Now Playing: Clocks by Coldplay
Topic: General Diatribes
Yes, I know I've said it before, I know I've bitched & complained to no end here & in the lighter blog about my job, the new computer program, the customers who are idiots, the company acting like they're doing us a favor by 'letting' us work there. All of it.
This time though, they've done it, they've really done it, I'm looking for a new Job. I've got an application for a job some of my co-workers left to do & they say the place is hiring now. They're getting about 3 thousand dollars more a year to do something similar to what I do now, with less stress, regula
r 8-5 work schedule & did I mention the less stress part?
Well I'm not going to fly off the handle & quit my job. (did a lot of that as a teenager & young adult & watched Rick do it for 8+ years after that) But I'm going to put in that application & do some online & newspaper searching. I started a list while at work of the things I hate about my job & I only got as far as the customer issues, the really bad thing about my job is that there are so MANY stresses,
1. You've got 
customers calling in constantly (that is what the job is about after all) call after call & they're bitching about this that or the other thing. (don't get me started on the variations on that theme because I'll be here all night) I'll save the in depth for annother post.
2. You've got management saying you can't take too long between calls to finish your notes, but you HAVE to leave notes on every call, you can't log out more than 5 minutes before your end time & you can't log in before your appointed start time But at say, 9am in my case you're expected to have the co
mputer up, all programs ready to go to take calls even though you're not going to get paid until 9am.
3. You have the delicate balance of enforcing the business rules to the customers but yet, when monitored still giving 'world class customer service' BAH! Customer service includes (they tell us) never telling a customer no or that you can't do something- although if we don't follow the business rules we can get fired!
4. Overtime, Overtime, Extra time, The last is our corporate euphemisim for over time which is supposed to make us feel better about being there more than 40 hours a week & I admit if I need money it's nice to have the option but I still feel the words Mandatory & Overtime should not be in the same sentence. Ever.
5. Add to these, the added stress since May of a computer program which is cumbersome, sluggish, crashing constantly & routinely doesn't do all the things I get asked to do in a day in which I take 55-60 calls (as in the programers just say, 'sorry, this program just doesn't do that part, you'll have to have someone with the old computer program do that for you')
6. On top of all this my boss got called into the General Manager's office last night for a quick heads up on things which are/will be happening very soon: 1. Among other things while we're already clocked down to the nano-second they're going to start handing out write ups if we're 5 minutes late or more coming back from Lunch. Breaks, where they're still paying me while I'm not on the phone I can understand but during lunch I'm logged out, this is my time, I'm not being paid & I hurt only myself by not logging in at 230 or whenever. -My job is NOT life & death however much management would like to think it is- if it was they should put on a graveyard shift like I've been asking them to do for the past 5 & 1/2 years so I could go on it & be home for my kids every day, not just a few of them! (of course, I know myself, I'd sleep constantly if I was on third shift!)
2. My boss told us the being (a LOT) more careful about breaks lunches etc stuff last night (Ok, I knew he had to go see the GM, had a guilty concience & after work pressed him to find out what he was told & he told one guy who always works late & was still there & me the above) However he neglected to mention the important part until our '5 minute meeting' this morning & that is that there is an 80% chance that we will be doing a full reordering of the whole business' schedules & it will mean that we will have to choose shifts again, it means the 'well oiled machine' my co-workers & I have been for 15 months will be taken apart again, we will no longer likely have our easygoing if a little vague coach & many of us could very likely lose our schedule. IF they even have this same schedule available- if it's available it is not unlikely I could remain on it since the 4 days 10 hours a day shifts are not as popular as you might think & I'm in the second to highes tier in our rankings which determine our monthly bonuses, (oh yes, there are reason$ I am still at that job in spite of the abuse, stress & frustration I experience there) myself I love the 4x10 shifts, especially since I currently get out of work at 8pm & am home to help even mr 7 with his homework. (don't all 7 year olds have a 930 bedtime?) it is also entirely possible that I could keep the same days off but be required to be at work until 10 or even 11 at night. No one knows, it could happen as soon as the end of February or it could be the end of March, but an 80% chance is pretty big odds, I have no doubt (especially with my job experiences there) that it WILL happen. The only question is how long can we keep this nice Friday, Saturday & Tuesdays off schedule?
I'm already second guessing myself, maybe I should wait til the shift bid, see what I get for a schedule & THEN change jobs if I don't like it! I'm so cautious with 3 kids to feed. I told one of my more hot-headed co-workers who was going off about 'f this I'm not going to change shifts again' (he just bidded onto this shift in September) that I have 11 more years before I can just quit a job & tell people to shove it. (that's when all of my kids are grown & I am raising them with the expectation that by 18 they should be able to take care of themselves & live on their own - I was living on my own at 17 after all!
