posted
I've been offered a job for while I'm home from college on break. I'm very hesitant, however, to accept this. Here's why:
Hours are Thursday-Saturday nights, 5PM to 5AM, and every other Wednesday, same hours. I will be working primarily with men who don't speak much English(I'm a woman). I recently sprained my wrist/thumb very badly, and my knee, and have to do physical therapy for both, but the job expects me to be able to wheel 800 lb rolls of paper using a small cart. (For the record, I'm a small, 5'4" girl, 20 years old.)
On the other hand, the pay is $8/hour, plus a premium for working a weird shift, and the hours are steady. I need the money, and no other place I applied has offered me anything. They want me in for training at 7 tomorrow morning, but I'm wondering if I should call and cancel or not. They originally wanted me to work until the end of January, but I told them I absolutely could not do that, as I have to go back to school January 4th. The response was, "Well, I GUESS I can let you go back the day you leave for school."
I watched a man about 6' tall and well built struggling with moving these rolls of paper. I'm really, really hesitant to accept this... but I need the money, badly. Any advice? I talked to my parents- my mom doesn't want me taking the job, but my dad says I should show up tomorrow anyway and try it. They said the decision is ultimately mine.
(My best friend worked for this company over the summer through a temp agency, doing different work, and loved it. She was hired for the same job over break that I've been hired for- with the opposite shift. She's 5'6", but much, much slimmer than me, and with asthma. I worry that if I can't do this, physically, than her trying it would be risking her safety. Advice on that?)
Posts: 1591 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
The physical requirements of the job have me concerned. The fact that you'd be the only woman on a shift full of non-English speaking men has me even more so. $8 an hour sounds like terrible money for the amount of physical labor described, and I can't imagine they'd pay a large enough shift differential to make an impact on that opinion.
Personally I'd turn it down and run away fast.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
I've never made more than $7.50 an hour, and never had a job that offered more than 25 hours a week, if that. So $8 an hour, for more than 40 hours a week, is very nice.
Still... I'll probably turn it down, after talking with my dad again. Hopefully I can find some place else that's hiring this season. Thanks guys.
Posts: 1591 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I really think you can do better than that. Have you really exhausted your potential employment outlets?
Posts: 959 | Registered: Oct 2005
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Honestly, most companies do their seasonal hiring in October. I think it might be a little late for you.
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
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My niece is looking for seasonal work and one place she called said they'll be hiring after this weekend. (Apparently they don't want to interview and train people until Black Friday is over.) ;-) So there's still hope.
Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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I'd agree with your dad. Give it a try. I work in a factory setting with similar hours. If you don't like it don't feel bad about quitting. Believe me, temp workers are in and out of places like that every day. You could be ike Ryan from "The Office". "I could clean out my desk and be gone from this place in five minutes, and no one would remember I was ever here. Including myself."
Posts: 2 | Registered: Nov 2008
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posted
Is it worth the risk of further injuries? It doesn't sound like right now you are in the position to be able to handle such a physically demanding job. Give yourself time to heal. The long term potential if you injure yourself more is just not worth the few weeks of pay.
Posts: 1132 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: That's not a job offer as much as it's a threat.
If Hatrack had sigs, I'd be editing that into my profile right now.
But Tinros, that job sounds awful. You're still in Columbus, right? You might want to try Trader Joe's; they pay well above minimum wage, and this is their busy season. They may have all of the seasonal help they need right now, but never try never know.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Around here, there is a lot of seasonal work available at retail stores such as at the mall. There are even a few specialty holiday stores that are only open from Thanksgiving through just after Christmas. Good luck finding something! It really is hard to find work for just a few weeks (I never did it while in college ,to be honest) but I think you're right to turn down that job.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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Have you signed up with two or three temp agencies? Employers with a sudden need to hire someone for a few weeks often don't do it directly.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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This article might address some of your questions. Also lists a few places that might be hiring- I have only heard good things about fedex so that might be one to look into. Call centers may not be that much fun thoguh.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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Noemon, I'm not in Columbus anymore. I'm in Athens for school, but I live south of Dayton, and that's where I am for winter and summer breaks.
I checked around the Dayton mall, and got a few promising responses, including one interview at New York and Company tomorrow. So here's hoping.
Apparently, one of the places I applied over the summer, when I checked back in today, said they'd planned on offering me an assistant manager position. And then their stock dropped, and they had to cut a bunch of shifts. Bummer, I'd have liked to work at a game store.
Anyway, I'll keep you updated if I find anything.
Posts: 1591 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
If you can find another job that suits you better, great.
However, I have to say that I've known a great many people at your age (and older, really) who went long periods of time unemployed, mooching off of their friends, their family, or the government, because they felt that the jobs they could actually get were beneath them. Personally, I am of the opinion that the best job available to you at a given time should be your barometer for how much your time is worth.
Of course, it looks to me like you already realize this, which I think is an admirable and underrated quality. I think that will serve you well through your life, whenever times might get tough. Really, I think I'm mostly saying all this to provide a counterpoint to some of the other people in this thread.
It's too late now, you either checked out the job or you didn't. But, in general my advice would be to check it out, while still pursuing other, more appealing possibilities.
Posts: 3580 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote: Personally, I am of the opinion that the best job available to you at a given time should be your barometer for how much your time is worth.
But, sometimes people don't know how much their time is worth, especially when they're just starting out. Just because you don't know that there are places that would value you doesn't mean you are valueless.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote:However, I have to say that I've known a great many people at your age (and older, really) who went long periods of time unemployed, mooching off of their friends, their family, or the government, because they felt that the jobs they could actually get were beneath them.
Sounds like they were above the need for those jobs. Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Well, Dan, if I actually look or whatever for long enough, I am worth $25 an hour. If I just take a crappy minimum wage job, I'm a lot less. Equitat state empiror?
Posts: 3060 | Registered: Nov 2003
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posted
Dan, I'd never refuse a job because it was "below" me. My concerns with this job were the physical requirements- I'm small to begin with, and I've got an injured wrist and knee that I already need physical therapy for. It just wasn't a good fit, period.
My interview today went very well, so here's hoping. Most places said they won't let me know until after this weekend- understandable, there.
I'm just looking for seasonal employment to help with my student loans and whatnot over breaks right now. I can't handle a job with my course load during school.
Posts: 1591 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:However, I have to say that I've known a great many people at your age (and older, really) who went long periods of time unemployed, mooching off of their friends, their family, or the government, because they felt that the jobs they could actually get were beneath them.
Sounds like they were above the need for those jobs.
Scifibum... I keep writing variations of a post criticizing said mooching, and extolling the positive aspects of hard work, even at a low paying job when necessary.
But every time I read what I've written it looks like I'm lecturing you, which I don't think will be well received. So, I don't know what to say. I guess I'll just say that I pretty much take the opposite view of you... anyone who thinks mooching off of people who care about them (or mooching off of strangers) is a good substitute for working whatever jobs are actually available to you... well, I think they deserve a crappy minimum wage job, at that point.
quote:Originally posted by Phanto: Well, Dan, if I actually look or whatever for long enough, I am worth $25 an hour. If I just take a crappy minimum wage job, I'm a lot less. Equitat state empiror?
I don't necessarily disagree with you, Phanto... it's good to look for jobs that suit what you want, and not settle for jobs that will make you unhappy. But it's also good to recognize that your wage isn't the only thing about a job to consider.
Also, time you spend looking for a job with high wages could be time spent making less than you want at a different job, while still looking.
Posts: 3580 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
"But every time I read what I've written it looks like I'm lecturing you, which I don't think will be well received."
Don't worry, I agree it's good for people to work and shameful to take advantage of others as a substitute (particularly if those others are working for a living).
Just figured it makes a twisted kind of sense: I don't need to work at a low paying or physically demanding job, because, after all, I can get by without doing it. "Beneath" them only in the sense that they haven't been brought low enough to take what work they can find.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Tinros: don't read any of this as critical of you. You're in school and obviously want to work when you aren't. You're doing good. Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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"Beneath" them only in the sense that they haven't been brought low enough to take what work they can find.
