why this should be in the Pit, I’m not sure. Well, yes I am, because I know I’ll be cussing up a blue streak.
The pay to post thing got me to thinking-I NEED a job. Not another retail job-and my dad is telling me I need more hours at Kmart-FUCK.
No, I need a JOB-JOB. Not a dime a dozen job. A real job, a skilled job, one where I use my goddamn brain and my fucking education!
I am THIS close to my bachelor’s degree. (did I spell that right). Any advice? I have TRIED looking for positions out of retail-libraries, receptionists, etc etc-they didn’t WANT me.
What the fuck? I’m smart, I’m skilled, I have a good education, I like to read, and research, I’ve got people skills, I can type, I’m computer literate-so GODDAMMIT! HIRE ME!!!
Now I just have to rant about my non-existant love life…that’s a joke-23, never even been goddamn fucking KISSED. I’ve got my family giving me shit-and moving out isn’t going to fucking solve THAT, so just shove that idea. As of January, I have no medical insurance, I’ve got no social life, nothing.
I suck.
A quick look in your profile tells me nothing about your geographic whereabouts, so I can’t help you with the kiss bit. At least I can’t promise to do so:)
You’ve got computer skills, you say (and I believe you). Are there labs at your school that could use another assistant or something? I don’t know what the pay would be (since I don’t remember where you go to school), but it at least wouldn’t be mindknumbingly-boring. If nothing else you’d go insane from the idjits trying to put crayons in the floppy drives. And insanity is anything BUT boring:D
Your school have a career services center, Guin? YMMV, but mine was pretty helpful in at least helping me understand various options. (I ended up going to law school, but they could have helped me find a job if I’d needed to.) At least you’ll get out of retail.
Have you ever considered a temp agency? Before I got a job at the Suck N' Save (as a cashier.....people generally look a bit shocked to see a 6'3" male cashier ;) ), I had quite a bit of luck finding clerical jobs through them. I probably can't give them out here in the public forum, but if you'd like a couple of places in Downtown Pittsburgh, you can get in touch with me and I can give them to you (if you live in the South Hills, there's a couple others I can help you out with.)
Well, good luck with everything! I hope that you don't get all too frustrated......life can be hard, but life is also beautiful and in the end, things usually do work out for the best.
Bill in backass Washington, PA :)
I don’t have any practical advice, unfortunately, but I do want to tell you that you are not alone in the sinking boat. My younger sister has been seeking a clerical job for some time and can’t find anything in the middle of a major metropolis. She wants to move out of our parents’ apartment, but can’t until she can find some work that will pay for a place of her own and the rest of her bills. Meanwhile, our brother (still living at home too) picks and chooses when he wants to work and jobs get dropped in his lap all the time. When he gets sick of the boss, he quits and sits around for a couple of months. Then when he feels like working again, someone hires him on no problem. He’s in construction and apparently those kind of jobs grow on trees where they live.
I think one thing that is hampering my sis is not being able to put “BILINGUAL” on her resumé. Where they are, the competition is fierce and those that can speak Spanish and English get preferential treatment in all the hiring pools. Do you speak a second language? If so, be sure to highlight this on your resumé. If not, maybe it would help to become proficient in one.
I can vouch for the temp agency route. I did some gigs years ago, including clerical and “light industrial” (which meant unloading steel tracks used for industrial garage doors, which shredded my clothes something bad). Even though they weren’t supposed to under the temp agreement, they were willing to hire me nudgenudge winkwink after my time there was up.
Have you considered alternatives like the military? Four years in, see the world (or the underside of it), get some training and more experience. No, I’m not military, but I had two brothers who were, and my wife was a Navy officer for 10 years. Looking back, I wish I had gone in.
Other than that, all I can suggest is to pound the pavement and keep pushing yourself forward. And don’t underestimate yourself. Sheer competence and a willingness to work counts for big out there. And go ahead and try long-shot jobs that you feel they may not want you for; you never know who’s going to remember you as that young go-getter who wasn’t afraid to try.
And what the heck do You want to do, anyway? Got any dreams you want to try? You can’t take off and see the world (or Cleveland) when you got a wife and kids. Take it from me.
::: wanders off, muttering something about youth being wasted on the young :::
Been there, doing that. I have no social life, butt-ugly and painfully shy. I have a good job but…I am paying a bone-crushing debt. Most of my ‘disposable income’ is going to that. I still have 8000 to go(down from 26,000, all credit card debt) and I haven’t complained. Well, not much. I just needed my POS car to hold out for 6 months more.
No such luck. It’s been in the shop 4 times in the last few months, setting me back about 1,500 dollars.
I think I can identify where you’re coming from–I was 24 before I got kissed for the first time (about a month and a half ago). I know it gets tiring to hear “just wait, it’ll happen”, but it does eventually, if you want it to. It helps to be a little more assertive in romantic affairs, I’ve found. Simply sitting back and waiting for men to make all the moves didn’t work for me. When you’re interested, try asking a guy out. Worked for me.
As for the job–this might be the perfect time (job market-wise) to go straight to graduate school. I know you might be feeling ready to make money, but considering the lousy job market right now, and the fact that your parents are willing to let you live at home (that’s right, isn’t it?), it might be a good option for you. Are you interested in library science, or continuing on for a master’s in history? It’s pretty tough going right now, looking for a job with a liberal arts background (i.e., no marketable, job-specific skills).
If you’re set on finding a job, I’d try career services and asking for lots of advice/help from people who already have jobs. Sometimes they can offer wisdom that you didn’t even know they possessed. I have often heard that people didn’t know what jobs they would be interested in until they got out into the job market and started working. You might try tapping into the knowledge of your academic advisers, etc.
Good luck–I feel for you. I have a sister going through this same problem.
I’d post something to cheer you up, but I’m in virtually the same situation. I’m 26, college dropout, working my ass off at a “home improvement warehouse” for a subsistence living, with no real prospects for any kind of relations with the opposite sex. I had my one shot at really going somewhere a couple of years ago when I went to work for Dell Computer Corp. doing tech support. I hated it. Hated, hated, hated it. I burned out in less than a year and moved back home like a loser. Luckily I’m making enough to rent an apartment, now, but my life is pretty empty.
As far as the “love-life” goes, all I can say is from what I’ve seen on this board, I (and about a hundred other guys here) wish I could meet a girl like you in real life. That’s probably not a lot of consolation, and you don’t know me from Adam, but keep your eyes and mind open, and I’m sure you can meet a guy who’s right for you.
Wow, that sounded excessively maudlin. Anyway, good luck with the life and all that.
I want a job too. I would like to be one of those guys that ride around in limousines with top hats and canes and smokes cigars… what do you call them?
Oh yeah, millionaires. Where’s the line to sign up for being one of those?
I sorta agree and sorta don’t. What’s gotten me the best results has to find people around whom I can relax, and just bide my time. Worked a few weekends ago:) And for the most part it wasn’t me being aggressive. I was offered something, and I accepted. If that’s aggressive . . . okay:)
I hear ya. As far as the job thing goes, I don’t know what your current school situation is, but I can tell you that I am in the middle of school (three-ish semesters to go) and found a halfway decent job. The only way I’d be really happy is if I made it as a famous rock star, but baring that, I’ll just stick with it until I get my degree and get out of debt (in like 10 years, sheesh!). I’d say that as a humanities type person in school, a secretary/data entry kind of job is what I’d expect to beable to get without a degree. I landed a desktop publishing/secretary-type job, working for a woman I knew before hand, which I’m enjoying to a reasonable degree. It’s hard, and I’ve kind of come to the decision that all dreams except your dream job are going to be disapointing to some degree. You’ve just gotta suck it up and figure that one day your ship will come in.
Oh, and muah
About the love life, I also hear that. I went downtown tonight with a friend, and I’ll just say that trying to randomly find someone is not only really dificult, but it also leads to depression and let-down. iampunha already said, find people around whom you can relax, and I’ll second that for the most part. Although, for me, those people seem to think I’m just that asexual guy who’s just happy all the time, but really I’m like the clown who’s got the smily face paint on but’s crying inside… I’m now getting into the unhelpful phase here, so I’ll sign off…
but I will say, hey, I don’t know where you are, but come to the dopefest in Boston next weekend, sometimes just spending time with folks who like you will do the trick.
Your inability to correctly use dashes makes me laugh. Kmart-FUCK: just like a real fuck, but it’s a blue light special every so often!
Job-job. Heh. Cute.
Joke-23: one more than a catch-22. Poor baby, never been kissed. Too bad only politicians and mommies kiss babies. Your family is giving you shit for not being kissed? (What a thing to get hung up on.) Or are they giving you shit for something else that’s unclear?
