u/neverfakemaplesyrup

So far I have two interviews today. One is with Keyence, for an office job as an SDR, and one was with a branch of Davey's- landscaping tech then transition into grounds crew. I got the card for their office as my first degree was in wood tech, and currently I'm working retail, so I have no qualms.

I also am on the wait list for a carpenter's union, the sheetmetal union, and for a chimney tech position- a local company does chimney cleaning, repair, and installation. No idea if that is a growing position but it pays better than stocking shelves. I tried the IBEW but was turned down for being color blind.

A friend just gave that advice and it kinda makes sense, I can see it, I just don't want to be overly judgey. After all, I've heard from a lot of older tradesmen to keep your car and clothes neat, to gain the trust of clients and set yourself aside.

I will note so far Keyence and the IBEW had very well-kept facilities and employee vehicles were old, but in great condition, or new and in great condition.

At Davey's, their office was in a real rough part of town and the vehicles made mine look mint.

Carpenter's and sheetmetal was mixed

Thanks again guys for any advice and comments!

Alright that's it

I have no idea why my family are obsessed with this idea of stir fries as the only healthy, quick, easy meal.

But they insist I make it because "they always mess it up". Yeah, cause there is no quick easy stir fry method! And even mine is ismply never going to be good as a real Chinese restaurant because the actual wok stove is MASSIVE. You can't get the full taste of the wok without the actual custom stove.

And they'll ask to show them how. But they're always surprised just how long it is, and how many dishes, and how many ingredients. Yes, they also seem frustrated and perplexed by the necessity to have a shelf of one off ingredients.

And when others try making it? Woody chicken, pale and tough, usually frozen veggies still frozen inside and soggy on the outside. There is a watery mess.

I explain, time and time again, you can't just butcher a chicken breast into huge chunks; you gotta slice it thinly.

you need high heat, you need to velvet and blanch the protein, and blanch the vegetables, and drain; and make a sauce, which will require either some pre-made sauce that's sugary and eh, or a whole bunch of ingredients on its own, that you won't need really any other time, unless stir fry is in your cultural foodway, in which case, its not really a special idea for dinner, its just normal, everyday fair.

I'll stand by that there's so many other balanced meals that are far faster, tastier, and more versatile and don't need a bunch of random stuff you can't get at Aldis

Or what's wrong with a weeknight sandwich? Just a quick, 10 minute sandwich.

My big worries:

1. I live in NY so I feel work dries up, no matter the trade, but I imagine especially for landscape

2. Micromanagement

3. Leaving my shitty technician/retail generalist role, which is 35 hours min at $17 so bad but hey its a job, for a company that I fear might just fire me in weeks, then I won't be able to get right back in.

This fear is because I did get hired ages ago, in 2020, out of Home Depot by a landscaper who then fired the whole crew after a month. "One in the hand, two in the bush". But at the same time: I feel like I'm drowning and ages behind my peers at 27.

4. Missing opportunities elsewhere if I just keep looking and hunting

Hey, me again. Ik y'all said to leave my shop last time- so far, no luck. I've interviewed for other jobs and no luck, and am now trying to get into a community college advising appointment lol. In the mean time, I'd love tips to make my current position flow easier.

Short of it: if anyone has a more professional check-in process and tips on dealing with irate, price-conscious customers, please let me know lol, I am desperate at this point. I know some of our issues need better structure, but in the mean time, tips are appreciated.

The long of it:

My current process is I walk through the bike. Corporate allocates 5 to 10 mins.

I'll do a visual inspection of tires, wheels, check for loose bearings and components, check the shifting, check the chain, inspect the frame, and look for worn brake pads. If it's hydraulic and is working I'll check for squonks and contamination. The whole time I'll engage the customer and listen to their concerns. Any spot work I'll get done, or if we have someone around whose more technical, pass it over.

Admittedly, I'm a novice, and have a huge blind spot due to lack of professional training and also only working on my own. I own no hydraulics, no e-bikes, nothing fancy. Most of my bikes are still linear pull rim brakes, and my most ridden bike is a fixie.

The issues I seem to cause mainly seem A. We are not a full service bike shop, so a lot of the work is beyond our scope

B. Missing something on check-in, it gets looked at a week later, tech finds something, notes it, doesn't tell anyone, customer calls a week later, we find the note, get it approved or unapproved, if approved, usually a week to two weeks to get the part, and now the customers bike has been in for three weeks when he brought it in "for a tune".

Or I'll write-up a worse case, and later they'll go "Nah it doesn't need that."

Like they'll skip a tune but do something else. That causes a feedback issue wherein the customer is irate as they asked for something that wasn't done. But the tech is confused as they feel they saved the guy money.

Third common issue is the shop's policy is if a brake system has contaminated parts, to replace the entire system- about $250. This I at least caught on the first time I found the notes, but folk really don't like that.

Honestly, brakes in general. I will feel confident the brakes work. I will do the few tests I know. Then it turns out the tech says they don't work. And vise versa, I will note the pads are worn down to nothing, and the tech will say eh still works.

So, I also try to get a budget for if we find anything worse than the 5 minute inspection at counter, so we eliminate the "waiting on customer approval" time. This I do especially with folk who've been mistakenly referred to us by caseworkers who keep confusing us with a charity nearby.

Money is tight, so they'll often refuse to pre-approve a budget. Which I sorta understand, I get paid min wage.

Uh, any help?

or is this business as normal in this section of the outdoors world?

I will fully admit, most of my work in the outdoors world has been with people who are fully on board with paying. So I don't have a lot of experience with this type of crowd in a store. Only in social services, which is a different setting and process entirely.

I work for what I'd call luxury retail. I had tried breaking into white collar life, got as far as an office assistant in staffing firms and consultancy before a layoff. Now I'm back in retail. Weird place to watch collapse.

I was hired to fix things and to wrench. Unfortunately the workshop is getting axed, which they didn't tell me. So now I'm "assigned" to about three departments for regular retail work. I was hoping it'd help prep me to maybe try out the trades, oh well. Guess not.

What kills me is only a few of us seem to acknowledge the weirdness of a dying store in a dying world.

I have a trades degree and a BS. I'm currently trying to find a healthcare program I can do while balancing work. The store has ten managers, six employees; two of us do job-hunting on our breaks together, which is nice, but it's just rejection after rejection.

No one seems to really acknowledge that this many 20-somethings with viable degrees are now working jobs usually designated for retirees and teenagers. Although, an older coworker said it used to be normal for a retail job to provide, by itself. Still don't know if that's true. They said that's why older customers tend to be so demanding, they're used to a world where retail workers were professionals or something.

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In the meantime, we get hourly updates on metrics, but can't acknowledge that we often don't have any customers to get the metrics higher. It feels absurd.

We do get folk who demand free repairs, sometimes on stuff we don't even carry or service, like cars. I live in poverty myself, so I get hardships. But I don't get yelling at workers about it. And yep, we're told if someone can't pay for something, sell the financing.

Hell, we get paying customers angry just over that it takes us a month to do a simple job, or that we used to offer x but no longer do so. The absurdity there is they're kinda right, it shouldn't, and it sucks to have no stores left that can do what they need. Cause a global pandemic knocked em out.

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Then folk come in and complain about the tent city outside. There's no jobs, sister, and no housing. People will sleep in the trees.

Or on how the city still hasn't fixed the broken traffic lights and roads around us. Welp brother, you got me. Me, the min wage retailer, is responsible. Why not think, and act to HELP your community?

Yell at the government! Yell at the oligarchs! They're playing golf in paradise while we're here, choking on air. We can't swim in our own waters. They drain it for data centers and spend the summer on yachts, sipping mineral water that is worth more than hours of labor.

None of these folk seem to connect the dots: This complacent, moaning attitude led to the current state of things.

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We also get a lot of folk who come in to do drugs, or to hide from the smoke and heat. I was told to give a sacharine pitch to an electrician sprawled out on the floor. Weird, man.

Then a new low: A customer came in while I was being chewed out so loudly that he felt the need to tell my boss to chill and asked if I was okay.

I know I'll probably get a meeting now, for that, but after work I teared because that is the first time someone checked in on me in months.

And then it hit me, how did we get to where this is all normal. This shouldn't be normal. My first job I was told a standard for customer behavior: "We don't want bad customers. You're an employee, not a whipping boy."

How did we get to where heat indexes and constant smoke in summer is the normal, where you can't point out the insanity of at-will short term employment and lines of tents and crumbling infrastructure?

Why is it taboo to acknowledge I am paid the equivalent of two boxes of cereal an hour?

Basically top post. A relative found someone who told her "He can't find anyone with a strong back willing to work", which... Already seems a red flag, but they're insistent it's an environmental job.

I can't be a beggar. My job history is awful. My degree is weak. No internship.

But still, this.... Well, A, that tells me nothing about the business or the job, B., If anything, just sounds like "unskilled"* labor, not something that's really engaging in environmental science or application of environmental studies.

*I put unskilled in quotes as I firmly believe there are no unskilled jobs, but I know way-too-well many are viewed as such by management and recruiters. Many will also ask the world but provide no mobility, training, or professional development. Like if you get fired or quit, you have absolutely nothing hard to add to a resume, or to support yourself independently.

Those are the jobs I've had, and I do not want another one like that.

Welp, here's to ya, fellow strugglers!

I'm sure I'm not the only one who dreads the constant financial and career questions and feeling of shame when you listen to others talk home purchases, car purchases, boat purchases, vacations, promotions, grad school, etc while you're there like "Hey uh, I paid off my car repairs from spring! That's huge for me."

Or, if you live near a giant lake like I, the FOMO of seeing everyone load up boats and yachts and party all day.

My own circumstance currently, is literally just working as a generalist repair/sales guy in retail. I had been laid off in winter from a "Super awesome" position as an office assistant; Haven't pulled something else since, partially as well, I really don't want to be another assistant but other roles don't seem keen on hirin' me.

While I hate retail management and the wage, I also overall like my sector way more than any corporation I've worked for. I'm lucky in that; until managers chirp at me about selling more cards or a planogram mistake or w/e, it's not that bad of a gig.

So that prompts even more awesome questions like "Why didn't you do __" or "Why don't you go be a teacher or apply at ___"?

Bright side: Huge thanks to gardeners, got excess produce at some stands, made some awesome salads. Got some awesome leftovers. Having the odd bar-backing gig provided some good drink making ability too lol. So for once, I felt like I was able to afford and contribute the party.

Basically it

I live in cramped conditions, but have access to 1.5 acres and can build or plonk down a kit shed

I am low income as well, to be completely honest, so while I know people may suggest renting storage space, I don't really have the spare money for that; I am trying to get back into furniture restoration because I can't find a second job or a dayjob that pays more than $18/hr, so the $500 for climate controlled storage isn't really viable

The alternative is to find a way to keep it in my room, or stacked in the garage

So, I took an comms assistant job three years back. That turned into really, just a customer service and trainer position in a call center, which I feel bait-and-switched about.

That led to getting a contract with Robert Half. Worked with them for a year and change at a counseling center and area nonprofits. That led to a resource coordinator/admin assistant position in a construction firm. Total experience is now 3.5 years across positions. I've never earned more than $20/hr as an assistant, never found a listing for more than that in my metro area.

I was laid off there with about 30 other folk in New Years, including my bosses. I'll be honest, it also just seems... Admin work doesn't really lead to anything. I get paid the same working retail for a lot less stress. So I took a pause from applying to those positions, but, well, it's June and I'm still basically in retail. Welp, technically I'm an "outdoor equipment repair technician", but yeah.

I've had four interviews with sketchy cold calling firms, but my applications to "real jobs" aligned with my degree or to break into real sales haven't gotten anywhere. I still get recruiters looking to fill office assistant positions, and I miss having a regular 9-5, mon-fri schedule...

So uh, I'm evaluating options. I found ASAP while trying to find info if anyones actually moved into sales or financial office roles from administrative assistant, or if it really is just a dead-end path. It claims to be a professional organization that'll get admin assistants more pay and job security, basically. Just... seems a bit too good to be true. So if any AAs, secretaries, dispatchers, office coordinators, etc have any experience w/ it, or the job path in particular, I'd love to hear it!

(My other options are:

1. Keep grinding, networking, and hoping

2. Settle for a warehouse job. Maybe Costco?

3. Try carpentry or plumbing, or maybe even a tire shop

4. Finish pre-reqs and go back to college for either a graduate degree or start a healthcare associates (Rad tech, nursing, w/e)

Welp, that's the title.

The eh feeling is a few things:

• The vibe from when I went for the interview. The office was derelict, paving missing chunks, between derelict buildings, lobby staff fighting, customers shouting. The actual interviewer and his floor were calm, but almost every cubicle was empty
• Reviews online are abysmall
• Looks like thick khakis and ugly polyester polos are a required uniform- and I was told I'd be outside most days for work. We get 90-100F days in summer, with high humidity.
• The job duties seem to keep growing and spiraling as the interview went on, and it is for three months only
• I have a 36 hour job rn at a workshop as a trainee/sales guy. So I have enough income coming in to not be desperate-desperate; it's basically retail, so I'm still looking, but I'm not "Take the job or be homeless"
• The bright:
• Interviewer says they'll walk the role back in a little bit, and raised the offer by a dollar, to $20/hr. He still shows some confusion that I will keep my night job at this pay, though, which is... worrying.
• The usual "After the summer, we may hire you full-time and put you in a professional role in sales or finance."

Thing is, I wanted to be out of administrative assistance work two years ago. It's a position that is, in my experience, the laughing stock of the workplace; one workplace, when coworkers found I had a degree in Communications & Environ studies, treated it as an even bigger joke. Managers always say they will promote an assistant and train them to go into a different department. Once hired, it's a pipe-dream.

I've been trying to use transferable skillsets- for example, from a sales job that I held in my evenings the past year, or the event planning, coordinating, data analysis, and excel skills- to break into sales or finances. ^((or take a 180 and say fuck it and try an apprenticeship or a rad tech degree).)

So... Yeah. If anyone else has been in this position, I would love to hear if Enterprise actually will take an assistant out of the dumps and into a respectable position, or if it's just another carrot on a pole, and I should continue looking for other jobs.

Absolutely nothing against a good honest union. I've been in a few very unfortunately poorly run and goofy ones, and would still say they protected against the revolving door and danger of non-union much better. Even the apathetic Hoffa guys at a warehouse would step up and call a manager a sleaze ball if you got PIP'd.

This is just comin' from a red flag at a new job, but also seeing USA Today's really.... just disappointing video with some random university prof on the phenenom of Gen Z getting hired and immediately fired. They briefly admit there's AI-blamed layoffs, outsourcing, and etc, but seem to immediately jump to "So it's uh Gen Z's fault, pull your bootstraps up harder!".

Not once did they go "So these managers are saying they smell crap everywhere- but won't check their shoe."

Y'all are here, so I'll skip the polemics. I'm just wondering if there is any group, any policy tank working I'm missing out on that's trying to get more rigorous, actual "Right to Work" laws. As in "Hey, you can't just fire people at will. You can't just PIP people then fire them even if they fulfill the PIP. We need a stable labor market."

Currently I'm:

1. Actively trying to get an honest union, and currently on waitlists for multiple trade union apprenticeships, debating getting a Wobblie card

2. Dem/WFP member

3. Dissent subscriber, Prospect, and More Perfect Union, etc.

Started workin' at a bike shop, we have one full mechanic/manager. We don't get any training, just what we know. A customer just brought in a bike and said the shifting is wrong, ran through troubleshooting at home, said he tried indexing- made it worse.

Can't find anything wrong with it personally and the manager insists service shifts to not be spent on tech work.

I've worked at volunteer shops, PT roles, resorts, etc... the manager looked at me like filth when he read indexing in the notes. Firmly stated "There is no such thing as indexing. It doesn't exist.". Moved on.

I'm lost. Is this like an antiquated term- or is this a red flag for the shop? I'm honestly still trying to find a diff job- but trying to learn at the same time. So IK i need to make the boss happy to keep this one, but would rather learn the right way.

Park Tools has a whole tutorial on it- so I figued it was correct?

Caught myself in a bit of a pickle, stuck back in retail- well, I guess, not the "lowest" end. My day job went under so I switched to FT sales at my night job. That was seasonal, so as soon as it ended I switched to being a bike mechanic... Except that is FT-but-not, as in they won't schedule a regular 40 but want me to keep 8am to 8pm clear, and doesn't pay enough. So I need to find more income, once again.

I stopped freelance writing about three years ago. Just couldn't keep up with it when working two jobs and found very little interest from prospects as well as admittedly myself. Recently I got more into creative writing- probably the first time in five years- and now I wonder if maybe I should give it another try.

Rebuild a portfolio, re-learn as it's been four years since my undergrad, and take it a bit more seriously this time, yk?

So that brings me to the NAIWE: The National Association of Independent Writers & Editors. It seems really legit, but I'd love to hear from professionals and other independents, especially as so many writing lectures and courses are, well, free, and I'm always pretty skeptical of professional organizations. I don't want to chase a dead-end if it is charging me but not actually helping network, find leads, or develop my skills, yk?