Careers

These days it seems that the high school job isn’t as popular as it was. Between an increase in after school activities and more adults working in part time positions, high school jobs don’t seem to be as much of a norm as they were.  But they still exist.  I believe that they provide a tremendous experience.  I know it did for me.

My High School Job

I was lucky enough to work for family.  I got to work at a collectibles store owned and run by my uncle and aunt.  They opened their store right when the market on figurines and such were ramping up, and developed a reputation as one of the top collectible stores in the area.

I worked a lot of evenings (after school) and weekends.  They were closed on Sunday so I always had a day off.  In a store like that you do everything from unpacking boxes to working the registers to helping people find that just right item.

Now that I look back I realize that the experience really helped me in many ways.

Read more8 Things My First High School Job Taught Me

The recent women’s marches across the country got me thinking.  They seemed to originate from Donald Trump being inaugurated President, but were tied to a number of different issues.  One of the issues that I heard mentioned several times was ‘equal pay’.  It’s been well documented that women often receive less pay than do men for the same job.  This gap has narrowed over time but still exists.  The marches got me thinking about my personal experience in this area.  I’d like to share my personal experiences with gender equality in the workplace, and I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments.

Read moreHave You Observed Gender Equality During Your Career?

Looking for a job is not a fun process, at least to most.  It’s often stressful, frustrating, and can have many ups and downs.  I’m very grateful that I’ve had my for over ten years as the number of interviews I’ve had has been pretty small.  There are a lot of things you want to do to improve your chances of getting your dream job.  Additionally, there are things to avoid.  Here are some of those things you want to make sure NOT to do so that you don’t have a bad job interview.

Show Up Late

First impressions are everything, and if you’re not there on time to give your first impression, you’re in trouble.  People interviewing for a job usually have a tight schedule.  If you show up late, that is seen as very disrespectful and can be very disruptive.

Read more11 Ways To Have A Bad Job Interview

As I’ve gotten more and more years of work under my belt, you learn a lot of things.  These relate to how to do your own job, but also in watching other people do their jobs.  Everybody has their own style or way of doing things, and the repercussions of this can be far and wide.  This holds even more true for those hired into management positions.

Here’s a story of one management hire that started off well but only went downhill, finishing up as an absolute calamity.

A Tough Situation To Begin With

The manager, we’ll call him Manny for the purposes of this story, was hired a little over a year ago to manage a group that was facing quite a few challenges.  The group was growing quite a bit as the focus within IT was getting more and more substantial.  The group did not have a great working relationship with many of the other groups, which was often a source of frustration.  See, with IT, when you’re working on big things, which often happen here, groups have to work together  in order to have a successful outcome. This group was very hard to engage.  Their members often didn’t show up to meetings or would make changes out of sequence or make promises that they would do something and simply not do it at the scheduled time.

Read moreHow To Get Fired From A Management Position In 4 Easy Steps

I really like where I work, as evidenced by the fact that I’ve been working here for over nine years now. I’ve definitely settled in.  There are a number of work habits that I’ve developed that work for me.  However, I wonder how many of these my co-workers might consider peculiar.

It also crossed my mind that if they do, I really don’t care 🙂

I make my own coffee in my own coffee maker.

There are several commercial grade machines around the office, as well as some Keurig brewers, but I don’t use any of these.  I actually brought my own coffee machine, one that I had sitting in the basement at home, and brew my own coffee every day.  Why all the trouble if there are machines everywhere?  Well, it’s because the machines that they have here don’t work too well for the routine I’ve established.  See, I don’t use Keurig cups as I find them wasteful and too expensive for everyday use, but the ‘free’ coffee that they provide is coffee in only the most technical sense.  Long story short, it’s awful.  I bring in my own coffee, keep it in the freezer, and brew my own pot every day.

Read more7 Work Habits That My Co-Workers Might Consider Peculiar

With more and more people quitting their jobs to pursue their passions as freelancers and home based entrepreneurs, the landscape of work is changing. Back in the day, you had to to have a 9-5 job – any job, especially if you were the man of the house – just to conform to society’s standards.

This often meant doing a job you hated, in an office you despised, much like what many people are still going through now. But what the heck. As long as it pays the bills and provides health benefits, all’s well that ends well. Right? Well, that pretty much sums up why 70% of Americans hate their jobs!

Shifting Gears

This has brought on a shift in the way people think. Many of them are realizing the benefits of working from home and are turning to freelancing or accepting positions as virtual employees for some of their income, while working on another side hustle to generate more money.

Read moreWorking From Home