How do you get experience if nobody will hire you without it?

[Candyflip]

[Candyflip]

Woo, I found an entry level position. Maybe I'm in luck

[Phoenix Dark]

pretty much. i "work" for my dad but i can't put that on a resume 

[demi]

Depends on what field you're in

Internships
Personal experience
Internships

... internships

[MrAngryFace]

demis pretty much summed it up. Basically you build up experience by doing more than just the bare minimum in your field of choice during your schooling. The experience they want represents a long-term interest and dependability.

[Candyflip]

Yeah, honestly, I'm probably being more picky than I can afford. I'm mostly just looking for something part time for spending money and books for class. I was just hoping to avoid working retail or fast food.

[Phoenix Dark]

Yeah, honestly, I'm probably being more picky than I can afford. I'm mostly just looking for something part time for spending money and books for class. I was just hoping to avoid working retail or fast food.

Exactly what I'm doing. I'm applying everywhere except fast food places and Wal Mart

[Beezy]

Yeah, honestly, I'm probably being more picky than I can afford. I'm mostly just looking for something part time for spending money and books for class. I was just hoping to avoid working retail or fast food.

Exactly what I'm doing. I'm applying everywhere except fast food places and Wal Mart

Add supermarkets to that list. They're hell.

[Phoenix Dark]

I have a friend who works at Kroger and she said it's bad...but honestly, I wouldn't mind being a cart boy.

I haven't heard back from the places I really want to work at tho (Borders, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, Circuit City)  :'(

[Rman]

What do you do, FA?

[The Fake Shemp]

I kind of lucked into my current position.  Well, I'm competent, but it was just a matter of things falling my way and the fact that... I'm competent.  It's not glamorous, but it's a stepping stone to other things.

[MrAngryFace]

Yeah, honestly, I'm probably being more picky than I can afford. I'm mostly just looking for something part time for spending money and books for class. I was just hoping to avoid working retail or fast food.

There is decent retail, like one of the larger bookstores

[Powerslave]

Why don't I ever hear someone from America saying they work in a factory or at a warehouse storage? Everyone seems to be working in fast food, walmart or best buy.

[MrAngryFace]

most of our factories have been closed down LULZ CHINA

[The Fake Shemp]

There is decent retail, like one of the larger bookstores

I've always wondered what it would be like to manage a Barnes & Nobles.  Or a Borders.

We really don't have much of a blue collar industrial workforce anymore.  A lot of our factory jobs were sent overseas.  Global economy and all that jazz.  We are a service-based economy now.

My hope is that if Obama is elected, he'll dump a lot of money into the promotion of "green" industries and we can create a lot of labor jobs by producing most of the world's "green" technology.  That's like a pipedream, though.

[Boogie]

Simple, join a paramilitary organization with a systematic recruiting system. 

[The Fake Shemp]

I hear the United States Army is looking for people to enlist.  If you don't die, you can take all the skills you learned to other jobs - like Best Buy!

[MrAngryFace]

There is decent retail, like one of the larger bookstores

I've always wondered what it would be like to manage a Barnes & Nobles.  Or a Borders.

We really don't have much of a blue collar industrial workforce anymore.  A lot of our factory jobs were sent overseas.  Global economy and all that jazz.  We are a service-based economy now.

My hope is that if Obama is elected, he'll dump a lot of money into the promotion of "green" industries and we can create a lot of labor jobs by producing most of the world's "green" technology.  That's like a pipedream, though.

It'd be a lot more stress, but you'd be a better manager for it. Stores of that size get really complicated. If you end up liking retail i'd suggestion moving on to something like one of the book chains. Best Buy and Staples are neat, but the sales aspects get REALLY stressful and 10x the complicated.

[Flannel Boy]

Powerslave, I've worked factory and warehouse jobs before. The jobs are exhausting and don't pay very well.

My current job isn't bad. My hourly wage is nearly twice the minimum wage and I do next to nothing. I read about half of the God Delusion during today's shift, for example.

[Boogie]

Why don't I ever hear someone from America saying they work in a factory or at a warehouse storage? Everyone seems to be working in fast food, walmart or best buy.

Factory jobs are SHIT.

I know everyone online declares retail to be the ultimate employment hell, but I worked a summer on assembly lines, and let me tell you, that is some soul-destroying shit.

At the end of our first day, one of the other summer student employees came up to me and said "well, what do you think?  I wouldn't mind 20 years of this, eh?"

I nearly punched him.  Of course, he was in some knuckle-dragging community college program or some shit, and wasn't the type to have much of a future ahead of him, but still, what a moron.  I don't care if it paid $19 or $25 an hour, factory work is fucking BORING and I would eat a bullet before doing that sort of work for the rest of my life.

[Boogie]

My current job isn't bad. My hourly wage is nearly twice the minimum wage and I do next to nothing. I read about half of the God Delusion during today's shift, for example.

What are you doing now?

[Flannel Boy]

My current job isn't bad. My hourly wage is nearly twice the minimum wage and I do next to nothing. I read about half of the God Delusion during today's shift, for example.

What are you doing now?

Replying to your post! 

And eating a chicken bowl while listening to Rilo Kiley.

edit:
And I completely agree with your post on factory work.

[The Fake Shemp]

I would imagine that a factory gig would blow.  For the most part, I like my job.

[Boogie]

My current job isn't bad. My hourly wage is nearly twice the minimum wage and I do next to nothing. I read about half of the God Delusion during today's shift, for example.

What are you doing now?

Replying to your post! 

And eating a chicken bowl while listening to Rilo Kiley.

edit:
And I completely agree with your post on factory work.

Smartass. 

[Powerslave]

Factories are terrible, but warehouse isn't so bad. I work at one at the moment and there's a relaxed atmosphere. I basically don't have to 'finish something' by the end of the day. I can just work at my own tempo. I would like a different job actually but I don't have a clue on what types of jobs I can apply for.

[The Fake Shemp]

Craigslist, bitch.

[Boogie]

There was one poor sap at the first factory I worked at who had some serious issues.

He was around 50 years old, and a couple of times every week he'd fly off the handle, shouting out random shit like "i hate this fucking job, why don't they just fire me", and throwing shit around.  I told him once to sound the evacuation alarm, because that would get him fired.  That shut him up.  

But I sympathize, in a way.  Dude's 50 years old, with no real skills, and working a monotonous job for only 12 bucks an hour.  If I was in his position, I can't say that I'd behave much differently.

[Flannel Boy]

Smartass. 

 

I'm working as a data entry clerk/dispatcher at Ford.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I didn't mind factory work when I did it.  Reason being that my last string of jobs were mostly retail.  I remember as a teenager, having to listen to foul mouthed idiots bitch to me about how Walmart is cheaper and old people shitting all over the floors in the store, in contrast to factory work, which was repetitive but it gave me a lot of time to think.

I still think retail is the worst (other than fast food).A lot of people might be tempted to say a grocery store but grocery stores do not try to indoctrinate you repeatedly about being part of some awesome service team.  They do in a way but it is non-pervasive.  Plus since most of the general managers are cheap fucks, they have done away with the commission systems.  Retail does have it still so you have to ask hundreds of customers daily to buy shit they don't want.  It is even worse if you have a quota.  Although in my experience, retail has such a low bar that you can go under the quota or do anything.  The only way they will fire you is if you steal.  You can show up late, be unshaven, or hell, not even show up at all, but as long as you don't jack anything, you will have your job.

Internships are the answer to the question.

[Candyflip]

I would love working a monotonous, lonely, dead end factory job. Not too many of those left in Sacramento though. I don't have the patience to deal with the fatuous shit I've heard about in retail. My dad has worked at a grocery store for 20-something years. I don't know how. Still, from the looks of it, I'll probably have to end up taking something like Wal-Mart or Starbucks. I was hoping for some kind of data entry because I can type so fast, but of course, practically everyone hiring wants experience for that.

I could always be a sign waver lol

[bork]

This is what I am currently stressing about.   

My job as an assistant English teacher on the JET program is coming to an end next month.   I did this for three years.  Prior to that, I worked retail for nine years.

I'm looking to stay in Japan and get a new job, preferably an entry-level position.  One that doesn't involve English teaching.  Except that my Japanese skills are at a conversational level at best, and it seems like most companies want people who are 100% fluent.  So I am worried.

[The Fake Shemp]

If I was not a manager, retail would suck, most likely.

[abrader]

fuck yer way to the top.

[Boogie]

oh god, I never want to be in the job market again. 

100% job security! 

What do I care if the economy tanks?  There'll still be peeps breakin' tha law.

[siamesedreamer]

I'm experiencing the same problem. Been looking for over a year too.

Pretty much come to the conclusion that its all based on lucky timing and the ability to bullshit better than the others they're interviewing.

[demi]

I would love working a monotonous, lonely, dead end factory job. Not too many of those left in Sacramento though. I don't have the patience to deal with the fatuous shit I've heard about in retail. My dad has worked at a grocery store for 20-something years. I don't know how. Still, from the looks of it, I'll probably have to end up taking something like Wal-Mart or Starbucks. I was hoping for some kind of data entry because I can type so fast, but of course, practically everyone hiring wants experience for that.

I could always be a sign waver lol

Starbucks has better benefits than most other employers you will come across

[siamesedreamer]

Yeah, we did a case on them in my marketing class.

They're great because everyone starts at the very bottom and works their way up. Lots of opportunity.

[MrAngryFace]

I'm experiencing the same problem. Been looking for over a year too.

Pretty much come to the conclusion that its all based on lucky timing and the ability to bullshit better than the others they're interviewing.

its also who you know sometimes

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

One of my first jobs was in retail and it was actually a lot of fun back in the day (Meijer).  But since they've removed baggers and cut down on staff throughout the stores, I imagine it'd be a dreadful place to work at. 

Working at a subway was pretty fun too, but we were all high schoolers and there were no security cameras in place so we got away with pretty much anything.

Working as a dishwasher was the worst thing in the world.  I once tried throwing a large bag of garbage away in the middle of a Wisconsin winter, but the bag split while it was over my head and all the contents (old spaghetti, stuffing, consumed chicken, various liquids) spilled onto me in my face and in my mouth.  It was really traumatic.

I've worked a large variety of shit jobs.  I've had the whole "overfilled trash bag split and shoot out juices in my face" situation several times.  I also had to work at a job where I worked with a lot of hot pans and plates and would refuse to hand out pot holders or cloth gloves so I nearly burned my fingers on a regular basis. 

There is a huge contrast from that kind of work to the corporate atmosphere.  Which is why I don't understand why a lot of people bitch about the corporate world.  In most jobs like retail, the management keeps shitting on you and finding ways to make you work harder for less until you either have your spirit broken or you quit.

Retail and fast food really is the bottom of the pile.

[MrAngryFace]

No way, retail has a broad spectrum and much of it is fairly good. Fast food/dishwashing is the bottom of the pile

[MyNameIsMethodis]

McDonalds gets too much hate. You can smoke pot and work there. At the same time. My friends manager there split a perc 40 with him in the bathroom.

[MrAngryFace]

fast food is just gross, its not really the job itself. Just the smell and yuk