I graduated from college in 2018 and received a bachelors in production and management. We all know the stories of having difficulty finding a decent job (let alone one relevant to a degree you obtain) these days, so i'll spare you the details of my entire work history.
I will say that every job I've ever had (until currently) had been gig work, work-study through school, delivery jobs etc.
E.G Not jobs I expected a lot out of or planned on staying in for an extended period of time.
After working at a restaurant and an unnamed massive corporation that specializes in delivering goods to consumers, I finally landed a (temp) position at a pretty big company that manufactures lab equipment.
The company has a temp agency sign you on to a contract that doesn't seem to have a specific end date on it, with the promise that if you do good work they will sign you on “full time” at a later date. Mind you I'm working in the building of this corporation, 40 hours a week but am being paid through a temp agency and do not have full employee privileges. (this ranges from access to certain parts of the building to all the benefits and paid time off that i've heard so much about).
In my initial interview I was told it would like take 3-4 months before I was signed on as a full time employee as long as I was productive etc. This seemed a bit long and wasn't exactly what I was hoping for but the starting pay was around $20/hr which was significantly better than what I had been making before so I accepted the position hoping it would pay off later.
What I didn't realize at the time (having never worked a “real” job like this before) is that taxes are a thing. And I just happen to live in a state that is known for their high taxes across the board. So now i'm effectively making $16/hour and am not happy.
After conversations with my coworkers over the last few months I've also realized that I am the ONLY person who has been to college and has a degree. I've voiced to my boss numerous times that my goals are to move up in the company and take a similar position that he has currently and with this they have seemingly given me more responsibilities on a regular basis.
So much so that I am now a trainer in 1 of the 9 sections at our workplace and am competent to work by myself in at least 7 of those sections as well. (for comparison no one else on my shift seemingly knows how to work in more than 1 or 2 areas.)
I have now been here for almost 8 months and the responsibilities continue to pile up. (which I wouldn't mind if the pay did as well).
The company had a round of hirings in early May, and I was led to believe by my boss at the time that I was being considered but have since been told “I just missed the cut as others had been waiting LONGER”. I'm now of the understanding that more hirings will take place in July.
Other things to note. I have not accrued any paid time off. If I take a day off I will not be paid for it and won't start accruing time until i'm signed on full time.
On top of all this I am now being asked on a regular basis to come in for OVERTIME. I will say they aren't pressuring me in any blunt sort of way, but being one of the most productive workers and people that can work in multiple areas they keep coming to me asking for more hours. (which I promptly reject politely).
I guess i'm just not sure what to do or how to feel. I know for a fact that when my boss eventually calls me into his office to offer that full time contract i'm going to be pointing out all of the things I can and have done and asking for a massive raise. Part of me wants to give up and find something else (which doesn't seem like a very easy option either) but another part of me sees this as the first opportunity to make ANY kind of money at all and I don't want to throw it away for (potentially) temporary frustration.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Guess my rant is over.
TLDR: Been working at my job for 8 months as a full time “temp”, getting paid much less than I want (and deserve) and am not sure what to do next.