You dig 16 tons and what do you get?

April 18, 2010 6:26 PM

Should I quit? (in the near future)

I Hate my job! There is no other word for it. I work at a call center and have for just shy of six years. Had i not gone part time to go back to school I would have three weeks of paid vacation. Since I went part time I get absolutely no paid vacation (yay!) The company that I work for recently had to rebid for our contract, and was underbid, so they lowered their bid. The company was once very good,so good that we had a snow day and they gave us the day off paid, and the next day we opened late, and if you came in (even if you were late) you got paid a full 8 hours. But since they were bought a couple of years ago they took away paid holidays, floating holidays, sick time and even had an ill-fated plan to take away paid breaks, but someone rallied and threatened a law suit and they gave up on that. The "reliable rumor" is that they are going to be announcing pay cuts on may 15 to take affect July 1st. I have been told that they can do up to 20% with out us being able to claim unemployment and are planning to do so. With how long I have been there I am already off the current pay scale as they slid everything down. It is a very stressful job, and I barely want to stay there as it is. I am a full time student and could afford to make less over next semester, but for the summer I really need to work full time.

My other conundrum is that I work for a pretty high profile client that went bankrupt last year. In the weeks leading up to that I was applying for jobs through craigslist and other means. I put out 3-5 resumes a day for two weeks and got 1 response and it was a scam. My worry now being that maybe I will have difficulty finding another job if I leave. However, the pay cut, if as severe as most people are saying it will be, will make other employers able to compete with the pay. This could possibly help in me finding new employment if I am going to get paid less either way.

Any help or recommendations are much appreciated.

posted by djduckie to work & money (11 answers total)

You should probably make a serious effort to line up another gig before quitting. At the very least start looking at craigsist and other job boards and see what's out there and get your resume update. Your profile puts you in the ATX and even there, jobs aren't just falling out of the sky like they used to. I lost my job in Austin year and unlike in the past, a new one didn't pop up overnight. And by overnight, I mean months.

I hated my job and was actually ecstatic I got laid off with a severance and being eligible for UI. Your field might be different so you might quit on Monday and find something new on Tuesday, but having a new gig lined up before you quit would be better on your pocketbook and peace of mind.
posted by birdherder at 6:37 PM on April 18, 2010

Are you going to be taking classes over the summer? If not, maybe you could devote the extra time you'll have to finding a new job. If it makes you feel better and more willing to stick it out for a few months, maybe you could make an agreement with yourself to quit if you don't find anything new by the end of the summer?
posted by MadamM at 6:42 PM on April 18, 2010

I wouldn't quit until you have another job lined up, as tough as that will be.

Also, craigslist is one of the worst ways to find a job - everyone else is applying for the same jobs.
posted by Pants! at 6:43 PM on April 18, 2010

I guess my issue being finding a job that will take me on during the summer knowing that i will want to be part time once school starts. I do need to take one class during the summer.
posted by djduckie at 6:48 PM on April 18, 2010

What is your major? Can you find an internship/co-op related to your major where you work for them full-time during the summer, and drop down to part-time in the school year?

My company hired several people this way (and found a job with one of our partners for another intern when we couldn't place him internally). Austin's a big city with lots of diverse companies - you might be able to line something up.
posted by j at 6:57 PM on April 18, 2010

I would keep the job you have now and ramp up your job search. Jobs in Austin aren't that easy to come by right now, and a lot of part time jobs are about to be snatched up by all the students out of school for the summer. If you have a job, keep the job, and double your job search efforts.

That sucks, man. It sounds like it's now a really shitty place to work. I agree with everyone about Craigslist being a shitty place to look for a job. I found lots of job postings on Craigslist, but out of the zillions of resumes and cover letters I sent, I got one interview. I landed another interview through a friend who worked at a place that was hiring, but they weren't willing to offer a part-time schedule, and I never heard back from them. I start a job next month (fuck yeah!), and I found that one because the company set up a table on campus and was looking for students.

Have you talked to anyone at your school about employment? My campus has a "career services" department that handles job postings for students (both within and outside the school). That might be a good place to search.

tl;dr: keep the job, but keep looking for something better. Good luck.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:33 PM on April 18, 2010

The best advice is generally to keep your crappy job until you can find another job. That doesn't always work, though, as a crappy job is a soul-sucking thing that takes away your drive to find something better. Then again, being out of work is incredibly stressful, and stress doesn't necessarily motivate you to beat the pavement looking for a new gig.

You're a student. You're on campus and you know people. Use your network. Find out where your friends work, and find out if the places where they work are hiring. Check with career services on your campus and see if they have any openings. Have you ever worked anywhere other than a call center? Do you have any other skills? Even if you don't, many entry-level gigs have high enough turnover that you can find a way in, if you're at the right place at the right time.

Another option: take summer classes instead. Get a job + student loan ratio you can living with and rack up credits toward your degree rather than working some meaningless job all summer.
posted by wheat at 8:48 PM on April 18, 2010

Apparently the summer doesn't allow for student loans. My financial aid package sucks and is more or less just enough, with work study and a grant, to, i think, cover one of the two classes i would have to take in order to get it.
posted by djduckie at 8:54 PM on April 18, 2010

If you can work full-time at your current job through the summer, do that while you look for a new part-time job that starts when the school year does (maybe something on campus?).
posted by Jacqueline at 10:10 PM on April 18, 2010

Have you looked into a temp agency? They might be able to get you a decent paying gig, and often it's a good way to get yourself in line for a permanent position, maybe even one that will let you switch to part-time once the school year starts.
posted by emd3737 at 4:48 AM on April 19, 2010

Super extreme follow-up, oddly enough I just got the follow-up message, and I just put in my two weeks notice on the same effin day. How is that for weird. They wouldn't work with me on my upcoming school schedule. I asked for a five week leave of absence, they said no.
posted by djduckie at 5:18 PM on May 19, 2010