So where do you all work?

[racketboy]

I know that racket, I just like saying what my degree is in. It is not really stemmed from pride, I just think it sounds cool.

Nah -- I didn't interpret it that way at all.
I was just making an observation

[Mozgus]

Mozgus you did not tell us what you do!

Oh I didn't notice this, sorry.

All I've ever done is assist with heating/cooling and ductwork installations, maintain the lawn and setup cinder-block foundations for a place called Parkview Housing, and work at an animal shelter. Besides that, I'd make small money here or there fixing people's computers, or taking in broken systems and mixing and matching parts to create working ones to sell.

I've had a couple other jobs at a factory and a bowling alley that were completely terrible so I quit within a week.

[lordofduct]

I've had a couple other jobs at a factory and a bowling alley that were completely terrible so I quit within a week.

week?

I heard it was the same day. Something about filthy toilets.

heh... I would have as well.

[Mozgus]

I've had a couple other jobs at a factory and a bowling alley that were completely terrible so I quit within a week.

week?

I heard it was the same day. Something about filthy toilets.

heh... I would have as well.

The bowling alley was actually on the third day. Maybe 4th. I dunno this was like 8 years ago. And no, it was mostly about women being the most repulsive creatures when it comes to public restrooms. I wasn't going to clean the things I saw. Men seem to have more respect for a restroom.

The factory job was a week.

I looked at our chat log and I cant find any point when I told you it was just for 1 day...

[lordofduct]

I don't keep chat logs, nor do I have the best memory in the world. Could of sworn though, could have... I guess I would have lost that swear.

[fastbilly1]

Well I can give you the tip that got me my current job: At your job, dont screw any customer.

The end of last year the hotel I was working for started undergoing renovations and they told us peons to go get another job for a year or so. So I took a job at CompUSA (I know, I know, shutup) in the Business Sales. Quickly I learned that out of the people there I was the only one who knew anything about networking, customer service, and that “crazy os” Linux. So on Black Friday, after my daily 30 minute berating because of my lack of sales in useless insurance schemes (yes even on the busiest shopping day of the year they took me off the sales floor for an extended period of time), I saw a fella in networking who looked like he needed help. I struck up a conversation and we were off. He was holding a switch and a router and asked which one he should buy to extend his network. I asked if he wanted the right answer or the one I was supposed to tell him, the latter ofcourse meant buying both and hiring a tech to come setup the one he needed. Ofcourse he wanted the right answer, so I told him and he said that was the first straight answer he has ever gotten at a store like that. So he gave me his card and told me to give him a call when I left this “hellhole.”

A couple days later I shot him an email for a laugh, I had been offered jobs as a nice gesture several times before for the same reason and I always liked reading their reasons for not giving me one. To my surprise I got a call several minutes later asking me to come in as soon as possible for an interview. Turns out he was the Senior Vice President for Comcast’s Marketing for the Southeast and he handed me down the chain to my current boss, a gamer and acts a good bit like Michael Scott from The Office. Currently I do little work and make more in two weeks than I did in a month at CompUSA, with full insurance benefits.

Now if I had screwed the guy and sold him a bust product or that useless tech service, well I would be out of a job since the hotel is still under construction and CompUSA is gone in my neck of the woods. Sure its not something that could happen to everyone, I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. But it does give hope that even if somebody like me can end up with a lucky spring, that anyone can.

[racketboy]

Well I can give you the tip that got me my current job: At your job, dont screw any customer.

The end of last year the hotel I was working for started undergoing renovations and they told us peons to go get another job for a year or so. So I took a job at CompUSA (I know, I know, shutup) in the Business Sales. Quickly I learned that out of the people there I was the only one who knew anything about networking, customer service, and that “crazy os” Linux. So on Black Friday, after my daily 30 minute berating because of my lack of sales in useless insurance schemes (yes even on the busiest shopping day of the year they took me off the sales floor for an extended period of time), I saw a fella in networking who looked like he needed help. I struck up a conversation and we were off. He was holding a switch and a router and asked which one he should buy to extend his network. I asked if he wanted the right answer or the one I was supposed to tell him, the latter ofcourse meant buying both and hiring a tech to come setup the one he needed. Ofcourse he wanted the right answer, so I told him and he said that was the first straight answer he has ever gotten at a store like that. So he gave me his card and told me to give him a call when I left this “hellhole.”

A couple days later I shot him an email for a laugh, I had been offered jobs as a nice gesture several times before for the same reason and I always liked reading their reasons for not giving me one. To my surprise I got a call several minutes later asking me to come in as soon as possible for an interview. Turns out he was the Senior Vice President for Comcast’s Marketing for the Southeast and he handed me down the chain to my current boss, a gamer and acts a good bit like Michael Scott from The Office. Currently I do little work and make more in two weeks than I did in a month at CompUSA, with full insurance benefits.

Now if I had screwed the guy and sold him a bust product or that useless tech service, well I would be out of a job since the hotel is still under construction and CompUSA is gone in my neck of the woods. Sure its not something that could happen to everyone, I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. But it does give hope that even if somebody like me can end up with a lucky spring, that anyone can.

I have to say, that is an awesome story!

[marurun]

That's a great reason not to screw customers. And the nice thing is, you didn't screw him over because you know your stuff and care about it, not because you thought he'd offer you a job. That's the way to work. It's how I've tried to work my tech career. It's also part of why I'm getting out of tech (support) and into libraries.

[Mozgus]

I have to say, that is an awesome story!

Exactly. And thats just why I cant get a job at a store like that in the first place, even when I was trying. They don't give a shit about what you know. They prefer morons, so that they can train them with false knowledge which will garner the most sales. The best solutions to any technical problem are usually the cheapest ones, but that's just not an option at a place like that. They can see right through me and they immediately know I will refuse to fuck over any customers. I would always be giving the honest answers.

[RadarScope1]

Fastbilly, that IS an awesome story.

I work for a small-to-mid-sized newspaper in Missouri. I'm a features writer. I cover local music and write previews of the bands coming to town. I'm a music fan so it's a pretty cool job. Also, I've managed to write some stories about gaming here and there when it's relevant to a broader audience (console launches, violence in games debate, etc.) However I've been doing it for six and a half years and I'm becoming bored with it. On top of that, newspapers are a weird industry to be in right now. I work for the cheapest company on earth. They cut our water cooler and coffee if that gives you any idea. We put quarters in a can so we can pitch in to buy generic Kroger coffee. Seriously, I am not making this up.

Anyway I'm currently kind of looking around for a new line of work, even though I pretty well like what it is I do (just not where I do it). I really don't want to write for newspapers anymore because I don't believe the people who run them know what the hell they are doing. No matter what comes after this I'll probably end up doing some kind of freelance work because I enjoy writing.