I ask you guys everything else so why not...Jobs?

Here's the scenario. I am 34. I have nearly 20 years of customer service experience, starting with working in a grocery store, then retail, nursing home, hospitality, back to retail, and finally in health insurance. I've learned one thing during this. While I am VERY good at what I do (to my knowledge, I still hold sales records in the last 4 stores I was employed at, and I know damn well I will ALWAYS hold the record for calls taken/fixed during my tenure at a certain healthcare concern, united in its concern to provide the utmost quality possible. There's only one, small...insignificant problem.

I hate people. I actually quit my last job due to an issue where a person decided that my service level wasn't up to her standards, and decided to make it racial. I was not terminated, and in fact have GLOWING references from my former management, as they understood the position I was in.

This brings me to today. Approximately two weeks from yesterday will mark one year of chosen unemployment. The wife initially stated she wanted me to be a stay at home parent, and I happily complied. I entrusted her to make enough cash to make the bills work, and she assured me she could do it, for the foreseeable future. Lately, she has NOT been holding up that end, and is actually suggesting I go back to work. Part time, but still. I've applied for several jobs that don't really require a TON of foresight (warehouse work, delivery driver for Lowes, lot tech at a couple of dealerships), basically stuff that would net me enough cash to keep me happy with a minimal outlay of effort. I don't need much. Literally 15 hours/week at minimum wage would be sufficient. With my skillset, I imagine banging out a 1/2 time job at 10 bucks an hour would be entirely possible.

Bearing that in mind, if you were me, what would you do? I honestly sort of want to work at a liquor store, but I'm not TERRIBLY willing to drive very far (all the jobs I've applied to have been within 15min of home on a bad day). I can do anything if given proper training, though my resume reflects heavy analytical skills due to my insurance background. I figure shuttling cars is fine, I have no problems putting miles on someone elses rig. I'm PROBABLY heavily overqualified to do most of what i've applied for to be honest, and I think that scares some employers, thinking they won't be able to keep me. I'm trying to figure out what to do to keep myself occupied for some hours, make a little cash, and not want to kill someone at the end of the day.

I apologize if my thoughts seem scattered, this is just how the word vomit came out, and I figured if anyone would understand it, it would be you. OF COURSE, if any of you happen to know of any interesting gigs in St. Paul MN, or thereabouts, feel free to share.

The "overqualified" part would concern me if I were in your shoes, from bad experience.

My wife used to work at NASA and when she applies for jobs she really wants to do (because she loves the work and wants a career change) that have nothing to do at all with what she did at NASA, she tends to get the overqualified spiel. Seems that a lot of her colleagues also ran into that problem so they ended up having to start their own businesses.

The latter of course would be another option, but IME any size business very quickly wants to take over your whole life and then some.

I know exactly what you mean dude. I would imagine most of those jobs would want you to start some sort of management track after seeing that you're not a moron and can be trusted. But that sounds like the opposite of what you want. I always thought working at a liquor store would be neat, especially if it were a nicer one that specialzed in craft beer and spirits.

Lancer007 wrote: I know exactly what you mean dude. I would imagine most of those jobs would want you to start some sort of management track after seeing that you're not a moron and can be trusted. But that sounds like the opposite of what you want. I always thought working at a liquor store would be neat, especially if it were a nicer one that specialzed in craft beer and spirits.

You hit the nail on the head. And to be honest, I wouldn't mind moving to full time, if it was something I wanted to do. I'd work at a liquor store full time. I love booze. I like knowing about booze. I'd be a bartender if I had the training. But the problem is, I am going from a heavily career driven specialty field to...wanting to talk about beer. It's tough, ya know?

And- I'd LOVE to start my own business. I know 99% of what I need to know to run my own gig, myself. I've run million dollar stores before. I know basic accounting. I know inventory control, stocking, etc. I can run a shop with my eyes closed. I don't want to sound pretentious, but I know i'm good. HOWEVER- I SEVERELY lack the capital to make it happen, and the patience to acquire said capital. So, there is that. Plus, that would likely force the wife to make sacrifices that fly right in the face of the 40k I spent getting her a degree.

The capital is not all you lack.

• You hate people

• You are looking for a 1/2 time job

• You are looking for a job within 15 minutes of home

• You are willing to accept part time minimum wage

• You hate people.

Think about it... These are NOT characteristics of a person who would "LOVE to start their own business."

The capital would be easy to find. Please don't take offense, but this is a motivation problem.

You apparently have the experience. If you had the motivation to succeed at this, finding willing business partners with the capital would not be hard at all (some of us might have already emailed you )

It's not a bad thing. You have other priorities, and knowing that about yourself is a good thing.

SVreX wrote: The capital is not all you lack. - You hate people - You are looking for a 1/2 time job - You are looking for a job within 15 minutes of home - You are willing to accept part time minimum wage - You hate people. Think about it... These are NOT characteristics of a person who would "LOVE to start their own business." The capital would be easy to find. Please don't take offense, but this is a motivation problem. You apparently have the experience. If you had the motivation to succeed at this, finding willing business partners with the capital would not be hard at all (some of us might have already emailed you ) It's not a bad thing. You have other priorities, and knowing that about yourself is a good thing.

Point taken. I should clarify- I hate people, when it's not on my own terms. If I am in ultimate control, I have no problems with people. What I hate is people that know how to take advantage of the system, know that there's no repercussions, and choose to abuse the staff. If I'm in control, I don't have to put up with it, ya know? And you're right on the motivation thing- It's not that I'm not motivated, it's a "what if it doesn't work" scenario. I don't like failure.

Interested in working from home full-time? The company I work for is growing & always hiring, and your insurance background would be helpful. We also have many virtual employees.

www.ccmsi.com

petegossett wrote: Interested in working from home full-time? The company I work for is growing & always hiring, and your insurance background would be helpful. We also have many virtual employees. www.ccmsi.com

You have my attention, sir. I was WFH full time in my last job.

Thanks for not taking offense.

mndsm wrote: If I am in ultimate control, I have no problems with people.

Still got a problem..."The customer is always right".

Business owners do not have as much control as you may think.

I wouldn't ask if I didn't expect an honest response. And you're probably right on the whole "customer is always right" thing.

The customer is always right, but not every customer has to be your customer.

the customer ISN'T always right … sometimes a business owner has to stand up for what is right …

My boss always says "The customer is always right, except for when they're always wrong"

I laugh every time I hear that.

Is there a sears near you? I made about $24 an hour selling appliances at Sears part time. The appliance side is interesting enough for a few years, and the company isn't exactly famous for stellar customer service, so if you meet your numbers nobody cared if you didn't bend over backwards.

I have a buddy who owns/runs a bicycle shop. He posted on FB a few weeks ago about having to throw a customer out of the shop when they refused to pay for the work they did on his POS Walmart special. Kicking the customer out also included doing a "Huffy-toss" with the bike in question into the parking lot. He's a pretty laid-back guy, so this customer must have been extra-rude to garner that sort of reaction.

As far as the job thing... I got's nothin'... I'm hoping that when I've finally had enough of my job, I'll have a nice wood-working shop built and equipped and I can start making and selling furniture for enough to pay for my taxes and health insurance...

See... That's just it. Your buddy could do that. Last time I did that I got run up the ladder as a racist. That's when I decided I disliked people.

mndsm wrote: See... That's just it. Your buddy could do that. Last time I did that I got run up the ladder as a racist. That's when I decided I disliked people.

You can't throw white people out of your store. Are you nuts? They have connections.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

mndsm wrote: See... That's just it. Your buddy could do that. Last time I did that I got run up the ladder as a racist. That's when I decided I disliked people.

You can't throw white people out of your store. Are you nuts? They have connections.

If only it were that simple.

I work for lowes. I love it. I quit from a different store in 2005 and had regretted until I got this job in September. I've done it all, too. The pay is good and so are the benefits. I highly suggest it, although I wouldn't be a delivery driver. I'm a plumbing 'pro' and its really easy. Every now and again, I deal with E36 M3ty customers, but that's just retail. The best part is going home and forgetting about it. I like it WAY now than when I was in management, and I make about half as much. The freedom to do as I please is great, but I have a great management staff at my store.

I've been a sign painter/pinstriper all my adult life and then some. But due to increased competition from vehicle wrap companies as well as a dwindling market with adult's toys (get your mind out of the gutter, i mean race cars, Harleys and hot rods) I too have taken a career shift...

I just started a 20h/week $10/h job as a delivery driver for a carbide tools business. I'm liking not having to produce something brilliant every day.

A mentor once said to me, "The customer is NOT always right. If he was always right, he wouldn't need us."

In college I drove an airport shuttle for a home owned business. The hours were weird (2 AM until 9 ish) but worked for my school schedule. Most customers were pretty nice and I found in I actually put on slacks and a tie, I made enough for lunch in tips. The ones that were rude I got to drop off and smile as I told them to have a great flight, but honestly, I could count those on one hand.

Delivery driver for an auto parts or paint store. They like part-timers for this, you get to be around car guys and garages and you don't have to deal with retail customers.

Yeah, people suck. Badly. I don't like people either. The customer is NOT always right. But- without them- there would be no job.

There are 2 broad categories of jobs: those with minimal face to face (and they are in the minority) or those with a lot of face to face. So what has to happen is either 1) get a job with minimal face to face (not real easy, they are sorta rare) or 2) get a face to face job and grow a thick hide. I chose 2.

In my last career I actually enjoyed dealing with the really pissed off customers, and got to be pretty good at it. I found that by being nice, empathetic, and explaining in reasonable detail what you could/couldn't do to resolve the situation worked very well. The customer might not have been happy with the resolution, but the vast majority weren't upset enough to take their business elsewhere.

However, there were two people I encountered over the ~14-years who were so illogical and closed-minded that they had simply already made up their mind, and absolutely nothing was going to sway them.