I finally found employement. I've accepted a part time position at Sears. I'm a floor merchandising person. Okay, I really don't know what my official title is. I do whatever the supervisor tells me to do. I clean out the mess people leave in the fitting rooms. I pick up the clothes that mysteriously fall off the hangers onto the floor, All By Themselves. I help customers do price checks or find what they're looking for in the store. And I stock shelves.
I haven't had a minimum wage job since the 90's. It's definitely different. I can see it from the perspective of not being one step below the owner. I don't mind. It's nice to not have to worry about dealing with employees for a change. All I have to do is show up to work, do my job, clock out out for lunch and remember to clock back in. And when I leave at the end of the day, I'm done. I don't have to even think about work until the beginning of my next shift. It's a nice change.
I'm flying back home to Nashville this coming up weekend. I have a doctor's followup appointment next Tuesday and I figured I'd just make a whole weekend of it. It'll be nice to see all my Clarksville bff's again.
Oh, and to totally raise an awareness, but not get into a political rant...I really don't know how a single person could survive on a minimum wage job. There's no way that amount of money could pay for rent, a car, utilities and food. I honestly just don't see how anyone could survive on $900 a month and not live in a ghetto. Especially if there were children also. I just don't see how it could be done. Until I realized just how little of a paycheck that would be, I never had to think about it. Well, now it's on my mind and it makes me sad for all the people who do have to survive that way.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Job Interview Hell
Before moving here, I had never actually filled out a job application. I've never even really been on a job interview, at least not in the sense that most people think of. Every place I've ever worked at before, I've simply dropped off a resume and got a call a couple days later asking if I was still interested. Or, in one instance, I was asked to go to dinner and presented with a job offer that I wasn't even looking for at the time.
I'm not writing that to brag, merely to point out my total ineptitude when it comes to selling my skills. I've never had to do that, so I don't really know the first thing about it.
I've also never realized the process took so long. I applied at a major hardware/lumber retailer for a part time cashier position. I have already been to three interviews in the past week for that position. I was told today that there is a final interview in about seven days and I might be called back for that one. That final fourth interview will determine who gets hired. It makes me wonder if the company is trying to weed out the ones not really interested by making them come back over and over during a stretched out time period.
I'm amazed that it takes four interviews to make a decision on a single candidate, especially one so innocuous as a minimum-wage part time cashier. Then again, I've learned over the years that there is no unimportant position in a business.
Maybe what I'm accustomed to in the veterinary field is completely different though and this really is how the real world hires people. Because I was in a manager position for so long, I've learned to be able to read people with just a glance. I pay attention to the way people talk, the way they smile, and the way they behave around other employees. As one of my bosses used to frequently say, "You can train an employee how to hold a syringe, but you can't train a person to smile." Anyone can write anything they want on a resume or answer a series of questions in whatever way they think an employer wants to hear.
But, a person can't fake confidence or a smile, or a genuine love for work. I suppose that I'm still in the mindset that the HR managers of the world will realize after the first interview that I am an inherently good employee with a genuine desire to be challenged with work and do the best job I'm capable of doing. I try not to get irritated when I see teenagers working cash registers or doing sales jobs on the floor. Being a former manager, I'm constantly aware of employees that aren't doing a good job. I have to bite my tongue in interviews so as not to "tattle tale" on the employees out on the floor, employees I know I could run circles around if given a chance.
After being told today about the 4th interview, I stopped in at two other places and submitted applications and sat in on interviews. Surely someone out there will realize they should be hiring me, right?
I'm not writing that to brag, merely to point out my total ineptitude when it comes to selling my skills. I've never had to do that, so I don't really know the first thing about it.
I've also never realized the process took so long. I applied at a major hardware/lumber retailer for a part time cashier position. I have already been to three interviews in the past week for that position. I was told today that there is a final interview in about seven days and I might be called back for that one. That final fourth interview will determine who gets hired. It makes me wonder if the company is trying to weed out the ones not really interested by making them come back over and over during a stretched out time period.
I'm amazed that it takes four interviews to make a decision on a single candidate, especially one so innocuous as a minimum-wage part time cashier. Then again, I've learned over the years that there is no unimportant position in a business.
Maybe what I'm accustomed to in the veterinary field is completely different though and this really is how the real world hires people. Because I was in a manager position for so long, I've learned to be able to read people with just a glance. I pay attention to the way people talk, the way they smile, and the way they behave around other employees. As one of my bosses used to frequently say, "You can train an employee how to hold a syringe, but you can't train a person to smile." Anyone can write anything they want on a resume or answer a series of questions in whatever way they think an employer wants to hear.
But, a person can't fake confidence or a smile, or a genuine love for work. I suppose that I'm still in the mindset that the HR managers of the world will realize after the first interview that I am an inherently good employee with a genuine desire to be challenged with work and do the best job I'm capable of doing. I try not to get irritated when I see teenagers working cash registers or doing sales jobs on the floor. Being a former manager, I'm constantly aware of employees that aren't doing a good job. I have to bite my tongue in interviews so as not to "tattle tale" on the employees out on the floor, employees I know I could run circles around if given a chance.
After being told today about the 4th interview, I stopped in at two other places and submitted applications and sat in on interviews. Surely someone out there will realize they should be hiring me, right?
Monday, February 1, 2010
Things that irritate me about this location
My VZW navigator on my phone doesn't update quick enough and I get stuck in the town square going around and around the roundabout.
1 veterinary clinic in the whole city! Seriously!
The interstate system doesn't correlate the miles with the exit numbers. It could be 20 miles between exit 25 and exit 26. I'm used to the exit numbers matching the mile markers.
The library is closed on Sunday.
No Mexican Restaurants within a 60 mile radius.
No Bank of America branch location or ATM within the closest two counties.
1 veterinary clinic in the whole city! Seriously!
The interstate system doesn't correlate the miles with the exit numbers. It could be 20 miles between exit 25 and exit 26. I'm used to the exit numbers matching the mile markers.
The library is closed on Sunday.
No Mexican Restaurants within a 60 mile radius.
No Bank of America branch location or ATM within the closest two counties.
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