Monday, January 3, 2011

The Job Search

Somehow, when I'm required to be professional I manage look put-together, avoid coffee stains, and even tripping. It's as if the adrenaline and nervousness kicks in to give me extra coordination skills or something. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm able to actually find a job.

This morning I had an interview that was absolutely terrible. I mean, I charmed plenty but when we talked salary it was a disaster. $8 an hour for a starting salary? For that, I might as well work retail and at least get a discount on something useful. Of course, customers are not nearly as cute or fun as children but that's another issue entirely.

I suppose the question is whether I just want something to tide me over or hold out for something that won't make me want to be stabbed with cacti plants intentionally.

7 comments:

Simon said...

How do you feel about tech support? There should be plenty of openings in Austin (Apple runs a whole bunch of their support out of Austin, among others). It tends to be more focused on customer related skills than actually knowing much about the technology, and actually have a path up.

Simon said...

Make that "has a path up".

Josh said...

that's a good idea! at least you'll probably get to use a mac at work ;)

Rachel Smith said...

On the other hand IF you could get a job for $10 an hour AND get health insurance and other benefits, it would be worth while. We don't start anyone less than that anymore.

Unknown said...

The going rate for day labor here on Long Island is $80-$100 for the day, no benifits

Alex said...

@ Simon: Can't hurt to try, right? And I've yet to meet a person who didn't like Apple's tech support. As opposed to say, Dell, which everyone wants to flog after having to deal with a problem. I even fixed a mac a few times for a friend in Korea!

@Josh-even if it was a 10 year old Mac it would still be superior to my work computer in Korea.

@Dad-The idea of me doing day labor would be terrible because I'd probably die in a tragic spastic accident within a week. I don't think I should be allowed on a construction site without armor and an escort.

Simon said...

Dell's enterprise support (for higher end servers, large enterprise customers, etc) is actually excellent. However, their consumer support is beyond inexcusably horrible, at least unless you pay for upgraded support plus also have a business account (at which point you can actually expect plausible support).