College Students! discussion
Life (Non-college/book talk)
>
Where do you work?
date
newest »
newest »
message 151:
by
Tami
(new)
Apr 06, 2010 01:12PM
Mod
reply
|
flag
Mod
Good Luck Ashley =) that sounds very cool!
Thank you! They asked for my resume. So far, so good.
I worked at a bookstore for 2 1/2 years, loved it for the most part. I had some of the most amazing customers. I remember once I had an older gentleman come in, he was probably in his eighties. He could have charmed the socks off of the most cold-hearted girl. I helped him find a few things and when he was paying for his books he asked if I was married, I told him no. He was so surprised, and he told me I was beautiful and the man that married me would be one of the luckiest men alive, aside from himself of course because of his own beautiful wife. :) Another of my favorite customers was a lady that worked for a company that bound a lot of the books that we sold. She’d come in and we’d talk books. Once we got a shipment of 200+ books that had been bound wrong, they were missing about fifty pages. She came in and we got to complain together, me because I had to handle all the angry customers, and her because she got to fix them all.
And then I had the nasty customers. Like the one who refused to let me help them find a book because I was female and apparently wasn’t smart enough to help him. Sucked for him because we didn’t have any male employees. :D Or the customer that whenever she came in and I asked if she needed help finding anything she’d tell me to wash her car (and not in a nice way, she wasn’t joking), or the creepy guy who never showered that didn’t know what a personal bubble was…
Working at a bookstore is crazy! I feel like people who go shopping for books are the most diverse group of people and you always meet someone interesting. You also meet the most rude and obnoxious people ever, but I think that's just all of retail. I always wonder how people can justify treating other people like crap. And we all have such crazy stories about crazy customers! I hear ya. And good luck Ashley! I hope you get it.
Mod
I've been trying to think of a term to describe terrible customers and now I know what it is, thank you stumble. People with situational value system...thought this would be relevant to this thread http://workplacepsychology.net/2009/1...
I'm still job searching. It is really hard to just get my foot in the door.
I've never actually spit in food before, but I have made inferior and sloppy food because the customers were rude. The main thing for me though is that I'll often go the extra mile for exceptionally nice customers.
Mod
I've been working at a department store... and it's totally killing me. I'm so going through this thread for tips on how to survive without losing my mind.
Mod
It was HELL!!! Especially when you have a brain. lol Occasionally I would get a nice people in there asking for help but they were always older. I look so young so I got treated like such shit most of the time but customers. I just wanted to be like.."uhh..I could be like your mother or something." We would had a good time laughing at all the little hoe cookies (our name for half of the customers bc they were just that) that came in. They were little brats that thought they were privileged enough to make a big mess. I had fun being super nice yet laying into them/embarrassing them when I saw them leave stuff in the dressing rooms or drop trash.
Mod
For a minute when I saw that you said it was insulting, I was like ooops I guess that is only funny amongst my friends at Forever 21.
Yikes...that sounds really frustrating! I work (at the moment) at a department on my alma mater's campus until I move to Columbus. I worked here as a student worker during my last two years of college, and they hired me on as a project assistant. So I sit at a desk and complete various graphic design, editorial, and marketing tasks that have to be done for entrepreneurship at the university.
Mod
I really can't complain, and yeah, I've improved my use of InDesign and other software, which has been nice. I've been a desk jockey for the last four years, so I kind of wish my job had more activity, but I definitely don't mind the convenience of a quiet office. (Besides, when there's nothing to do, I can read!)
I work in retail...sucks for the most part but it's money for now. The other day a girl quit because "working here makes me physically ill." I love it :)
I work for a trucking company. I got hired about 2 years ago as a local dispatcher, and it was okay. It was boring sometimes, but I was good at it and also did billing, filing, etc... But during my time there my department got cut in half, so I was doing twice the work, with no raise, and I was insanely busy. I couldn't even go pour a cup of coffee because I just had too much stuff to do.Then three months ago I started filling in on the weekends at "asset control", which is 12-hour shifts sitting in a little shack / trailer and updating drivers and keeping track of what trailers come in and out of the yard. You're by yourself the whole time, so whenever you're not busy you can read or watch dvd's. I quit my office job to start working in the shack. It's not very prestigous and technically a demotion, but I have 3 to 4 days off every week, I get overtime every other week, I make the same per hour, I get to wear jeans, and I get to sit there and read all day. It's the best.
The only bad things that happen is when a driver calls in to get updated and I can't understand a word he's saying (I get calls from drivers nationwide and some can't speak English well). Otherwise, it's the easiest job ever.
I work at Robins & Morton, a construction company that builds healthcare facilities. I work in the corporate office in Birmingham. I've been working there off and on since 2006. I do temp work and fill in for the receptionist. It's usually boring work and I listen to audiobooks a lot when I'm at work. I'm hoping I'll be able to keep working there for the next year, until I leave for grad school.
Mod
We are in a two story building. I laugh all the time about how everyone seems to take the elevator to the second floor. I understand if they are carrying lots of stuff, or are physically unable to do stairs, but that normally isn't the case.
Yesterday, a coworker got stuck in the elevator. Our PR guy sent an email out that said she is back from her trip to floor 1.33 in our building. She was stuck for almost an hour. I hate elevators and this is a new reason not to use them if I can get away with it.
I work in natural resources, so I get all kinds of crazies. I usually work in outstate, and most of the gun toting individuals I get to speak with go "since when does the DNR hire women?!" Usually that gives me enough of an opening to tell them what I need to say and leave before they can get angry like they do with male employees. Keeps them guessing.
I dont have a job, but I volunteer my time at the campus library a couple days of the week. I absolutely hate it when people just take books off and stick them in random spots on the shelves, even when I'm like standing right next to them with my nametag and little book cart. And then if I feel particularly pissy that day, I'll tell them to put it back and they'll just roll their eyes and walk away. It drives me insane.
I just applied for a job at John Lewis, so hopefully I will get it. I volunteer at Cancer Research every Friday. I like it there.
Just applied for a job at my school library. I have a less than impressive work history (one job, four years ago), so hopefully they hire me based on something else. Due to my class schedule, I can work a lot of hours, so maybe that will be incentive for them...I'm so nervous! I need a job of any kind desperately.
Anyone have experience writing resumes?I am applying for a couple of daycare/preschool jobs and I never know what to put. Would it be acceptable to put a little personal statement blurb about who I am and why I want to work there? Maybe I spent too much time on personal statements for grad school apps and now want to incorporate them everywhere.
I just realized that this is belated, but I write lots of resumes. Did they also ask for a cover letter? Cover letter is more the personal statement. A resume is for listing your skills, work experience, education, achievements, etc. It's the bragging page. Cover letters are a more detailed statements of why you feel you are a good fit for the position, and how your skills/education/experience will help the employer.
From Microsoft class, I think a cover letter is like a humbled introduction to yourself, an overview. And then a resume is all the nitty gritty.
I think.
I think.
Good to know, I kind of just threw some personal stuff into an objective. I've always wondered what a cover letter was though so now I do, thanks guys. Also I have an interview in a few hours so hopefully I will return with good news.
Good luck!I write cover letters basically by taking the job announcement and addressing each skill or quality they're looking for in the letter. My resume stays pretty much the same unless I move or add my most recent job or classes.
I have my fingers crossed as I have an interview Wednesday.
So I've been job hunting for a while and fingers crossed have finally found one, possibly two jobs and thought I would share what I learned about the processes.1)Either have several resumes or one simple one that can be altered depending on the position and highlighting different skills. I was applying for food service and daycare jobs and I don't think a day care needs to know about my knife skills.
2)Look for jobs places where they may not have advertised that they are hiring. I would sometimes just sit around and imagine where I wanted to work then check out their website to see if they accept applications, many places accept them and keep them on file in case they need to hire. Also not everyone posts on sites like craigslist.
3) prior to the interview take another peek at application or job posting to see exactly what they are looking for and also the types of questions they asked. I found that the questions are usually recycled so it's like practice.
Maybe they seem like common sense but they are things I feel like I should have learned in the past 27 years and just now figured out.
Mod
I was supervisor/manager at a retail store for awhile and they would keep the applications for the years or whatever required by law, but they would only keep them in the "active file" for two weeks. Then they would be filed away. If they decided to hire someone 3 or 4 weeks later, they would only look in the active file. Checking back once a week or twice a month or so lets them know you really are interested in working.
Oh, and try to find out who the main person in charge of hiring is. I know I wouldn't be able to hire anyone but I kept getting phone calls. I would pass along the info to who did the hiring but I know I had a few coworkers that wouldn't. Your message might not make it to the person that matters.
I've been working as a general secretary for an environmental network in my country for the the past year. It's been keeping me busy even when I'm on vacation from school. It's pretty fulfilling though. Plus I have a three-year term with them. So that's pretty sweet.
I just went for an interview today at John Lewis, my sister and I both went for interviews, so fingers crossed we both get!
Another tip for when you drop off your application. Walk tall and straight and smile! When I was working retail whichever employee took the application would draw a smiley face or a X on the back of the application to indicate their initial impression of the person. I X'd someone once because when they came in they were so timid and quiet that I knew she'd never last working retail. The other time I X'd someone was when this guy came in, covered in tattoos, piercings, with his earbuds in one ear, handed me the application with an air of "I'm better than you" attitude and then looked around the room, said a few swear words and said "Woa... Jesus is like.... everywhere." It was a religious book store for goodness sake! We sold paintings and they were on display on the walls.
Good tip Kimberly, I was also in charge of taking applications at one job and we would always write a little note about how they presented themselves.I feel like my interview went really well, at times it felt like I was just meeting a new friend so I think that is a good thing.
