Wait…you have an an allowance of 100 dollars a month?
Shit, I never got an allowance, and if I had, there is no WAY it would be 100 dollars a month!
Personally, I think your parents have been far too lenient.
I’m sorry to be rude, but this is sig material:
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way:
If you can pass the tests they give you at temp agencies, temping is definitely a good way to go. You’ll get some crap job like filing, opening mail, or if you’re lucky, data entry, but you’ll also have a chance to demonstrate to numerous employers that you can show up on time, do the job, and act professionally. Many temps can’t manage these basic things; if you can, you’ll set yourself apart.
Then, later, you may be able to use people you have worked with as references when applying for permanent jobs. Or they may be able to help you find a permanent job. Or you may have an edge if you ever apply for a permanent job at a company you have temped for.
If you can stand it, live with your parents for as long as you can. There is no faster way to save money than to avoid rent and utility payments. There is little or no shame in this at age 18. In your thirties, it becomes a different matter, so seize the opportunity to save money NOW.
Quit smoking; you’ll save a HUGE amount of cash. (Do the math for yourself. Not smoking for just a few months could add up to a security deposit on an apartment.) Cut out the lattes; start drinking cheap coffee you make yourself. Again, figure out how quickly this savings will add up. Shop at K Mart, Goodwill, whatever stores you have that cater to people with little cash. You can buy a whole wardrobe for very cheap, perhaps with a little help from (horrors) your parents or other friends knowledgable in shopping very cheaply. If you have the slightest bit of snobbery about where your clothes come from, now would be a great time to get entirely over it.
College, schmollege. In your position, only go to college if your education leads directly to a career you care about. It sounds like you’re already aware of this. I had a nice upper-class Gentleman’s Education; it’s taken my career decades to recover from this. Go for the graphic arts certificate.
Finally, be aware that a job in a Sexxe Shoppe can have an off-putting effect on your resume. Lots and lots of potential employers will write you off when they see that job. This is perhaps unfair but dem’s de facts of life.
i am not a rat
lets make a little more clear
i added little things like “DID I MENTION” and what have u because i felt i didnt need to tell u people my complete life story in the begining. that doesnt really matter anymore does it seeing how we’re completely off the original topic now…
whenever i got 10 bux of gas, it went straight into the car, i never once spent it on anything else…and as i said before, i have to drive 20 mins to go anywhere, my gas doesnt last very long, half a tank doesnt get u very far…thank god i dont have a truck or SUV.
so it was still $100 a month
i honestly have no idea where the money went, for all i know it was probably was smoking.
i agree im not one of the most " i can budget myself like an accountant" person…so instead of bitching about my typing, why not bitch about different ways to manage money?
if i were my parents i wouldnt have given my child $100 a month,
but what kind of child is gonna say “no mom and dad, thats too much for a lil ween teen to have to spend, i dont want it, stop spoiling me!”? i never realized i was spoiled that much until about a year ago. my friends were like, “holy shit, u get 100 a month?!”
and i say “yah, it doesnt matter cuz im still broke…”
People have given you some good advice here; I hope it helps.
Good luck.
Hmmm, …
Total strangers from all over the planet are providing you with suggestions, comments and life experiences to get you motivated, on your feet, spiffed up and a few other tidbits.
Still you return with A T T I T U D E !!
If you do this with kind-hearted, benevolent strangers, how do you act around people who might employ you, know you, even live with you?
FWIW, I find you unappreciative and ungrateful, especially since you asked for help here, but seem to flip the bird any time a suggestion is made you get off your lazy ass, even for a second.
Good luck. You need it, since you’ve tossed practically everything else coming your way.
I went back and re-read the OP: they’re taking away her allowance and gas money ($140/month). They’re not kicking her out of the house and since she hasn’t mentioned her car insurance, my guess is they’re still willing to foot the bill for that.
Masonite, good points about college and about how working in a sex shop is going to look on her resume.
Trancey, in your year off before you resume your education, really take a hard look at what will give you a foot up in your chosen field (I speak from hard experience here). Working temp when you don’t yet need to pay rent and utilities is a great idea; I’ve done it and really enjoyed it, plus you learn a lot of skills on the job. If you need work clothes, make a deal with your parents: borrow the minimum necessary and pay it back promptly when you get your first paycheck. I’m a die-hard smoker, but I’d advise you to quit now when it’ll be easier than 20 years down the line.
Probably the best advice I can give you is for you to enlist your parents as your allies. Have them help you make out a plan and set goals. They are a rich fund of experience and knowledge and every parent wants their child to succeed and to be happy.
i am very grateful for the “civilized” statements, opinions and suggestions from people
but critizing me on how i type was never part of my questions that i had stated in the first post. i dont type to a proper way of standards on a message board because i dont see how it can be such a big deal. so yes, i guess i do have an attidude towards that but, since people are still answering this thread, im sure ur not crying and screaming at home because u apparently cant read what im typing.
ive tried shopping at cheaper places, but im not someone who was born with the ever famous “model” body who can fit every peice of clothing…so most of the time the clothes i want arent cheap.
the first job at walmart was a temp position
and yah, my mom said “well how do u think working at the love nest is going to reflect on ur resume”
its retail experience, more constumer experience, not to mention “other” experience for my own well being and if someone can’t look past of what was being sold at that store, then id rather not work for them anyways…a job’s a job isnt it?
“u cant judge a book by its cover”
the $1000 that i owe my dad is for the insurance, and the car itself. i tried telling him id rather pay monthly foir the insurance (which is $600 apparently) but he said “no because they charge u for this and this and this and end up paying more, so i want it in full”
No. Some jobs suck, and others don’t. You’re pre-defining your career awfully early if you really see it that way.
Maybe u cant, but, in fact, people do. Are you really willing to cut your chances of future employment down - I mean WAY down - over this issue? Is it worth so much to you, standing up for the rights of leather goods and rubber novelties?
I’m probably done in this thread. You have a lousy attitude, which I guess is understandable and normal, but I’m sick of reading it. Practice your “faking it” skills for job interviews; you’ll need them.
Take it from one who used to get spit on back in the heyday of punk for what I looked like; from someone who has a tattoo on her cheek and violet hair–always, always, always assume that the people doing the hiring are more conservative than you. I mean, suppose later on you apply for a job you really want for a graphic design firm. The salary is great, the benefits are great, the office is beautiful, and there’s lots of opportunity for advancement. You’re really excited about it–but your resume gets tossed out because you worked at the Love Nest?
That’s true: paying insurance annually or biannually is much cheaper than paying it monthly. Good advice; listen to him.
As far as jumping on you for spelling and grammar, as I said before, how you present yourself matters–and it matters everywhere.
when applying in the graphics field they care more about what school u graduated from, who the teacher was and especially what ur portfolio looks like more then ur work experience.
to actually get a job at any graphic design place, its knowing the right people, not what job u had previously…and if they actually do care where uve worked before, its only 5% of everything else they look into.
Uh…wrong. You see, I have an AA in Graphic Design and a BFA.
I would seriously reconsider the “sex shop” idea. I have no way of knowing what type of establishment you are considering, but I will tell you about my experience. I took a job in an adult bookstore during the darkest financial days of my undergraduate career, and I regret it to this day. At the time, I was thinking “great idea!” – a relatively well-paying service job where I could make a decent salary in the limited time I had available, “no harm, no foul!” Right? Wrong! In my opinion, there are a few jobs that are just not worth it regardless of the pay. One is clubbing baby seals, and another is working in an adult bookstore.
True, most of the customers will be completely normal people just looking for a little fun, but the other twenty percent will be some of the creepiest perverted screwballs you can imagine. I still shudder when I remember one man who was looking for a penis pacifier for his baby daughter. You will watch sex addicts spend their entire paycheck on porn, and if you are like me, feel like a dope dealer. Get used to it because these customers will be your “regulars,” and the management will prize them. Watching grown men pay for overpriced videos with a bag of change is not a pretty sight - trust me.
In addition, the business is sleazy. If your experience is anything like mine, the people who own the store are not likely to be members of the Chamber of Commerce if you know what I mean. How many stores keep their lawyers’ phone number taped to the cash register? Wal-Mart may suck, but when was the last time one of them was raided? However, the worst part for me was to be surrounded by the all that pornography. I totally lost interest in sex for the few months that I managed to work there, and by the time that I left, I just found myself wondering how people ended up doing a “Four Hour, Forty Guy Gang Bang Special.” Because the people who owned the store were connected to the porn industry, I heard about the overdoses and suicides of the actors/actresses. Can you say human carnage? It took me months to recover from working in that place.
Certainly, your experience may be nothing like mine, and you did not specify exactly what type of store you were considering. I read your post, and you mentioned only a “sex shop.” It might be completely innocuous. However, I wanted to offer my experience on the chance that it was not. There are other ways of making money that tend to tread a little more lightly on the soul.
One hint - movies on the premises = bad sign!
Good luck.
Trancey, I’ll be blunt.
You had anxiety attacks working at Walmart. After what jmpride62 said, are you sure you have the mental stamina to work at a shop where some of your customers will think you’re asking to be harassed? I’ve spent 24 hours in the locked ward of a psych unit after an attempted suicide. Believe me, it’s vastly over rated. You did retail, and it hurt you. Why are you insisting on doing it again, in a business which attracts worse customers. If it’s to shock your parents, do you really want to hurt them so badly you’re prepared to hurt yourself? If it’s to make them feel guilty for being ogres who make you get a job, they shouldn’t. Getting that job is your choice.
You say you can present a good impression. Prove it. Start here. If you think we can’t make a difference to your future, you may be wrong. Next week, I’ll be sending a resume to ultrafilter.
Initial resumes and cover letters are not read by graphic designers; they’re read by HR people. I’ve been involved in the screening process, and trust me, anything without proper grammar and spelling gets tossed immediately. Depending on the number of applicants for the job, the person reading it may not even get as far as your qualifications. In what you want to be your field and mine, a certain amount of non-conformity is expected. In business, a certain amount of conformity is requiredm and this is coming from the girl who used to be the biggest non-conformist in town.
So, if you want to whine about how bad your life is and how awful your parents are, this may not be the best place to do it. If you honestly want advice and suggestions, this may be the best place.
You have choices, whether you feel like it or not. Use them. And capital letters.
CJ
I thought you were looking to get advice, not give it. Silly me.
i was simplying correcting ur assumptions
i guess i should have explained what goes on in that “sex shop”
its called The Love Nest
they sell an array of sex toys,books like karma sutra, a shelf of porn magazines, lingere, stuff for birthday jokes, restraints etc etc etc…
there are no video tapes there.
it is a business, u are expected to wear fully covering business type clothing, u have to look decent because peopple who are nervous enough to even step in the store, wanna see trusting people they can ask embarassing stuff too, not just some dumpy looking skank…the ladies that do work there said if there was ever someone who i felt uneasy about, to get them to come and talk to the “sick n perverted person”…im pretty sure im not put myself into a great deal of harm…
im not getting the job to spite my parents at all. i went looking for a job, saw the opening for this job, applied as kind of a joke, i didnt know it would actually get me 2 interviews
according to a lot of people i know, im one of the most perverted people theyve ever met, trust me, i can handle being asked sick n disgusting questions. it takes a lot to bother me and make me seriously grossed out.
i dont consider walmart to be that much retail because of what i was doing…i was just a plain old cashier, all i had to deal with was people bitching about a price, call someone in another department to get them something different, and once in a while some drunken woman who cant count
at the Love Nest, i get to actually interaCT with people, i can talk to my other co-workers, i can give people different suggestions…not just stand there in one spot and talk to no one except bitchy costumers
and yes, love nest will get some bitchy people, but the stories ill get out of it to tell my friends can out weigh that any day…
AND as i mentioned before, but apparently u people still CANT read, i know how to type properly, i just dont bother to on here.
i know how to type out a resume with no spelling mistakes, i know what capitalization is.
the graphic design places i would be applying to (after i graduate) are small businesses, not huge corporate buildings with one floor dedicated to human resources…most times the only people i would have to speak to is the owner, and main designer, of that company.
by the way, as i said b4, i am taking some of ur advice and suggestions into consideration.
Well, since you already know it all, there’s no sense wasting our time any further.
Just don’t put the Love Nest on your resume. I’m serious.
If i move out of the city (which i plan on doing)
some other city will have no idea what the Love Nest is…so maybe they wont be like, “omg what a pervert, i dont want to hire her”
the more i read the posts about not working there, theres a bunch of pros and cons…more cons then pros…i dunno what to do, i need money now, ( i have 56 cents in my bank account) and if i do happen to get this job, ill have to do it, i dont really have a choice
Yeah, but some teens could have put it into the bank and saved some of it.
Yeesh.
And I can read. I know how to read-I just wouldn’t bother reading posts that are typed like this. It’s annoying to read and it makes you LOOK STUPID. Even if you’re not.