"We'll find a job for you that's FUN."

[Techno-Ninja]

I need to rant.

I usually try to keep this type stuff off of the interwebs, but I'm about to explode, and at the moment, I don't have anyone to go to.

I haven't had a "real" job since...ever. My work experience is mostly in temp work through an agency, for various factories. I applied for work at every business I thought I might have a shot at, and NO ONE hired me, or even called me in for an interview. This was in a relatively large town, too. I've since moved. Thrice.

The first town I lived in is small, and I applied at every business in the town, except for places I new I'd need schooling or special experience for. Most of them said they weren't hiring, or were family-run business. Two places were promising. A gas station, and a Dairy Queen. The manager of the gas station was moron, and let me check in almost every day for two months straight, without telling me that she filled the positions. With my cousins. If I would have told her who my aunt was, I would have had a job. Dairy Queen interviewed me. They ended up filling the positions with the owner's son, and some preacher's daughter. When I asked for the logical reasons behind not hiring me (not enough experience, for example?) they just told me that the owner's son felt like working, and that the girl they hired for the position I was going for was the preacher's daughter from the church in a nearby town. ...said town is more than ten miles away. I lived up the street.

The second town I lived in is even smaller than the first. It doesn't even have a real grocery store. The business district is dead. There's a bank, a post office, a family-run convenience store, and two bars. That's about it. I asked about work at the convenience store, they said no. I have no car, and there are no towns in walking distance from that town. There is also no transportation provided by the town. (No bus, train or even taxi.) ..so, I was stuck. Fortunately, my parents, who work for a property management company got me a job cleaning empty apartments. I..rarely get to work though, and when I do, the pay isn't good. It's not a livable income, but it's better than nothing at all.

My parents recently moved to a bigger town...and by big, I mean, it's still pretty tiny. I moved with them for the opportunity of work, and because they promised me that they'd (finally) take me to get my license. No luck so far. I've decided to stop looking for work there, because I want to get a place with my boyfriend, and he refuses to move for me. ( I don't blame him, the town I live in is in the middle of nowhere, and he lives in a metropolis.) Right now, I am technically living in two places. With my parents, and with my boyfriend and his family. My boyfriend's mom keeps pressuring me to move in with them permanently. I want to have a little more independence before I do that, because, they aren't the most reliable people around. I doubt I could even get the money needed to take the bus, should I start job hunting, or, by some strange miracle, actually get a job.

My boyfriend's mom recently got promoted to Executive Director at the assisted living home she works at. I thought that maybe I could get a job. It would be perfect! I wouldn't have to worry about transportation, or anything. I could save up, get a car and home, and move on with my life. I waited for a month or two after she got the new position, and then submitted a resume. She refuses to hire me. She knows I have experience cleaning living spaces, and knows I do it well, as she has seen my work, and even praised me for it. She constantly rants to me about how shitty her staff is, particularly the cleaning staff. Yet, out of fear for her job, out of fear that "it would look bad," she won't fire the jerk-offs and hire new people. You know what looks really good for people in her position? When they get things done. When they take charge and bring in decent staff. Maybe that's just my logic. The only position she currently has available is care-giver. She refuses to hire me for it, because it would mean I would have to wipe old people's butts and bathe them. It has to do with appearance too. It would look oh-so-horrible to hire someone she knows, even if they are actually competent, hard workers. Funny thing is, NOBODY HIRES ANYBODY UNLESS THEY KNOW THEM SOMEHOW. (It may be different where you live, but this has been the experience for me.) She told me, and I quote "if you would just move up here, we could find you something more fun."

I don't give a fuck about FUN. I just need a god damn job! It...seriously made me question her intelligence. The economy is shit. Jobs are hard to come by. People take what they can get. Something as trivial as fun does not matter. At being told that, I died a little bit on the inside. Just when I thought that maybe I would have some luck and get a job, because for once, I have a connection to somebody in a position to hire for full-time work. Nope. It's all about fun. Apparently, I'm only allowed to work at a place I would "enjoy". She claims to know me, but keeps imposing her ideas of enjoyable jobs on me....very obviously for selfish reasons, too. I should work at a coffee place, so I can get her free coffee, or at a store so I can get her a discount... I have social anxiety. AND SHE KNOWS THIS. If I were to be picky about where I work (which I am not) places like that would be the ones I look. I am the type who would enjoy care-giving. She insists I wouldn't. It's too depressing, and gross, and blah blah fucking blah. I can't get that anything through to her. But hey, that's pretty much the story of my life. I am overlooked. I am invisible. I'm just here to take it all in. A fly-on-the-wall. The word "ninja" in my screen name actually has meaning, and isn't just because I like them. I wish I could just catch a fucking break. It's soul-crushing that the one person able to give me one refuses to do so.

[kagome26isawsome]

I know what you are going through..I have been out of work for 2 years now and i clean my parents house to live here. Its sad really! there are many places hiring here but due to the fact that i got fired from a resturant job because my drawer was short $20 like 5 times (and not in a row) that it is harder than it looks. Sure i could get a job with my mom who works at a hospital cleaning rooms and discharged rooms and surgery rooms, but she says that i cant handle it! I mean come on! i CLEAN EVERYDAY! Im sure i can do it! *scoffs* and my dad keeps telling me to do factory work but the last time i went and did that, i got fired from it after 4 days. So im just biding my time looking for work..so i know what you are going through

[Techno-Ninja]

Factory work is so...boring. D: But I would do it again in a heartbeat. My dad says that having it as work experience looks good to employers, because being able to hold a job like that means I have patience...no employer has even acknowledged it though, so perhaps patience isn't a virtue anymore.

I'm sorry that you're going through some of the same stuff as me.

It's a pain. How can people be so dense? You clean house every day, therefore you would not be able to clean for a living? Makes no sense to me. x.x But perhaps there are other reasons for them not hiring us. Like I know my boyfriend's mom is trying to keep up a good appearance...but it's my personal opinion that she's going about it the wrong way. x.x

[Shadowknight12]

I am going to try to put this in perspective for you, with an anecdote of my own. The only serious career choices I ever had (that is, choices where I would get a job because of my qualifications) were a) Crime (no, I am not joking. I was offered to shank people for a living.) and b) a chain of drugstore/pharmacy/convenience store hybrids.

I took the latter, obviously, and it conflicted with my studies. They were kind enough to move around my schedule according to my classes, but I still had to pull 48 hours a week. For a meagre salary that was not enough to sustain me. I did this for a whole month, taking 5 classes at the same time. Some days, I had to work 12 and even 14 hours straight. My only free days were Sundays, which I spent frantically catching up with coursework. Oh, and did I mention that I was not allowed to sit, at all, during my shifts? Yes, this means standing up for 14 hours straight. People were starting to get concerned by the amount of painkillers I was taking (which, of course, did absolutely nothing to ease the pain). My days were wholly consumed. I was falling asleep in class. Needless to say, I was not having any fun.

I endured of this because I was promised that at the end of the gruelling month of training, I would get the shift I was promised, which would be one night a week on the graveyard shift, and then 14 hours straight on Sundays. Then the rest of the week would be for me to devote to my studies. When that month ended, I was told "oh, no, we were expecting you to pick up skills faster. At the rate you're going, you'll need 2-3 more months of training." My response? I laughed. Maniacally. Because it was so funny, you see? These people wanted to torture me for three more months! And they thought I'd let that happen, after the way they had just outright lied to me! So I quit.

And you know why I did this? Because I needed the experience. I needed to put something on my resumé. Otherwise you don't get hired, period.

Now, I have to start mandatory internship from college somewhere around August. It's exactly like working but you don't get paid. And you get to be treated like shit, too, since nobody likes interns. I look forward to this with a bright, caustic smile on my face.

So, I'm telling you all this to show you that what you have is annoying, yes, but truly nothing to get angry about. That is common and happens to many, many people. You'll find a good job eventually, just keep on looking.

[DemonGoddess]

In this economy, at this point, I'm thankful I'm still working. Granted, we're in a slow patch. But, I still have a job. So that's something anyway.

[Techno-Ninja]

I am going to try to put this in perspective for you, with an anecdote of my own. The only serious career choices I ever had (that is, choices where I would get a job because of my qualifications) were a) Crime (no, I am not joking. I was offered to shank people for a living.) and b) a chain of drugstore/pharmacy/convenience store hybrids.

I took the latter, obviously, and it conflicted with my studies. They were kind enough to move around my schedule according to my classes, but I still had to pull 48 hours a week. For a meagre salary that was not enough to sustain me. I did this for a whole month, taking 5 classes at the same time. Some days, I had to work 12 and even 14 hours straight. My only free days were Sundays, which I spent frantically catching up with coursework. Oh, and did I mention that I was not allowed to sit, at all, during my shifts? Yes, this means standing up for 14 hours straight. People were starting to get concerned by the amount of painkillers I was taking (which, of course, did absolutely nothing to ease the pain). My days were wholly consumed. I was falling asleep in class. Needless to say, I was not having any fun.

I endured of this because I was promised that at the end of the gruelling month of training, I would get the shift I was promised, which would be one night a week on the graveyard shift, and then 14 hours straight on Sundays. Then the rest of the week would be for me to devote to my studies. When that month ended, I was told "oh, no, we were expecting you to pick up skills faster. At the rate you're going, you'll need 2-3 more months of training." My response? I laughed. Maniacally. Because it was so funny, you see? These people wanted to torture me for three more months! And they thought I'd let that happen, after the way they had just outright lied to me! So I quit.

And you know why I did this? Because I needed the experience. I needed to put something on my resumé. Otherwise you don't get hired, period.

Now, I have to start mandatory internship from college somewhere around August. It's exactly like working but you don't get paid. And you get to be treated like shit, too, since nobody likes interns. I look forward to this with a bright, caustic smile on my face.

So, I'm telling you all this to show you that what you have is annoying, yes, but truly nothing to get angry about. That is common and happens to many, many people. You'll find a good job eventually, just keep on looking.

...crime? Do you have an intimidating appearance? Or special training of some sort, or what? O_O And good gods...what the hell kind of labour laws are there where you live? D: Being made to stand for 14 hours straight? What the hell? Did you get any breaks at all?

Employers lying to their employees is nothing new though. People endure all kinds of crap, just to make ends meet. Higher-ups know they can get away with a lot, because jobs are so hard to come by. Sounds like the place you worked for practically made you a slave...

I'm grateful I haven't experienced anything that bad. The worst I've gone through is being yanked around by people...telling me they'll hire me, and then not doing so for stupid reasons. Like, knowing someone else better than they know me. =/ (If I don't have the experience needed, why don't they just tell me that? ) I highly doubt the little 16 year-old girls often hired in my place have more experience than me. They're just perkier, cuter, and their daddies are rich, important, or they know the employer. I have lived mainly in small, rural towns, where church and sports are the most important thing. Here are a couple of questions from the one interview I've had. "So, you went to Such n such High, right?" "Were you a cheerleader?" "What church do you go to?"

...my answers weren't satisfactory, as I home schooled myself, and the only sport I have ever had any interest in is soccer. Also, not a church-goer. Hopefully my experience in the metropolis will be more pleasant.. less biased and less about who you know/who your parents are, and I'll get a job. I do have things to put on my resume, and hopefully I'll get more, somehow.

My anger is more directed at myself than anything. I don't particularly want to go into those details though. I'll just say that I'm a socially inept, dysfunctional wreck of a human being. (But I'm good at putting on a mask of confidence, and pretending that eye contact with a stranger doesn't BURN. ) It's rare that the bottles of my emotion spill over into rants like this. The way my boyfriend's mother keeps selfishly pushing her ideas of fun jobs on me is very irritating. She knows I have no spine, and probably expects me to cave and stop trying to get work at her company. But, until I get a logical reason out of her, I won't. The way she told me that she was going to find me a fun job is what made me snap. Almost everybody I know has been handed a job. I know it's probably a childish, pathetic way to think...but I can't help it. It's the one thing in my life that makes me say "That's not fair. When is it going to be my turn?" If my irresponsible drunk of a little brother can constantly be handed jobs with liveable income, no matter how many times he screws up and ditches work, if my equally dysfunctional friend can get work, if my shut-in of a boyfriend can get handed a job (by his mother, no less.)...then why can't I? (Technically, I have been handed work, but I'm talking a job with a decent income and regular hours. I'm grateful for what little money I do get..but at the same time...argh. x_x ) Everyone I just listed had no experience, either. I have suitable experience for the job I applied for, and was even told that I qualify. I was told no, because the employer is too obsessed with appearances, and wants me to get a job that can benefit her. I really wish that experience, and a person's potential for the job were the only things employers looked at, but they aren't, at least not in my experience. Around here, you have to have connections. You have to have important, well known parents. You have to be good looking. Sometimes, you have to live in this country illegally and be willing to work for less than minimum wage. That is what hunting for work has taught me. That has been my experience. If I am ever an employer...*sigh* A person's looks, social status, and connections would not matter. If a person wasn't a legal citizen, they wouldn't get work, either. All that would matter would be their experience, and their capacity to do the job. If they frequently slacked off at work, or displayed other negative behaviour, I would not hesitate to fire them. That's how it should be. But it isn't. Not around here at least.

I think I would look forward to an internship happily...it would be something..I would have a purpose..a task to do...I would probably grow some self confidence from it...and the experience would be good.

[Techno-Ninja]

In this economy, at this point, I'm thankful I'm still working. Granted, we're in a slow patch. But, I still have a job. So that's something anyway.

I'm glad ya have a job as well.

I know someone who is ungrateful for his cushy, full-time, 15$ an hour job. ...I want to hurt him.