There’s been a few slight mentions of my new job here, and Dad asked for some more details. As has generally been the case for the past few years, I’m not going to say a lot about my job here, but here’s the basic scoop:
While I’d been tossing resumes at Craigslist postings for a few weeks before the move, I wasn’t having much success. Since I wanted to get away from mall jobs, I’d been concentrating on entry-level office jobs, generally along the receptionist/secretarial/admin assistant line of positions. I was sure I could do the work, however as my resume doesn’t really stress the skills I have (funny how mall retail and reprographics print shops doesn’t scream ‘office capable’ to many people), I wasn’t having much luck.
I eventually did get one interview, but I ended up turning it down. I’d applied for a receptionist position, but over the course of one phone call and an interview, the position shifted into being a glorified delivery driver, delivering and assembling copiers on-site for clients. Not only was it pretty far removed from what I wanted or had applied for, but the guy interviewing me set off a lot of warning flags — denigrating the rest of the crew during the interview (he wanted to hire me because I came across smarter than the “idiots” and could supervise them) was just one. On top of that, he would have required me to cut my hair to something “respectable” — a request that seemed a little odd coming from a man with fading, but still quite visible and legible “FUCK IT” tattoos across his fingers. Even though I knew I needed a new job, this just didn’t seem like the best option for me, so I turned it down.
That afternoon, I got a list of employment agencies in the Kent area and took off, intending to drop my resume off with a few of them to see if I could get any hits there. That ended up being a much better way to approach things.
My first stop was at Express Personnel, and though they normally operate on an appointment basis, they were able to do a walk-in interview for me. Though the interview started a little shaky — there was a bit of confusion as to just what I was aiming for, as I didn’t really know the best way to say “I know I’m smart, capable, and I’m desperate to get out of retail” — but pretty soon we started narrowing things down. I took typing, ten-key, and keyboard data entry tests (90 words per minute, over 10k ten-key keystrokes per hour, and over 12k keyboard keystrokes per hour), Word and Excel proficiency tests, and a Wonderlic Personnel Test (with a score of between 36 and 40, if I’m remembering correctly, well into the higher reaches of what’s expected), all of which worked together to convince my interviewer that I actually did have more than two brain cells to rub together, and might be worth placing somewhere.
Over the next week, Express set me up with an interview at a prospective employer, I had an interview with them, and a few days later, got the word that they liked me, and I would be starting soon. Hooray!
My first day was last Friday, and so far, I’m definitely enjoying this. I’m a front desk/receptionist/admin assistant person for a packaging materials and supply business. Duties are pretty much as you’d expect: answering phones and forwarding calls, greeting visitors, taking care of various paperwork, filing, tracking e-mail, and so on. I’m only on day three, but I’m doing my best to get the hang of everything as quickly as possible (and really, the actions are all easily within my current realm of knowledge, it’s mostly procedures specific to this office that I need to learn).
Some of the best perks, though: $12/hr, a nice change from the $9/hr + variable commission I was earning at Kits, a full 40 hours a week, and a regular workday 8:30am-5:30pm, Monday to Friday schedule. I have evenings, and weekends! Reliably! Every week! I’m not going to have to show up at a mall at 5 in the morning on Black Friday anymore. It’s only been three days and one weekend so far, but Prairie and I are really enjoying the new schedule.
So there’s the scoop on that. I’m part of the normal working world now.