Tag: jobs

Multiple Personalities: Everyone has it

Throughout not just my working career, but also my life career, I have taken notice of a lot of variations of human behavior. And what that boils down to is the personality of the person. Like what their character shows when they’re out in the public, versus being at home (or anytime they’re alone). Most people that I have met seems to show multiple sides to them. As if they were to have a split personality, are bi-polar, or even have mood swings. From my point-of-view, they are all somewhat one in the same thing (don’t quote me on this). With that, and I hate to say this for myself, is why you can’t please everyone.

From friends, family, colleagues, and even random strangers, you don’t know what to expect. Which is why before you start judging someone when you first greet them (i.e., a customer), and they have a neutral or negative response, don’t think anything of it. They could be having an off day. Take me for example; most days I will always do my best to make people laugh or try to make their day brighter with some positive reinforcement. And then on rare occasions when life just doesn’t seem to be going my way, I will be sad and depressed. I don’t hide my feelings all that much, meaning I’m quite the expressive person. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing. It will let people know when something is wrong and it kind of sets their mood a little bit when they don’t see me happy.

The problem with me is that when I see someone like a colleague that is expressing this other personality (good or bad, but mostly bad), I tend to analyze the situation and see what I can do to resolve the issue. Or do what I can to prevent it from happening again. But forgetting that some things are out of my control, and I cannot help those that are going through whatever situation it is they are going through. All I can do is stay out of the way or help out by offering an ear to listen and possibly give advice, but only if they ask or are willing to take it. I’d like to consider myself as an unofficial non-licensed therapist (which is why I should really consider trying freelance on fiverr or something… tell your friends!)

So, what are you supposed to do when it comes to dealing with others that are having off days? Answer is, not much different than what you normally do. Like I said before, if it’s a customer, treat them with kindness and respect. Because for all you know, that could be enough to turn their day around. Don’t try to force yourself into anyone’s problems if they don’t ask for it. The best thing you can do is just offer. Offer your time, listen and pay attention to what they tell you if they need to vent. But for the most part, there really isn’t anything else you can do. The rest is up to them.

We all need saving. It’s just the matter of asking for help.

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My Past Year

Another year has come and gone while some, if not most of us, has been yet again unproductive. So, what do we do to change it? Do we want to change it? I guess it depends on the lifestyle we want to live with what we would consider we’ll be happy with, content, or driven for more. Let’s face it, as we get older, life tends to become weirder. For the majority, we work to make a living and to support ourselves and even our family. Whatever the case, I spent most of this year figuring out what it is exactly that I wanted to do with my life. And I’m still searching for it working at several different jobs. All of these that are new for me and not what I’m looking for. But I need that steady paycheck to keep a roof over my head and my stomach happy. From trying to be a sales rep walking around a store trying to convince people to buy what I’m selling, to working in the restaurant business for the first time in my working career.

2021 Recap

After 8 years of a wild roller coaster ride of a job, I finally called it quits. A lot of things, if not all, has to come to an end. If this was a television show, I spent 8 seasons with this company entertaining my fellow colleagues and bosses to the best of my abilities. But being somewhere so long only to stay in the same spot and not move up is pretty dreadful. My hard work was overlooked so many times. I was given a lot of added responsibilities only to not receive any benefits or incentives. That’s probably the reason why I would barely make it to work on time most days. I had no reason, no motivation to get to work early and be ready to work. And with Covid-19 being a factor, spending some time doing a little soul searching, I was ready to do something different. Being that I’m a people person, I wanted to try my hand working in that field. I became a sales representative, but this was nothing like what I expected. Thinking I would have my own office space and possibly talking to people on the phone or scheduling meetings was not even close to what I actually did. I was put in a store where I had to walk around constantly going from customer to customer trying to sell them a product that was more miss than a hit. Once a potential customer would say no, we would then have to move on to the next. This wasn’t something that I liked at all. I would rather take the time to getting to know people and having an honest conversation with them. Instead, I had these lines I had to recite and memorize to pitch to people. It felt a lot like being an actor for a role and I had to say these lines I didn’t like. I’m more of an improvisor and so this job only lasted about a week.

For pretty much the rest of the year, I would end up working part-time at a couple restaurants. Getting the feeling of what customers are like in this establishment. I have to tell you, it’s pretty wild. There’s no knowing what to expect except that you should expect anything. You will have people who are really nice and sweet, to those that can be the rudest of all. This is just my point of view, but I’m sure most people who work in restaurants can say the same, but customers tend to look down on people working in these establishments. What people do in their homes is their business. But when you see how they are in public and how they treat those who handle their food, only makes me wonder how depressing their lives are (yeah, I said it). I’ve seen the movie Waiting… and I know better than to cause issues to those who service me. Unless service is bad, which I’ve dealt with on multiple occasions, then they will know it by how little I tip them. It really is that simple. But my responsibilities are different. At one job I’m taking phone calls and orders, while the other I’m a host. Greeting guests, busting and cleaning tables, and other tasks. And I’m crushing it! Only been at this host job for a couple months and they already have me training new workers for that position. I will admit that there are only so many jobs I suck at, and this is not one of them.

Resolution

We all make them from time to time. But how often do we succeed at going after these goals we make for the year? Every year it’s almost always the same for me; gain weight and workout more. Obviously, I’m doing something wrong. Since Covid, I have been struggling to do both and saying that I want to or need to hasn’t changed anything. All I know is my health is the most important thing to me so I’m going to start with that. The next thing I want to focus on is a job that not only will I like but also one that will pay the bills. Although I’m still in search for what it is I really want to do with my life, I’ll keep on pushing forward because that’s all I can do. Eventually, sooner rather than later though, I will find what it is I’m looking for that will make me happy and successful. That’s what I’m going to fight for this coming year. Finding my stride to life and doing the things that I’m passionate about. Happy New Year and be safe!

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My Job Experiences

I couldn’t tell you how many different jobs I’ve worked at. But if I had to guess, it’s somewhere around 25-30. If it sounds like a lot, that’s because it probably is. Most of my life I have found many passions and interests in things that took little effort to building a skill to a lot of it. When I would do something that I enjoy, it typically only lasts so long before I end up losing interest in it and wanting to find something new to try. Why that is, I don’t know. That’s just who I am. Same with me playing video games. Most games with a storyline that I would play, I’ll end up stopping midway through the story. The game itself is good. It’s almost as if I don’t want to see something good come to an end? Not sure if I can say the same with my 25+ jobs though.

Manufacturing

Since graduating high school, I left my part-time job to switch to a completely different field. Something that would change my life for over the next decade. I got myself into the world of being a blue-collar worker. Knowing what I know now, there’s a lot of physical stress that the body goes through. Like one of my last jobs I had, having to do the same things over and over repetitively caused soreness on my back and shoulder blade area. That’s mostly the whole concept of factory work. It’s very repetitive. So within this decade or so, I ended up jumping around one job after another with maybe one or two non-manufacturing jobs in between there, until I hit my mid 20s. At that point, when you realize you have more responsibilities, rent and bills to pay for, you start to change your mindset to settling down. Which now writing this down as I go, is so disappointing.

I Chose To Settle

With all these extra responsibilities, I knew I could no longer continue switching from job to job. Especially working a temp position making about only $9 an hour. I had to make a decision and of all the decisions I made, I chose one of the hottest environments to settle at. This company that I worked for that I spent 8 years at did not have any sort of air conditioning on the floor. Only in the offices. The department I worked at, the machineries temperature got upwards of 500 degrees Fahrenheit. So basically with that, my areas average temperature felt like 100-110 degrees with hardly any ventilation, and a couple small industrial fans blowing hot air on us. There were countless times I sprayed my face with the water bottles we used to clean the machines at the end of our shift.

It wasn’t all bad though, I got to work with a very good crew. My boss saw something great in me, so she pretty much let me lead my own team knowing she didn’t have to micro manage us or worry. We crushed it! Beating out the other 2 shifts easily. The morale within our team was high, everyone that I know of got along great and just about every Friday mornings after work we would head to the bowling alley for drinks and bowling. It was really something special… but that moment only lasted so long. Not long later, people started quitting or transferring to different departments and nothing was the same. Eventually I left also to try my hand on something new.

About 5 years into my job and trying something different, I was on the brink of quitting my job. The department I was in wasn’t so great and half the people I worked with were somewhat sleazy. Although, some of the women I worked with enjoyed my company. Always nice to leave them laughing and smiling by just being me. But I’m the type of person that does let the few negatives outweigh the many positives. People I tell ya. They suck sometimes. How difficult it is to be short and skinny like myself and get picked on in ways that most people wouldn’t see. The haters are so subtle about it… sorry, just needed to get that off my chest.

Electronics/Engineering

So I’m about to quit but there was a new position for a new department opening up. An electronics assembly line. Where we had to wear these ESD smocks and shoes or shoe covers so we don’t emit any electricity on any circuit boards we worked with or are near. Little did I know, this position that I got was going to be both great and terrible. Again, for the most part, the people were great, my boss was great. I got to work with the engineers and understand how circuit boards come together. During training, the soldering part was pretty wild. I enjoyed that part the most. I made some friends and actually started eating healthier too!

Once we got settled in after about a year, things got worst. We were scheduled to produce numbers that were unobtainable even running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We ended up working mandatory 7 days for the foreseeable future. Which ended up lasting about 2 years or so minus most holidays, call-ins and vacations. Vacations on the other hand were mostly stripped away from me. Considering I had the 2nd lowest seniority of the team I worked with, I had almost no time to use my vacation leaving me having to work almost every weekend. I was drained, exhausted and burnt out. At this point, I hardly saw any of my friends or family, leaving me with no energy to do anything once I did finished work. I was about done. And I did so much too from what my boss had asked from me. More than what my typical job duties were. Only time we had a break was when Covid hit. It was such a needed time off. 5 weeks to be exact.

To Sum It Up

I left my job about a year after the shutdown due to Covid. Between that time, I had learned so much about myself and my surroundings. From what I would say, I got to do a little soul searching. It led me to wanting to do something different, away from factory life. I know there’s so much more out there and that I never got to experience the possibility of what I could be great at. So now that’s where I am. Back to exploring life and other jobs because currently, there are job opportunities almost everywhere right now. Doesn’t seem like anyone wants to work or maybe they have found something themselves to live a much happier and healthier life. I do have faith that someday soon I will find what it is that I’m looking for. The question is… what is it?

From my many coworkers and bosses, they really did all range from bad to great. I got to experience from both a white collar and blue collar’s perspective of what a business is like. Definitely got to talk to and get close to the many managers of my most recent job. It’s made me think… maybe I start my own business?! Only time will tell. And if I have the will-power, of course!

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