It was a branch of a much larger parent company.
Although it was only a matter of time and we both knew it was soon in coming, my friend and co-worker was the manager of one department and I managed the other. Neither of us were eager to quit. We had young families to feed, we had bills to pay, and we needed benefits. Our families, needed benefits.
Our co-workers or rather our shared “service tech crew” did not have families, but for both of them it was a first or one of their first jobs, and they were not eager or certain of how things would turn out in their favor or at all.
There were many reasons why we were co-contemplating quitting and they were stacking up.
Illegal business practices. Abuse of workplace laws, defamation of our characters and reputations by our superiors and I firmly believe they were deceiving some of their clients in order to sell more expensive services in direct contradiction of their trained and certified employees official reported findings/investigations.
But that is neither here nor there. We all walked out, and now I am currently making much more money self-employed.
Not long after leaving that company, I had filed many job applications and I turned down many jobs and entertained others. I have been self employed and taken on jobs as a subcontractor to boot, and I have stayed busy and made more money than I ever have as an employee.
I am older, and frankly it is harder and harder to participate in job interviews and tolerate some of the shit that I endured as a younger man.
I just took a phone call the other day, it was from a company which I had applied for a position with. Nearly 2 months ago…first time ever hearing from them.
I agreed to the phone interview and he asked me some basic questions, and grew more and more excited the more he learned about my experience. It all went downhill when he asked me about my wage expectations, and my answer clearly was not what he expected.
“Well, the wage we listed on the job listing topped out at $13.00 an hour. Is that a dealbreaker for you? Did you not read the job listing thoroughly?”
I calmly and politely informed him, “I applied for multiple jobs including this one well over a month ago. I don’t remember every job I applied for, and I certainly don’t remember the ones that offered minuscule pay, which I may have applied for OVER A MONTH AGO. YES $13.00 AN HOUR IS A DEALBREAKER!”
He muttered, “Even with benefits?” And I said, “YES, EVEN WITH BENEFITS IT IS A DEALBREAKER!”
We then said our goodbyes, right then and there. I never bothered to even tell him that I was currently making five times that, and sometimes more! And my wife and I are able to provide some benefits to ourselves and our children, and actually use them.
I once worked two full time and one part time job, and paid for the top tier level of insurance offered by my primary job for my family. We had it but we couldn’t even afford to use it.
I’m so sick of people expecting trained and certified people WITH EXPERIENCE to jump at these ridiculously stupidly idiotic “job opportunities” for nothing.
I sleep better at night working for myself, I have more self respect, I have more self-worth, and I have less and less tolerance for “corporate” or “manager” attitudes.
edit a few words here and there, a sentence.