Author Topic: Career Exchange Thread  (Read 1756 times)

Johnez

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Career Exchange Thread
« on: May 04, 2016, 02:00:32 PM »
Inspired by fellow esteemed member Forummm's "janitor" thread, this is where we exchange career descriptions and pick up ideas for something new.  Some of us hate our careers and want out, others simply want to try something different, still others are motivated by big money and fast cars.  What is your career/job/soul crusher?  Describe it to us, warn us, inspire us, give hope, or just contribute to the betterment of another young (or old) person looking for a change.  I'll begin with mine, but first a little outline (feel free to ignore):

Job title:  self explanitory
Details:  location (City/State or region), rough (or exact) pay, company/industry
The Meat:  Whatever you think is important or helpful to others in describing the job.  How you got it, your day to day, pros/cons, opportunities, future outlook, requirements (degree, certificates, etc.)

If this works out well, I might try putting an index together (if enough posters share).

Here we go!

My job:  Merchandiser (merch) for beverage company (think Coke/7-up/Pepsi)

Details:  South Orange County, California, ~$18.00/hour/$40k annually, beverage industry.  Bennies-all the standard, 9 or so standard holiday pay, 2/3/4 weeks vacation depending on years of service, 401k, decent health insurance, even a pension. 

The Meat:

My day begins at 5 am and is supposed to end around 2 pm (very rare, more like 3-4 pm).  What I do is drive around from store to store filling shelves with our product, organizing back room, building displays, and try to sell in displays at the store.  Although this job is quite simple in ways, it does have complications, as you need to plan your day according to delivery drop times, and communicate with between 5-10 people a day (often with conflicting goals).  I am the face of the company, and am often hit with competing demands, but am actually pretty autonomous as I don't answer to my actual "boss" on any regular basis, but rather each store's managers and receivers.  Our schedules are set, and stops predetermined so we know what to do every day, there is no "looking for work to do" issues, because there is always work!  Despite our stops being predetermined, there is the flexibility to create your own route to finish stops any way you see fit, as long as it's efficient and accomplishes all the goals for the day, in fact it is required to, as your boss doesn't necessarily know the small details of what your day's challenges are.  As for opportunity, there are some-the most obvious being the Sales Rep position, but there are many others as well.  Once you are in with the company, moving around is easy.  Some guys go into the warehouse, others become drivers, myself-I am going to school to become a refrigerant mechanic to work on our company's machines.  All in all, I'd say this is a pretty good position for anyone from straight out of high school, to out of college looking for work with opportunity to rise.  This job is fairly labor intensive, but relatively stress free.  These companies are still the types that have guys retiring in their 50s and 60s after 30 years on the job. 

Your turn!
« Last Edit: May 04, 2016, 02:41:18 PM by Johnez »

Johnez

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Re: Career Exchange Thread
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2016, 03:59:23 PM »
I know you guys got a ton to share, another thread just popped up with a question that can be addressed by a thread like this.  Doesn't have to be glorious or high flying job in the world to share (although extra points for random/unique careers), I know mine isn't the most exciting thing in the world.  I've seen the same desire to know what's on the other side of the fence in terms of careers all over the place, can't wait to see yours!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!