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What do you do?

Postby faninor » 4/15/2010, 5:02 pm

Seemed a little curious to me that I don't know what a lot of you do for a living. Let's hear it, what do you all do and how do you like it?

I'll start. I'm a software release coordinator. A what you say? This is a bullcrap position that gets invented when a company hires too many passive-aggressive assholes so that nobody can effectively communicate with each other and get things done. So our IT department comes up with software and updates that we need or want for our business, but everyone is too lazy or incapable that nobody will actually get the software set up and running in a live production environment that the business can use. Software release coordinator to the rescue.

I'm a contract worker, which to a sensible company should mean I'm filling a temporary position. I was told it would be 12 to 18 months, but going on 3 years later, and now in a team of release coordinators with 10 or so contractors and half a dozen regular employees it's becoming pretty clear that this is no temporary position. It may seem odd that I'd complain about having a job for longer than they originally told me but most all the regular employees treat the contract workers with contempt, and I earn significantly less (tens of thousands) than anyone else (contractor or regular employee) that I know here with no sort of review, raise, or bonus this whole time.

I've kept my cubicle very sparse for the past 6 months (yesterday I packed up the very few personal items that I still have around). I imagine someday I'm going to have had my fill of this, say goodbye to the ones I think of as friends, drop my manager an email (because he is NEVER around, one of the true masters of the hands-off approach to managing) and not come back.

I used to care something about my quality of work, but after 2 years of hard work I'm still earning the same as I did the day they hired me, fresh out of college (well, 8 months out and unable to find other work) without experience in this type of job. Now I'm taking a new approach, and only put in the amount of effort that I feel is appropriate for what they are paying me.

Each day now I stare at a wall for hours doing next to nothing to even things out a bit for all the good work I've already done. Unfortunately this just leaves me thinking about all of the crap here that I hate, and other thoughts like what a waste college must have been because this job has nothing to do with my degree (before taking this one I was struggling to find something that was related to it), and now I've forgotten so many of the things that I studied. But seems I'll continue paying for my foolish choice of a major for quite some time to come.

How do you all put up with your jobs?
Last edited by faninor on 7/13/2011, 10:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby xjsb125 » 4/15/2010, 5:13 pm

I fire the people that make it hard for me.

Just kidding.

When I'm at work, the biggest frustration is often my store manager. He has very high standards (in a good way) and sometimes it is hard to live up to them, and when I don't I get an ear full about it.

The worst I've had it was about 5 years ago as an overnight manager in one of the Knoxville stores. I had about 5 of 35-40 overnight stockers/maintenance/cashiers that really tried to do their best, and the rest didn't care. Then in the morning I got ripped about all they didn't do. I felt totally powerless to get out of the situation. I actually contemplated leaving the company. Luckily time passed and another opportunity came my way.

The best advice I can give is never leave one job without having another waiting for you. No matter how bad you hate the company, always give an adequate notice and work it until the end. Never burn a bridge you may have to go back across. However, if you are so unhappy that it affects you outside of work, then give a notice and get out as quick as you can. It's not worth the toll it takes on you mentally and physically.
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Postby xoNoDoubt69 » 4/15/2010, 5:29 pm

i'm the mens supervisor at Kohl's.

like matt, my only real complaint is my direct manager. her way of managing is to sit in the back office all day and have everyone else do her job. we have 3 other managers and they actually work out on the floor everyday including the store manager who is 7 months pregnant! everyone knows she does nothing and multiple people have complained about her because she doesn't know how to talk to people. she talks down to everyone. besides her, i actually like my job! i like being responsible for a whole department and knowing when it looks awesome it's all my doing :) i do have some crappy employees who work in my dept but the crappy ones get the less hrs for that reason so it doesn't bother me TOO much. :)
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Postby faninor » 4/15/2010, 5:51 pm

I'm mildly satisfied knowing that I was on the clock while writing that whole rant.

This company actually has a policy against discussing past employees with other companies. If someone were to, say, call my manager for a reference, he would refer them to HR, and HR would confirm that, yes, I did work here, but there is no other information that they will share.

I think usually I would be the type of person who gives proper notice. But, while I've been here, I've seen this company end people's contracts with 2 week, 1 week, 3 day, 0 day notice. They even called a guy up on his honeymoon in Hawaii to tell him that he wouldn't have a job when he got home. Seriously.

Melissa -- glad you like your job! Your manager sounds like too many people I know. :lol:
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Postby myownsatellite » 4/15/2010, 6:01 pm

xjsb125 wrote:The best advice I can give is never leave one job without having another waiting for you. No matter how bad you hate the company, always give an adequate notice and work it until the end. Never burn a bridge you may have to go back across. However, if you are so unhappy that it affects you outside of work, then give a notice and get out as quick as you can. It's not worth the toll it takes on you mentally and physically.


I quit my job at the disability company two months ago (actually more like three now), because I got a job with the State. Better benefits, better pay, and I'm not stressed out at all anymore. It feels great!

I can't even get into everything that my previous company did to me over the last year. Suffice to say, the CEO and VP of the company both had it in for me and my partner for some reason (me specifically, probably because I did more work than anyone else and made them all look bad). They tried to find an excuse to fire me for a year, and turned the pressure up so high I ended up having to account for every second I was in that building every day. If I was clocked in, I had to be time-stamping EVERYTHING I did (no one else had to do this). Finally, after a year of abuse and searching for a new job, I was offered one with the State, and I took it and ran. I burned the bridge too (or at least tried to), because God help me if I ever get so desperate to go back there. I told my boyfriend to shoot me if I ever tell him I've decided to go back to work there.

I've spent a lot of time and energy ranting about that company in my journal, and now it feels so good to be able to talk about it openly without fear of retaliation. And they can't really sue me for defamation, because (a) everything I say is true, and (b) I could tip off alarms about all the illegal things they do on a daily basis, and I wouldn't hesitate to do so.

Now, I have a much more relaxed and less stressful job, and I have a schedule that I love (4 10-hour days, with Wednesdays off), I'm not being persecuted by childish and crazy people, and while there are annoyances that come with any job, I don't hate my life, my job, or people anymore. I've lost some weight because I'm not anxiously eating anymore, I can smile again, and I have yet to have a day where I sit at my desk scowling all day because I hate the world and want to punch anyone who pisses me off. I smile and chat with everyone who wants to, and I've already made friends. My whole family and all my friends say I am looking and acting better. I can't even believe what a change this has brought for me, and I am so unbelievably happy that I finally have a job where I don't have to watch my back and worry, "Is today the day I'm going to get fired?"
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Postby Carson79 » 4/15/2010, 6:07 pm

I work in a Finance Dept in a Hospital...yep, accounting geek... :sleep:

I guess that is the only complaint I really have about my job, boredom. I majored in Marketing in college but could only find well paying and plentiful jobs with my accounting minor. I'm a creative person and numbers are just not for the creative type. I'm good at my job, co-workers and boss (for the most part) are good, pays well with excellent benefits and security, just not fun.

I try to balance it with cake decorating. The only problem is that is starting to feel less and less inspiring. Most people (especially with wedding cakes) want me to make an exact copy of a picture or I have to do 6 of the same cake in one month. I like to have some creative freedom and change things if I don't think its working. I have 8 wedding cakes this summer and after that I will decide if I want to continue.

How do I put up with my job? It pays for all the other things I want to do. I will keep it until I find something that I love that will pay my bills.

And I too spend time on CM during my working hours.
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Postby MindsOnLoan » 4/15/2010, 6:13 pm

I'm... in high school. Looking for part time job to pay car insurance, gas, and to have more money of my own.
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Postby Carson79 » 4/15/2010, 6:32 pm

MindsOnLoan wrote:I'm... in high school. Looking for part time job to pay car insurance, gas, and to have more money of my own.


And I'm sure this thread will stomp on your "go to college and get the job you always dreamed of" fantasy...sorry! lol
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Postby Matt. » 4/15/2010, 6:41 pm

Carson79 wrote:
MindsOnLoan wrote:I'm... in high school. Looking for part time job to pay car insurance, gas, and to have more money of my own.


And I'm sure this thread will stomp on your "go to college and get the job you always dreamed of" fantasy...sorry! lol

Life happens, yeah. :uhh:
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Postby xjsb125 » 4/15/2010, 6:51 pm

I think I was fortunate to come out of college and after a year use my degree in the job I wanted to have.
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Postby myownsatellite » 4/15/2010, 7:02 pm

I have a Master's degree in English and it has proven itself useless because I didn't get any teaching experience in grad school. So I'm stuck in clerical work until I can get into a program. I was recently rejected from UAlbany's PhD program. Better luck next year, right? I think for now I'm going to look into a TESOL degree, and maybe get a PhD from there if I can. It might be easier to get into UAlbany's PhD program if I'm already a Master's student there. So yay, probably another 7 years of school for me...
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Postby xjsb125 » 4/15/2010, 7:15 pm

Is teaching what you want to do?
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Postby Shanae » 4/15/2010, 7:22 pm

MindsOnLoan wrote:I'm... in high school. Looking for part time job to pay car insurance, gas, and to have more money of my own.


I'm in high school as well. I do not have a job and likely won't get one for a long time -- small towns = no job opportunities. My money is given to me by the parents, and if I want extra money, it looks like I'll be the farmer's assistant around my household. Driving semis, heads up.
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Postby myownsatellite » 4/15/2010, 8:34 pm

xjsb125 wrote:Is teaching what you want to do?


Yep. When I went into college, my guidance counselor told me I could teach with a Bachelor's degree. When I graduated, I was told I needed a Master's degree. Now that I have a Master's degree, no one wants me without a PhD, and I can't get any teaching experience because I don't have teacher certification, because I was a straight English major! It's crazy! I'd be a great teacher, but no one wants to give me a shot.
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Postby Matt. » 4/15/2010, 8:55 pm

Megan, do you want to teach high school? College?
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Postby saman » 4/15/2010, 8:56 pm

why don't you just do a b. ed.? or do you want to teach university courses specifically?

as to what i do, i'm hopefully graduating with a master's degree this spring, after about three years of starting it. i also currently work part time at staples, but i'm looking for a full time healthcare based job. i'm also planning to complete a dietetic internship on my own, which is probably going to be an insane amount of work (dietetic internships are usually arranged through healthcare institutes, but i've missed the deadline to apply for this coming year and don't want to wait another year to start if i don't have to). if that all goes well, i'll start looking for a job in dietetics.
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Postby myownsatellite » 4/15/2010, 9:14 pm

I want to teach college, and I'm more interested in getting a TESOL Master's degree right now than going for certification. Although if the certification route would be a better route into a PhD program, then that's what I'll do. Honestly, my goal here is to get a doctorate and teach college. I don't need to go back for another Bachelor's degree, since I can just get the MSED with all the courses I've taken and the degrees I have (I would need to take probably another year of grad school to get the MSED and get certified), so I'm not really willing to go for another undergrad degree when I can just get a second Master's.

I'm still waiting to hear back from UAlbany to see why I was rejected for the program, it's been two weeks and I have a feeling no one is going to get back to me.
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Postby faninor » 4/15/2010, 11:12 pm

I used to want to teach at college, but now I don't think I could. What I got wasn't something that would help me go out and get a job outside of academia. If you have the wrong major, the whole thing feels hardly different than a Ponzi scheme that the government endorses and we're all conditioned from childhood to want to buy into. Maybe I was just more naive than everyone around me or too lazy to take a more difficult path that would lead toward an obvious job selection.

Trade schools and internships make so much more sense to me as a diving board to a career.
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Postby saman » 4/15/2010, 11:55 pm

dear young'uns, let this thread be a lesson to all of you. if you want a good career when you grow up, take business or engineering in university/college. medicine is also acceptable, but it's impossible to get into, will suck the soul out of you, and you'll be old by the time you finish your schooling.
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Postby faninor » 4/16/2010, 12:37 am

Yes. Medicine, okay. But anything to do with the healthcare industry in the US.... :no:

A great way to make money is to offer people a chance to beat health problems. They'll pay any markup price you offer. Something needs to happen. Something that is NOT making every person legally obligated to buy private health insurance. I think the real problem down here is not the number of uninsured folks out there -- it is the stories I hear of hospitals charging $6500 to administer a dose of medication that cost them $300 to procure.
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