posted
...Or is there something worthless about me as an employee...?
I've had a lot of jobs.. Mostly part-time little-kiddy retail-type stuff. And I've had a lot of bad luck with jobs. I quit my first job because I allowed myself to be stolen from. My second job was the perfect job, but it was only temporary. My third job was hell, or at the very least, purgatory. (Note: The first thread I ever made was about that job, and can be found here. And most recently, my job as a rep at Best Buy.
Here's the history. I was hired in June, and I was so excited. It paid $12 an hour, wayyy more than I thought I could get until after college, even. (I have low goals) And I was excited, I'd be learning something new, talking to people... Fun, right? A weekend job, good for school.
It might have been. It was not fated to be. It took him A MONTH to get me a chance to train, and the entire time being me calling him and asking if I could work, him not returning my calls.... Him putting me off... Him making excuses. Then finally when I did train, the person who was supposed to be training me was called away the second day, and I had to try and work alone.
So fine, I'm trained, SORT OF. But I had plans for the next weekend that had been made years in advance. I told him I could have worked on Sunday, coming back early, but he told me no... Then he told me not to work the next weekend either. And the next weekend...
I continue to call him, he continues to avoid my calls and not call me back. I get a few weekends in before school starts, and then I tell him I'll be free after my Orientation. So I make myself free, no matter what's happening...
And he doesn't schedule me. My friends start to make plans for the weekend, but I'm loath to go in on them because I KNOW that he'll make me work starting those weekends. Because that's just the way my luck runs. TA DA... He does.
Then there was last week, which I whined about on the hug thread. I called him, asked for some hours, he gave them to me only to call me back and say that if I didn't have a name tag (which he NEVER gave me) I couldn't work.
That made me MAD. But not angry enough to quit.
This week... I was told to work, and my boss would come with a name tag and everything would be hunky dory. So yesterday, I worked. It was fine aside from being a strange store... The biggest important thing about being a rep is knowing all of the other reps and all of the employees so you can get them to sell your product. I didn't sell much, but the Twins game was on, and that's why.
And today... I went to work, in a better mood than yesterday, and tried my best to get some things sold. I made a badly timed and phrased comment to the section supervisor, and then he came up to me and told me I should leave. I wasn't sure whether to believe him... I hadn't worked long enough to know that the Section Super had jurisdiction over me too. So I waffled a bit until he told me, and nicely said that I should get some more training before I came back, and figure out how to do the job right.
I was still unsure, until my boss called. His exact words: "They don't want you in their store anymore".
I didn't cry until I got out of the store. I'm quitting. Is this the right decision? I'm going to be miserable, poor, and maybe bored, but this job is making me miserable and stressed already. I'd rather be desolately poor and able to enjoy my weekend than have some money, but dread the coming of Friday. (Which I was surprised to find myself doing).
Moreover, is it my fault? I know it's my fault that I got sent home today... But anyway. No matter what, I'm quitting. He's not going to train me, he's not going to give me a chance, so I'm going to save us both some trouble.
For those of you who pray, please pray for me to get another job.... I'm so miserable. Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
aww! *gives you tissue* It's not your fault, they are the ones who are incompetent. I hate incompetence. It pisses me off more than anything. If they hire you, they should train you right away and not give you the run around! This is about money Filthy lucre and when filthy lucre is involve then things should be precise. Jobs can be so annoying.
(and filthy lucre is a funny term, isn't it?)
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
I worked in retail in highschool and it was never something that required more than your basic conversation skills, and a little bit of math to keep the register straight- I don't think I was ever trained except on the register, looking back. What was this, Ralph Lauren or something?
Posts: 66 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Oh, honey. It sounds like you were doing the best in a bad situation, and the stress got to you. I wouldn't have lasted nearly as long as you have!
posted
Not retail, sales. I was working as a representative of a hardware company at an electronics outlet. I don't want to name any names. Basically you go to the store and try to sell your company's products over other people's, or whatever. If you bribe/coerce/befriend people enough, you can get the store's employees to sell the hardware for you, which makes you look better, and helps you out a lot. I wasn't able to do such a thing, because I was being shuttled around from store to store. I've been the rep who subs for people when they go on vacation or whatnot.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
No... 12/hr working for crappy hardware company that gives me no hours. I have no idea how much Best Buy Employees get paid.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
I wish I made 12 bucks an hour. Instead I work part time making 6.75 an hour to sit around being cold for hours.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Oh, I see. You probably just aren't cut out for high competition sales. darn. I'm sorry about the crappy experiences you've had, employment problems are the worst. "Supervisor" doesn't really mean anything on a personal level, they're still just people, they screw up too. Good luck finding something new
Posts: 66 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Ugh, believe me, I know what it's like having a job full of people who have no clue what it means to take care of it's employees.
To save time and writing, I guess what I should just say is flip them off and find a job that actually cares about you. I get 8.50 an hour, but my Team Leader actually cares about me, and thats what matters to me the most.
Posts: 9754 | Registered: Jul 2002
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The business world sucks. Working for a big company that doesn't care about you as a person (obviously you're only a name tag to them) is not worth your time. You're better than that. You are a talented, bright girl and not a commodity.
Quit this crap as soon as possible and don't feel guilty about it. Get a job at a place where people care about you and you can make real, rather than superficial, friendships.
posted
Yuck. The only time I liked sales was when I was eleven and twelve working in the store my dad did - it was fun, then.
Try waitressing. Or see if your college needs tutors for folks that are blind or deaf or have some other impairment. I got lots of nifty free classes that way when I was 18 and 19 by "tutoring" a blind girl (at $5.00/hr when minimum was $3.15) and meant I read her text books onto tape and took notes in her classes for her, which I also later read onto tape. Pretty cool deal.
Waitressing isn't really all that bad - especially if you can get into a small cafe/family diner type.
Hang in there- it'll get better!
Posts: 5609 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
<<<<<Abby>>>>> Don't worry. Keep trying. It's not you. You have to find someplace that cares about you enough to train you and believe in you. Lots of places are just bad places to work. Don't give up. You will get lucky and find a good one soon. Then you'll start to know what to look for more and more to keep from having bad experiences again.
<<<<<Abby>>>>> I'm sorry this happened to you, dear.
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Awww ((Abby)). Where you were unlucky is in getting an unprofessional boss at one of your first jobs
quote: It took him A MONTH to get me a chance to train, and the entire time being me calling him and asking if I could work, him not returning my calls.... Him putting me off... Him making excuses.
Not returning calls, lying, not enough training--all of this is sophmoric unprofessional crap. He jerked you around and wasted your summer when you could have been making money at another job. Don't know what you said to the section super, but often there is friction in situations like that with on-site subcontractors. That and you're lack of training is probably what caused a problem.
You're too good for them. Move on or if you decide to stay at least express your frustration with your boss. He may fire you but you'll gain peace of mind.
posted
Thanks everybody... It makes me feel a lot better. I was really miserable when I made my post... ^_^ (hugs everybody)
Whoops... Well, what I said... Hm. The Sec Super asked me whether I was going on my break and I said No, I'm walking around the store, and he says I can't sell any printers walking around the store, and I say I'm not selling any printers anyway, and then other stuff happens and he asks me why don't I switch to another vendor, so I can walk around and check on their products. And I say "Maybe I should just get a new job..." It was my intrinsic bitterness coming through.
My boss still hasn't emailed me back.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote:Waitressing isn't really all that bad - especially if you can get into a small cafe/family diner type.
I've never been a waitress. But, if I had been a waitress, I probably would have gotten better tips than I did as a waiter (it's true, in general, that female servers get better tips than male servers). I'd rather clean toilets than wait tables again. I would certainly rather tend bar, bus tables, or even wash dishes.
Here's the thing about being a waiter: it is absolutely inevitable that people will get mad at you for something that is not your fault and you cannot fix. Granted, you'll probably have people get mad at you for something that is your fault or that is fixable, but that's neither here nor there. Service is a high-stress job, as are most jobs in hospitality where you have to interact with the customers. You can make very good money at it if you can land a spot in a nice restaurant, but it's WAY down at the bottom of my list.
Still, I hear that bad experiences build character. You must have plenty of character after so many crappy jobs.
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It sounds like you were doing the best in a bad situation, and the stress got to you. I wouldn't have lasted nearly as long as you have!![[Wave]](graemlins/wave.gif)
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darn. I'm sorry about the crappy experiences you've had, employment problems are the worst. "Supervisor" doesn't really mean anything on a personal level, they're still just people, they screw up too. Good luck finding something new
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