I Might Quit the Job I Just Took

This month has been rough....from moving to transportation issues to a job search that took way too long, it has been a true nightmare. 

Now, as far as the move is concerned, I am happy where I am, but I have just been facing problem after problem and it's been overwhelming. First, there were several things that happened that basically ate through my savings, which were a little over $3,000. It's never a good sign when your emergency savings gets emptied. Next, my car broke down and I didn't have the money to fix it. So on top of already having my savings wiped out, I wasn't able to work right up until moving day like I planned. Since the transportation issue wasn't worked out, I wasn't able to get to the job interviews I had planned near my new place. I tried to just suck it up and accept that I would have to work from home. I'm not used to that and I did not have much luck looking for that kind of work, but I really can't compete with people who have years of experience in data entry or customer service in remote jobs. Then, my only real break happened. After about a week of trying to find work from home options, a family member contacted me and said I could use their spare vehicle until I could afford to fix mine. I was so relieved. I immediately started filling out applications for jobs I would actually drive to. And I figured I would have work lined up in a day or two. Everyone says that they are desperately hiring, that they really need people. My plan was to basically accept whatever job offer came my way first. If I didn't like it I could always search for another job later on, but I needed money NOW! I was already driving a vehicle I only had access to through pure charity and I borrowed money last week so I could buy groceries. I was at a point where I would take anything.

That brings me to accepting my first job here. At that point I had been unemployed for about two and a half weeks. That's a lot of time to not be working for someone who already burned through their savings, needs to borrow money for food, and is using a borrowed car. 

I was extremely disappointed with my job search by the time this company called me. I was desperate for work. I couldn't believe that I was still looking for a job, but the issues I had run into were that jobs either wanted 24/7 availability or that the company was just dragging their feet and taking forever to interview, hire, and schedule people. The second job I got I love, but there's no reason for it to take a week and a half to get through all those steps if you really need help as badly as you claim.

Anyway, the first job has several strikes at this point. When they called me almost two weeks after I applied I was a little surprised. I figured that I had already been passed over for the job. That was strike one. Just how long was this company expecting me to sit around hoping that they would call me for a little part time retail job? Don't these companies realize that if they wait forever to call they can lose the opportunity to hire people who are actively seeking employment and filling out applications every day?

Next, after my interview I was offered ten dollars an hour. That's strike two. I wanted to ask for more right then and there, but realistically, if someone is offering you ten as an hourly wage you're not going to be able to talk them into fourteen or fifteen. You might be able to talk them up a quarter, but that's probably about it. Ten is just not a competitive wage and if I wasn't so desperate it would have been a deal breaker, but I needed to work and I accepted the position. 

Next, I go to orientation for my first paid day of work. I have to sit through almost four hours of training videos. I'm sorry, but that's strike three. I don't learn that way. These videos just turn your brain into mush. They are a waste of time and they don't really teach people. I'm not a big fan of companies wasting time just for the heck of it. 

Next, we have a listening problem right off the bat. I was asked for my availability and said that I would work every day except for Thursday. Within minutes, I was given my schedule for the rest of the week. I am scheduled for Thursday and Friday. That's strike four. In this case, it may very well have been an honest mistake. Maybe I was misheard, but I have had so many scheduling issues at other jobs that I now have very low tolerance for this type of thing. And any manager can tell you they will fix it. It doesn't mean that they actually will. And if they don't you're still responsible for what you were scheduled, even if you previously communicated that you didn't have the availability for it. I'm not gonna be set up to get in trouble by any job. I've had enough of that.

This job already has several strikes against it. I have a bad feeling about this job. It doesn't seem like it's going to work out, but hey, I needed work, so I figured that I better suck it up and give it a chance. 

Then I have a terrible day at work. The workload at this store is pretty ridiculous. And it's not ridiculous because that's just how business goes sometimes. It's ridiculous because that's how the company wants things to be. That's strike four. I have no respect for a company that gives people an insane workload just because they think they can. The store was overwhelmed with product. We didn't need anything. Not one more thing in that store, but I was expected to completely redo entire shelving units over and over and over again to make room for probably about a thousand or so dollars worth of products. And I can't just move things around the shelf. Everything has to be a certain way. Now, it's normal for retail sores to have specific rules about how products can be displayed, but these rules were excessive and made it really difficult to get the job done. Even aside from that, it's a lot of work to be constantly moving and replacing breakable, often heavy, items.

That is way too many rules for a job that involved way too much work for ten dollars an hour. Ten dollars an hour is okay for a chill job. It's not good enough pay for that kind of physical labor. 

Then I see the schedule. I have no hours at all-not one-for the next week. Oh, hell no! That is definitely strike five. That is inexcusable. I took a job because I wanted to work. I had been unemployed for almost a month. I finally get hired and then they expect me to beg for my hours? Oh, that's just not gonna work. 

At this point, I am beyond unmotivated. I don't care about this stupid job. I don't care about their stupid rules. I am so upset that after finally having some hope it's already taken from me. I'm not sitting around all week hoping that they call me to offer my more hours. I'm going to resume my job search. And if they don't like that then they shouldn't have given me so much time to sit around at home.

I wanted to just not even come in on Friday, but I did. I figured I would see how that shift went and then just resume my job search over the weekend. Then comes strike six. This job involves moving back and forth, lifting things, moving things pretty much all day. So I am constantly going back and forth to a cart full of product to find places for it, figure out how many things I have to move or how to redo an entire shelving unit to make space for this product when there really is none. A manager gets on my case that I'm breaking a rule. If you have to take more than five steps away from the cart, then you have to move the cart before you do anything. So let me get this straight. On top of having an incredible workload, I am going to be micromanaged to the point that I have to stop and think every time I try to move product about how many steps I'll have to take, which isn't something I'm always going to know before I go to look at a shelf, or I'm breaking your stupid rules? No. Just...just no. She said something about working smarter, not harder. First of all, I exert myself far more to move a cart full of product that is difficult to maneuver that I do to take more than five steps. Second of all, do you see the amount of work that you gave me? Nothing you guys are doing is about working smart. There is nothing remotely logical or intelligent about the work we were assigned or about the amount of ridiculous rules we were supposed to follow. 

I loved shopping in this store, but there were many times I left without buying anything just because I couldn't get to something I wanted. Now I know why. They bog their stores down with so much product that a lot of areas of the store are just really hard to shop in. So aside from all the other things that bother me about this job, I also don't like that fact that I can't take any pride in my work just because of how the company wants to do things. That's just not how it should be.

So, as of right now, I am still technically employed there, but I am resuming my job search. I am not interested in what they are offering, I am not interested in being treated like I'm in elementary school, and I am certainly not interested in being expected to sit by my phone, hoping that the company decides to be gracious enough to call me and offer me another shift or two by the end of the week. Clearly, they don't take this "job" thing very seriously, so why should I? I can just see the managers sitting around when I don't come back, complaining that they can't keep people because everyone's lazy and just doesn't want to work. Maybe offer a decent wage, actually give people work, and don't treat them like they're children. Just a few ideas. Maybe give it a try.

I received an email yesterday inviting me to apply for another job. Pays three dollars more an hour, is a full time position like I'd prefer, and has some decent benefits. I think I'm gonna give it a shot. Because that little part time retail job is a joke.