Awwww nuts (advice needed)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This is going to be long, bear with me :slight_smile: .

As of now, I’ve been out of a job for about 7 months. I’ve filled out countless applications, spent God knows how long looking for anyplace that’s hiring, and really, have just been working my ass off just trying to get at least an interview. Well now I’ve got about two. I may be getting a call for an interview from the local Cocoa Village Playhouse within the next ten days of next month. I was called into one interview at the Playhouse to work at the box office about three weeks ago. All went well, and they told me that the director would be giving me the second interview, and that the first interview was given mainly to screen certain people out. I’m confident I’ll get the second call for the interview when the time comes. Now this is finals week, and I have 4 days to write two essays, finish a make up/take home exam for my Humanities class, study for two finals, and read a chapter in one of my books and take an online test in what I just learned.

I read the chapter, took the test (got an A), tried to answer at least one of the questions from my take home make-up exam only to discover that the I need a book called The Western Humanities on hand to find the answers and that the book is nonexsistant in my county (finding that out took half a day), learned that Karl Marx (whom I’m doing one of my essays on) is a very difficult man to learn about and that I should have just picked a painter to write about. After reading a book about him, and glancing at a few articles, webpages, and pages of other books, I still don’t even know just what the hell it was that he’s known for and what it was that he believed. I know he was conservative, from the working class, wasn’t very succsefull in life, had 7 kids, the name of his colleague, and that he was very miserable when he died, as well as a few other small details. I know that there’s a lot more stuff about him to write about, and knowing this just made me feel like I spent a good two hours studying one piece of a 1000 piece puzzle. I feel like I should have taken a college class about him and his teachings before attempting to write about him.

The second essay I still have two days to begin and finish, which I wouldn’t be so worried about if it had been able to (A) find the damned The Western Humanites book I need to finish my take home make up exam or humanities website that might provide some answers, and (B) Find a book or website that provided a easier way to learn about Marx. Oi.

Now back to the job hunt. My answering machine has a message from a manager at Publix that works in the meat department saying that he wants to come down to the store. This is good, but he couldn’t have possibly called at a worst time. I have tons of homework to do, and I was kinda looking forward to getting a job from the Playhouse. I’m sure the job at Publix would pay more, but it probably won’t give me any experience working with customers, which is something I really really need. My first job was a line cook at a resteraunt, and after getting laid off from that gig I suffered for not having any experience with customers and couldn’t get a job for the life of me. Plus, I’m not sure I want to work with food again. However, if it’s the only job available to me, I’ll take it with gusto, but I won’t be sure if it’s the only one available for about 2 and a half more weeks. Is there any way to tell a potential employer that you’re interested in a job he’s offering but you won’t know if you can take the position for about two and a half weeks? I want a job at the theater, but I don’t want to turn down the Publix job in case I don’t get the theater one. What can I do/say without looking like a jackass?

looks up
wow. This post is unneccesarily long. I need a private editor for messages I make on forums.

Oh, and if anyone here know’s of any good link to sites about Karl Marx and Marxism, or Humanities, leave a link! :smiley:

2

Go for the bird in the hand.

Go down for the interview at Publix. If you get the job, hey, you have a job. If you don’t, you’re free to pursue your dream at the theater. Plus, you are free to resign from Publix to go work at the theater, in the event you are offered that job. It’s mildly crappy to do to an employer, but it’s not like you’re planning a career around working at a grocery store. Or you may discover that you like working at Publix, or at least like the money and don’t mind the job. In which case you’re better off with that job.

Please don’t fall victim to the “I have to say no to this because my (perfect job/ideal mate/dream house/whatever) may be just around the corner” syndrome. I’ve watched far too many people make bad choices that way to feel at all comfortable with it.

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I haven’t posted about my recent bout of unemployment (5 months), but something similar just happened to me. The job that I first learned about 5 months ago, the ‘dream’ job, took forever before they finalized the position and began interviews. Ended up that I had my third interview with a different company, for a wildly different job, on the day of my first interview for the ‘dream’ job.

Before I got to the second interview for the ‘dream’ job, I got an offer from the different company. I took the offer. The pay is the same, or slightly better, but the working conditions include 90% travel – every week off to somewhere different.

If I held out for the ‘dream’ job, I might not get it – I can’t take the chance. In my case, the traveling job will probably lead into upper management sooner than the ‘dream’ job, but won’t neccesarily offer the same security. In other words, the traveling job may mean another bout of unemployment in a few years, but I’d be qualified for upper management.

There is also the possibility that the ‘dream’ job people won’t find another qualified applicant, and will call to beg for me. I’m not holding my breath, but I can dream, can’t I?

Jobs hunting just generally sucks – but it’s best to take what you’re offered, and make the best of it.

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Thanks for the advice. I’ll head over to Publix tommorrow. Hopefully I’ll come out of this with a good job. Who knows, maybe I can switch departments later on to get experience dealing with customers.

And yeas, job hunting does suck. Badly. Wouldn’t it be so much better if you got to shoot something while looking for a job?

5

If you want to know about Marx quickly, Olentzero’s probably your best bet.

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What’s Olentzero?

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Wikipedia has quite a long and detailed article on Marx. Should be more then enough to fill in some of the gaps in your essay. You may also want to look at Project Gutenberg for some free e-copies of Marx’s main works if you want to take a look at them.

Olentzero is not a what, but a who. Here a link to his profile.

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Thanks for the link :smiley: .

I’ll get help from Olentzero if I have a specific question. I just got done reading this, and had quite a few questions answered.

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I should really learn not to egosurf before I’m fully ready to go to work. I end up getting in late because of stuff like this :smiley:

No, I’m not gonna launch into a bio of Marx - but JoeSki, if you do have questions, post 'em here or e-mail me and I’ll be glad to try to answer them.

I do gotta admit, it’s seeing posts like qts’ that make me feel like I’ve arrived. I’m an actual resource on the SDMB! :cool:

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Of course you are! You’re the first person I think of when I need a red bastid. You’re a font!

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Sans serif, I hope.

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Olentzero, I’ll be sending you some question tommorrow, but as is I’m dead tired and fixing to take nap, but first I need some help. I just got a call from another Publix offering a job interview to the deli. So what do I do now? This Publix is closer than the one offering me a job at the meat department…do I turn the first guy’s interview down? Attend both interviews since they want to meet with me on the same day? I need to call the lady at my local Publix about whether or not I’ll be there at the interview before dozing off, so I need a quick answer if at all possible.

When it rains it pours…

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Well, I’m glad things are keeping you hopping! And I wish you all the best.

As for what to do… absolutely go to both interviews. The only way you can weigh all the pros and cons is to explore all the options as thoroughly as you can. It’ll take some time and effort on your part, but when you make the decision you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you really gave it some thought instead of just blindly choosing something.

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Thanks for the help. It’s being put to good use :slight_smile: .
Just called them and arranged the interview…took 45 minutes to speak the who I wanted to talk too, but Watching half of The Usual Suspects while listening to the classics of the 80s and early 90s on the phone aint so bad.

15

Take both job interviews. get a feel for both places. You’re likely to have some sort of gut feeling about your personality fit with both places, and that very important.

If you get a job offer, and still want to work at the theater, you’ve got nothing to lose by phoning them up and pressuring them to fish or cut bait. perhaps you’ll get lucky and they’ll be in a position to interview and hire you quickly. (as an employer, I wouldn’t have a problem if someone did that)

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A good rule of thumb when job-hunting: Always take the interview. It’s not a commitment to do anything but go in and interview. And it may offer you a chance at a job you might never have considered otherwise.

And to continue looking on the bright side, isn’t it nice to suddenly have a plethora of interviews?

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A little late reviving this thread but oh well…

Went to both interviews, both went well, and the Publix wanting to hire me at the deli already had me take a drug test, so I suppose that job is in the bag.

Sorry for not posting questions on Marx sooner. I got caught up in some other homework, and had to wish my brother farewell since he just moved to Cali.

Now, Marx believed that in a capitalistic society, work alienates workers from labor. Exactly what does he mean by alienate? Is he refferring to work not being considered as important by workers since they’re selling off the goods rather than putting them to good use in society?

Also, I read that Marx got hurt in a dule at one of his schools. Do you know of the details behind this story? I was thinking telling this story could make my paper a little more fun to read.

and is there a simple way of explaining Marx’s theory behind the buying and selling of labor and how workers have to work harder than they’re worth to create a surplus? I’ve read about this is many different books and websites and still can’t tell what any of it means.

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Oooh! One more!

I just read this:

(Source: Link)

So is reinfictation the product of capitalism according to Marx, or is capitalism the product of reinfication? At first the answer seemed obvious, but then I reread the paragraph and noticed that it said that “In capitalism, the market and the capitalist system are examples of reified things”. So which is it?

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And another!

I was reading something about false consciousness and all was going well, but then it came to a part where the writer was applying false conciousness to politics and voting, and for one beautful moment, it all made sense. I decided to write a question in my paper about whether our perspectives towards our votes not making a difference in presidential elections could be considered reinfied, or something something something false consciousness. Before I could even finish what I considered to be a pretty interesting and smart question, I completely got off track and forgot the last 5 or so key words to complete my question, and everything ceased to make sense. Mind getting me back on track here? Exactly how can false conciousness be applied to the presidential elections? I’m thinking it can be applied in that many people don’t vote because they figure their votes arn’t important enough to take the time to go out and choose their next president, and thus act contrary to what’s best for them. Am I close?

This may make more sense in the morning so an answer for this one isn’t neccesary if you feel like ignoring it, especcialy since I wasn’t going to include it in the word count since I didn’t think it was related to Marx enough to be fairly considered part of my paper. I have a fried brain as a result of a couple birthday cupcakes, a couple sodas, and a pot of sugar filled coffee. A good night sleep would do a world of good right about now…but no! I must study on :o .

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Scratch that. Just found the answer. Marx was reffering to the common worker being alienated from the pleasuers of labor.