'm not sure it's really feasible. I'm not even entirely sure how the market is for neuroscience majors over there.

well, you have to understand, it's a competitive game. things that are competitively viable AND in short supply are worth money. sometimes things that are in short supply but not competitively viable are worth a bit of money, too. your old stuff is unlikely to be worth anything, as most cards by this point have been reprinted out the ass, devaluing them considerably, unless you still have mint 1st edition versions of very, very old cards. i'm talking like, year 2000-2001 shit. for example, monster reborn, from the first set, is about 5 bucks, whereas a 1st ed mint one is 60-70.

understand too that the game operates on a ban list, and that a lot of the old stuff that was broken is banned. that said, it's only really profitable if you buy the new sets and sell individually. i'm lucky in that there's a retailer in my city who sells boxes at factory prices, so when a new set comes out and it's getting considerably hype, i'll buy a few boxes at 70 apiece, and i usually gross between 120 and 150 a box with maybe 3 hours worth of effort for all of them combined.

 

[monkfish]

i'm bartender and hopefully soon-to-be assistant bar manager. my job takes up most of my life and its pretty weird because i never really thought this is what i wanted to end up doing. i graduated from york university with a degree in computer science and wanted to do something a little different for a few months, so i got a bar job. but somewhere in the earlier part of this year i felt that i could actually do this for a living. the place i work is actually really nice, it's not just pouring pints for punters - i've learnt a hell of a lot about liquor and bartending in general. i've even started flairing a little. and i've met a lot of good people, both colleagues and customers.

also its the best way to meet girls

 

[Son of Disaster]

I work for the United States Army, well specifically the guard, as an interrogator. I'm at the end of my second year of training, three years total in, and can finally get back home to Utah.

I like having what i consider a sweet job and i really enjoy working in the intelligence field. However there is a crap ton of paperwork involved with collection and i'm not quite a sergeant so i still get crappy jobs. Not to mention the training schedule can get retarded and the amount of time wasted is insane.

As for the future i'll likely get deployed after i finish college in a couple of years and i'll stay in until i can get a pension. Since i'm guard i'll probably get another job for some other government agency or just work full time for the guard.