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View Full Version : So, I have a 2nd job and I'm 50/50 on quitting it...



Roasted
March 12th, 2009, 05:26 AM
Long story short:

22 years old, graduated May of 08 with Associates in Cyber Security Technology. I have a part time job @ a school district where I actually work just a few hours shy of 40 a week.

No benefits at either job. I pay for external health insurance @ 60/month, which isn't bad.

My other job is a factory job at a bindery. Heavy work, standing all day, sitting down = written up (3 write ups = fired). It sucks, but it's time + half on weekends so it's like 19 an hour.

Every other weekend @ bindery = 4 days a month @ 400 bucks a month.

The trick is, every other weekend at the bindery constitutes 12 days straight working due to me working monday-thru-friday at my IT job.

I haven't worked at the bindery since Thanksgiving, so I know I can survive easily without it. Yet, it's extra money, and I feel like a jerk thinking about quitting it due to the fact there are people in the country struggling, so I should be considering myself lucky for having 2 jobs at all.

Also - My IT job has a high chance of going full time in the summer. No guarantee, but a high chance. If it didn't go through, I'd be surprised, because the vast majority of the staff is on my side with getting me full time cause they seem to be in high favor of me working there. But who knows, nothing is set in stone yet.

But the reality is this.

Two jobs. I hate one. Both pay me money. I like money. But I like time off too. I've been at the bindery for 4.5 years. Perhaps it's time to cut the cord and get the hell out?

Thoughts?

lykwydchykyn
March 12th, 2009, 05:31 AM
Yet, it's extra money, and I feel like a jerk thinking about quitting it due to the fact there are people in the country struggling, so I should be considering myself lucky for having 2 jobs at all.

Why feel guilty? Seems to me if you quit, there's a job some unemployed person can fill.

tgalati4
March 12th, 2009, 05:39 AM
Spend some time helping others on the forums and you will feel better.

It's easy to say no when there's a bigger yes burning inside.


Quit the job you hate. Life's too short.

CraigPaleo
March 12th, 2009, 06:02 AM
Heck! I'll take the job! I've recently been laid-off and am on unemployment with no health coverage.

Lightstar
March 12th, 2009, 06:13 AM
I'm totally with lykwydchykyn (what a name!)

If you can live without that second job, leave it for someone who needs it. Working so much is going to be hard on your body and mind. You need time for entertainment.

kevdog
March 12th, 2009, 06:25 AM
I wouldn't worry about the money or healthcare costs! With the bailout money coming your way you will be set for life! You should probably quit your other job too!

Roasted
March 12th, 2009, 06:42 AM
I wouldn't worry about the money or healthcare costs! With the bailout money coming your way you will be set for life! You should probably quit your other job too!

lol??

twiz86
March 12th, 2009, 08:03 AM
Id say stick with both jobs till you go full time. Our fathers worked way harder than we ever will and they barely made anything. The more you make now the better you will be in the future. take that 400 a month and stash it away and dont touch it till you are old and gray. you work that job for 4 years you will have enough saved to put a down payment on a nice house. Think for tomorow and not the now.

Suck it up sir.

One more thing. If you quit that job, with the economy the way it is, they wont hire anyone else to fill your spot. All the other people will just have to pick up your slack...so in reality, you quitting is helping noone.

lisati
March 12th, 2009, 08:11 AM
My other job is a factory job at a bindery. Heavy work, standing all day, sitting down = written up (3 write ups = fired). It sucks, but it's time + half on weekends so it's like 19 an hour.


Ouch! No provision for rests if and when needed? That would be enough to put a lot of people off that kind of work!

Edit (afterthought): aren't there rules somewhere about taking regular breaks?

pbpersson
March 12th, 2009, 08:13 AM
My other job is a factory job at a bindery. Heavy work, standing all day, sitting down = written up (3 write ups = fired).



If you can do the job sitting down, why won't they let you sit down? :o

Roasted
March 12th, 2009, 01:30 PM
If you can do the job sitting down, why won't they let you sit down? :o

Because they're nazi driven assholes.

Lisati - Yeah, we have regular breaks... bare minimal that the state requires.

There are days I've been there like, wow, this job aint so bad today. Then other days I'm on a fast line and I'm like, wow, this isn't worth even 40 dollars an hour.

I made my decision. I'm quitting. 400 dollars a month just isn't worth what kind of **** you need to put up with there. My IT job is pretty stressful and very fast paced, so by the end of the week it's nice to have some time off. I just can't see myself going in to that place after a rough week and obeying their ******** policies when I haven't been there since Thanksgiving, and all the while I've been working for a place that has half decent management that isn't 100% cut-throat about everything.

And yeah, I'm not doubting that our fathers worked hard to get where they are today, I'm not doubting that for a second. But before you compare it to the bindery job I have, try it out and see how much it sucks. Until then, the situations aren't worth comparing.

There's a reason I promised myself that I'd quit there the day I graduated: To guarantee that I would get off my *** and make a well needed change - to get out of that place. It's been almost a year and I'm still pussyfooting around with it.

I can survive just fine without the job with my current standing at my school job. If I don't get full time at my school job, I'll be job hunting elsewhere. If I didn't get full time at my school job while I was still at the bindery job, I still wouldn't have worked any more than my required weekends at the bindery job. Me not getting full time doesn't mean I have to **** my pants, I'm all right as-is... it just means I need to look elsewhere for something that is full time.

It's a good feeling, knowing you're leaving a crappy place in a cloud of dust.

The big question now is - Do I even bother to call them and let them know I won't be gracing themselves with my presence anymore? I've gotten screwed out of enough Christmas bonuses that it makes me feel like they don't deserve to know a damn thing. I know, seems immature, so be it. But I've worked there for 4 and a half long years. Three months into it I knew it'd be a job that I intentionally wouldn't give 2 weeks notice, just because I was that disgusted with them.

WOOP!

sydbat
March 12th, 2009, 03:08 PM
I'd call them and tell them you no longer work for them. But that's as far as I would go. It sounds like they wouldn't give you any kind of reference anyway.

As for the economics of this - the bindery will find someone to fill your 'vacant' spot. Most people are being mis-led when it comes to the economic situation. The media especially likes to sell ad space with hyperbole, such as making this recession sound as bad or worse than the Great Depression - there was ~50% unemployment then and no social safety nets like unemployment insurance. Even in the 30's people found some type of work.[/digression]

Roasted
March 12th, 2009, 03:58 PM
No, they wouldn't give a reference. I asked them for a reference to do a temporary 3 month volunteer internship on the side (not interfering with my bindery hours) which was required for school and they said it's against company policy to give out the number to the department beyond employees. The furthest they could give me was to HR, which doesn't do any good cause HR has no idea who I am.

This company is the county's largest employer, so naturally they don't know a 22 year old student from an 87 year old plant manager. That's the funny part about it.

Therion
March 12th, 2009, 04:11 PM
Life is short, time is a precious commodity. Focus on the IT job, it sounds like it it could go somewhere, open some doors for you in the future.

The bindery, thing? Play money I'm guessing - and at what price? Having your Soul crushed?

Dude... Bail on the bindery. That's one of those crappy, throw-away jobs you'll be nothing but glad to put behind you.

Eisenwinter
March 12th, 2009, 04:13 PM
I have a part time job @ a school district where I actually work just a few hours shy of 40 a week.
What exactly does that job consist of? I have a friend who is 23, and is a system administrator for a school. He says he enjoys that job, specifically flirting with the hot 11th and 12th grade girls, know what I mean? ;)


My other job is a factory job at a bindery. Heavy work, standing all day, sitting down = written up (3 write ups = fired). It sucks, but it's time + half on weekends so it's like 19 an hour.What the hell? can't even sit down? Man, if it was me, I'd quit for this reason only.

You have a right for a 5 minute break for every hour of work you do. That's how it is here anyway.

Every other weekend @ bindery = 4 days a month @ 400 bucks a month.

The trick is, every other weekend at the bindery constitutes 12 days straight working due to me working monday-thru-friday at my IT job.


Yet, it's extra money, and I feel like a jerk thinking about quitting it due to the fact there are people in the country struggling, so I should be considering myself lucky for having 2 jobs at all.
The math doesn't apply. Think, if you have 2 jobs, and other people have none, wouldn't quitting the job you hate provide those people with an opportunity to get that job? No reason to feel guilty.


But the reality is this.

Two jobs. I hate one. Both pay me money. I like money. But I like time off too. I've been at the bindery for 4.5 years. Perhaps it's time to cut the cord and get the hell out?
I say, quit the factory. I've worked in a factory myself, as a stock boy, and I know how it feels to stand up for 8 hours straight.

Though, they didn't kill me if I sat down every now and then, or went out to smoke a cigarette, and there were also 2 big breaks for everyone each day. The first one was at 9:15 (work starts at 7am), so everyone can get a small refreshing breakfast, and rest.

The second one was at 13:00 (1pm for you Americans). This one was a 30 minute break to eat lunch.

From what you're describing, you get absolutely no breaks, and you're in risk of getting fired for sitting down. So I say, quit, and quit now.

Roasted
March 12th, 2009, 05:35 PM
I get breaks, but only for lunch and 1 break before lunch to relax for 15 minutes. That's the minimal required by the state for this nature of work.

What does my job consist of? Anything tech related that you would find in a school. I'm not a network administrator, but my title is a "technology specialist." It's just a fancy term for PC Technician.

Long story short - 7 schools, 1 high, 2 middle, 4 elementary.

First person = 1 high school
Second person = 2 elem/1 middle
Third person = 2 elem/1 middle

I have 2 elementary schools and 1 middle school. Anything that happens in those 3 schools I have, I get called for it. Printer jam? That's me. Computer can't access the net? Yep, me too. Principal calls me, says they're converting a classroom to a lab, we need surge protectors and 30 ethernet wires ran for internet access. Yep - me again. :)

One school was hard enough at my internship, and I wasn't even in full charge. It was me and 2 other guys handling that school. Now I have THREE on my own.

I love it, I really do, but at the end of the week I just need to relaxxxxxxx.

When I quit, this will be the first time in my 22 years of existence I haven't been doing 60+ workweeks. When I was in school and working I did 70 hours a week. When I did the internship and worked in the evenings till midnight I did 95-100 hours a week. Life is good once you get all of the hard stuff outa your way.

lykwydchykyn
March 13th, 2009, 03:49 AM
When I quit, this will be the first time in my 22 years of existence I haven't been doing 60+ workweeks.

Infancy must have been a bear.

Just don't ever burn a bridge. You never know where your ex manager might be working next.

days_of_ruin
March 13th, 2009, 03:54 AM
Why feel guilty? Seems to me if you quit, there's a job some unemployed person can fill.

+1.I would think you would feel guilty for having two jobs when lots of
people don't have any.

Roasted
March 13th, 2009, 07:28 PM
I woke up this morning and the mail was on the counter. I had a letter from them.

"During the course of business, we sometimes forget to thank our employees for the hard work they do. We'd like to congratulate you and thank you for perfect attendance through the 2008 year. We appreciate your hard work and effort towards the company growing!"

So, I work there for 4 and a half years.

Then, I quit with absolutely no notice.

And THEN they decide to thank me for the work I've done?

Haaaaaaaaaa!

Eisenwinter
March 13th, 2009, 08:16 PM
Don't be fooled by it, and certainly don't go back to work there.

I did 60+ hours a week on a dairy farm, milking cows, for nearly 2 years straight.

I love cows, I enjoy the milking, as long as I don't do it all the time.
When I said I wanted to quit the dairy farm, my boss went to great lengths to make sure I'll stay, but I didn't.

I gave him an extra month of work, just enough time to find someone new, and then left with no remorse, before he even found anyone to replace me officially.

When you work so much like that, every day becomes a work day, saturday, sunday, they don't exist anymore, it's just another day for you, even if it's your day off, it's just another day.

You don't get excited about anything, and your zombification process continues. Eventually, you become a full-blown zombie.

I'd get up for work at 3am, then the next day I'd go to work at 6:30pm, and so on.