[elSicomoro]

UT, I never thought about it like that, but you're right.

Griff, I agree with you more or less. There's nothing wrong with a 9-to-5'er...and that works well for most folks. The problem is...it's one of those societal expectations. If you attempt to deviate from it, you're looked at disapprovingly. Like you're lazy or something.

Not that I care much for any societal disdain, anyway.

(Griff and UT came prominently to mind when thinking of people in "non-traditional" careers. Interesting that they posted here.)

Juju...I'll go into the economy end of it in a bit.

I've been working now for just over 11 years. A good chunk of that time has been full-time work. I worked about 25-30 hours a week in high school, and then spent a good chunk of college working full-time or close to it. By the time I got out of college, I already had 7 years of solid work experience, including 2 years of management experience. I've done all sorts of work, and have worked in all sorts of environments.

I can play office politics with the best of them, though I tend to keep away from that sort of shit. I'm not a troublemaker, though I have no problem speaking my mind and taking a stand when I deem it necessary. I don't work to make friends, though I don't mind making them.

I work hard for my money, and I do good work. My boss at Pep Boys was singing accolades to the agency this past week, which felt good.

I'm making about 25% less than I did at my highest paying job, but I don't mind making less money if I really enjoy my job. Of course, I have to make a certain amount of paper, but it's all about job happiness to me. I can honestly say that money has never been a factor in leaving a job.

And that's the problem...I haven't been truly happy in a job in several years now...maybe 5 years.

There have been aspects of jobs that make me happy. For example, at my current job, I am the only person on my side of the office. So, I can pretty much do my work and not be bothered by anybody. Plus that allows me to listen to the radio a bit louder (last week was CBC all week...I'll mix that with NPR next week), since it's not bugging anyone in my area. And I have 'net access, so during down time, I can catch up on the news or the Cellar.

But unfortunately, the downsides of my job have negated any overall positivity. And it usually involves the people with whom I work.

Part of this problem is on my end. I have a hard time sometimes understanding that people don't necessarily see things in the same way I do. I also have a hard time dealing with stupid people...I don't expect everyone to be as smart as me, but they should be using at least a handful of brain cells.

The biggest problem I face in the workplace right now is the stigma of being a temporary employee. For some reason, people may view a temporary worker with contempt. (Oh, they're just a temp. They must be pretty stupid, or unable to hold a job, or don't know what they're doing.) Which is why I'd be incredibly hesitant to ever accept a job with a company for whom I've temped. Just because you become an official member of the team doesn't mean that the walls fall down.

But truth be told, being a temp is alright...I like to think of myself as a specialist of sorts. For whatever reason, you need me to come in and help the team out. Your team just can't handle things as is, so you need some help. Here comes your superman, baby! And when the assignment is over, you move on to the next challenge.

Like right now. I work at Pep Boys' Corporate Headquarters, where I am the "W-2 Clerk." I input the employees that need replacement W-2 forms, have them printed, and mail them out. If someone didn't receive theirs because they moved or whatever, I change their addresses. I file all the W-2's that are returned by the Post Office along with the requests for new ones. I've generated about 1300 new W-2s, and have about 3000 of them sitting in mail bins in my cubicle. Up until a few weeks ago, this would take up most of my day. It's tedious, boring work. Given the slowdown of the past few weeks, and given what the rest of the department does, it is my opinion that my services are really no longer required. My boss apparently thinks otherwise, as he wants to keep me another month. I appreciate the props from my boss, but he's wasting money, as I see it. There are several employees in the department that are just straight up lazy...their main job occupation is talking about stupid ass reality shows. Of course, if the regular employees did take over, the job wouldn't be done as well...b/c I whip the horse's ass, thank you very much.

I left my last permanent job for 2 primary reasons: 1) I was burnt out on customer service work. 2) The employee rules were not uniformly applied. So, I looked into some new career options...for example, the straight-up office work that I do now.

I thought about doing social work, and still peruse those type of jobs on occasion. The problems with this were:

--The pay wasn't satisfactory to me
--The requirement of using your own vehicle that some places had
--Many of the jobs involve working with children, which really isn't up my alley
--I'm not licensed, and do not have substantial experience working in the field.

So, I looked into being an admin assistant...something that I know I could do very well, given my skills. This hasn't gone well, either:

--Companies want actual admin asst experience. I have almost all the necessary skills to do the job, but have never actually done the work under the heading of "Admin Asst."
--I don't quite have all the skills necessary, like Dictaphone.
--Being a male. I removed the suffix off my last name in hopes that that would help. It hasn't yet.

Now, let's touch on the economy. As we saw this past week, the unemployment rate in the US jumped up again this past week. Here in Philadelphia, it's a bit worse. Now, I don't doubt that the economy has played a part in me not finding a job. But given my education and experience, I can't believe that I would be out of a job for over 15 months. I've looked as far north as New York City, and as far south as DC. I've applied to about 300 jobs in the past 15 months, and have had all of 2 interviews.

And let's not forget my work history: I've worked for 6 employers since 1999. Since I moved out here 3 years ago, the longest I've been with a company is 15 months. Granted, I've never really been fired, and I've only left seeking a better job, but this just looks bad to a lot of employers. It conveys a lack of stability. Of course, I'd be more than happy to stay at a place for the rest of my working life...if I would get that satisfaction I'm looking for.

So, let's conclude on this portion:

--Sycamore is sick of straight-up customer service.
--Sycamore's work record over the past 3 years hasn't been so great.
--Sycamore is qualified for lots of jobs, but many others are also qualified...and also out of work.
--Sycamore is sick of stupid people...and is increasingly tired of dealing with people as a whole.
--Sycamore seeks a job that will give him the happiness he seeks.

So, now what?

Well, the first part is figuring out what I would like to do. I'm still working on this part, but it primarily involves music and writing. I also like the internet. I love the internet, and wish there was something I could do that revolved around it. I used to do internet customer service at one time, and that was pretty sweet...my favorite job of all time.

For now, I'm going to have to straddle the line between traditional and non-traditional. Obviously, I need money. So I'm going to have to do traditional work for the moment.

Then, I need to focus more on those non-traditional things I like to do. I've been threatening to do them for 5 years now...but never had. At least, not like I've wanted to.

I'm just fucking sick of not being happy with my job. If I have to work for the next 35 years, I want to try and enjoy it. That's reasonable, right? Other than the job situation, I have a pretty good life for the most part...and I don't think wanting happiness in a job is so wrong.