Earlier this summer when I didn’t get hired as a Director, I applied for another position in the company which was a bit more practical for someone with my skills. It paid more than the previous job, seemed easier, and wasn’t the kind of job where I’d be on my feet all day. The manager who hired me told me they could give me as many hours as I wanted (as close to full time as they could give). Since I would be working 6 days a week, I would have to quit my other two jobs. Not a problem, I thought- the music studio has a summer break, as does the crossing guard job. The transition was well-timed and fairly seamless. Now I could concentrate on one job, for the first time in two years. Maybe even make enough money to support myself.
Wrong. While I did work as much as I could, it is simply not enough hours. The work is much harder than I originally thought. I’m not the most organized person on the planet, so I really have to bust my ass to be functional at this job- plus any mistakes I make impact everybody negatively. So in the interest of not wanting to raise the ire of my coworkers/manager, I put a lot of effort into making myself into a model employee.
A particularly defining event which derailed all of this was observing a coworker who had been given a raise. She was by and far the finest employee there, very neat, organized, got everything done super-perfect and 3x faster than anybody else. She was made for the job. Her raise? going from $14 an hour to $15 an hour…at a job that only scheduled her 15 hours a week :smack: . Seeing this was like looking into the future- even if I worked my hardest, that was the best I could get out of this job. Raises were only given on a yearly basis, regardless of background, skill, etc.
As if that wasn’t depressing enough, all but 1 other coworker (who got hired the same time as I did) are quitting within the next 3 months. They are moving on to bigger and brighter things. All of this was kind of depressing. Of course I should find something better as well, but the fact that this job currently feels like such a dead end and temporary means that lately I haven’t been trying very hard at all. I know that I should find something else if it bothers me, but I also am aware this is a nice job on the side.
If I could find a full-time job that paid enough to support myself I would. Unfortunately the line of work I chose doesn’t lend well to working full-time or even earning a living wage, for that matter.
