What gets me are all the “entry level” jobs that don’t actually exist, or that want advanced degrees and years of experience, or are, in reality, unpaid internships!
I’m really old school because I’ve never once used a computer to get a job. The last time I was officially hired for a career job was in August of 1992. I found out about the opening from my uncle whose work colleague’s wife was a school principal, who was lamenting the sudden resignation of her school’s Kindergarten teacher six days before the start of the school year. The teacher’s husband was in the military and was transferred “as of yesterday.” I had just moved to NY and had been going in person to make applications and give résumés. I had already decided to take any job, probably in retail, and advertise myself for tutoring, since the fish weren’t biting. I called the school, was asked, “How soon can you come in?” I told them to expect me in an hour. I interviewed and was hired on the spot. That was the Friday before Labor Day. They helped carry two enormous stacks of teacher’s manuals, tax papers, etc. into my car. The first teacher’s day was Tuesday after Labor Day and the students arrived on Wednesday. I kept that job until January of 2021 when I got fired for refusal to take Dr. Fauxi’s safe and effective preventative for c-sickness.
Come to think of it, all but one job I ever had was either via a social connection of some kind, showing up in person, or being in the right place at the right time. I had a job for two years as department head in a home-decorator store. How I got that one is actually rather funny, for me, not for my predecessor. I was shopping in the mall looking for accessories for my parents’ remodeled bathroom. I went into the store just as a young man came stomping out, yelling the store was 💩, the manager was 💩, everybody should go f- themselves, etc. I was standing near the cashier’s counter on a sort of platform in the center of the store. So I said something like, “Wow. He seems a bit disgruntled.” The cashier commented quietly, “Much to everyone’s relief!”
I picked out some towels, a bath mat, soap dish, etc. and while on line to pay, thought, “Let me ask about a job.” I had no idea what the guy did, but I WAS not happy with what I was doing, substituting at a public Jr. High School. Even back then, the kids were obnoxious or at least the teachers who couldn’t manage the kids always seemed to be those who were absent. I had to be available every school day until 11:00 AM, whether I got called in or not, so couldn’t work another job. Upon inquiry, I was told the job was in the towel and linens department. It started at $7.50 per hour but would go up pending satisfactory work. I filled out an application and received a call that evening to come for an interview next day. No, I didn’t have experience, but by the description, there was nothing someone with an eighth grade couldn’t do. So I went in, demonstrated I could do basic math, and fold towels, etc. the way required. The manager turned to his assistant, said, “What do you think?” She replied, ‘I don’t see a reason to look any farther.” The fact that I could start then and there was a real plus. So I got hired. It wasn’t the most interesting job, but, hey, it beat unsteady employment babysitting pubescent brats. I left the job because I was offered a teaching job that I knew I’d really like out of state. I only quit once, no notice, middle of my shift, from a job in McDonald’s because the manager was a creepy old pervert who couldn’t keep his hands to himself.
Topic: Entry Level Jobs - not entry level anymore (Read 1268 times)