D$^%&^%*(&) *RAWR*
Thursday was my last day at Sears. It was ok - nothing spectacular, nothing terrible.
I started training at Home Depot today. For the first half of the training the lady was really energetic and everything seemed great, I was excited about the job and everything. We broke for lunch a little after 12 and then we came back in a little after 1. That is where the excitement and joy subsided and the frustration and aggrivation set in. The training lady started talking about the employee benefits and also the attendence policy. I took the job for three reasons = full time, benifits and pay. The only stipulation with full time is the fact that you have to be fully flexible with your availibility... if you want Sunday off (you do get worship time) too bad. Since church is over at 12 I'll be scheduled in at 12:30 or 1 o'clock if they so choose. The hiring manager said it will be rare when I get scheduled for a Sunday morning but it will happen over the course of the year at least once. Aren't there laws against this? The hiring manager made it sound like he was doing me a favor by even giving me most Sunday mornings... oh how generous... ever read the bible? Ok then... ever heard of the 10 commandments? Sunday = religious observation day and day of REST. Can I really say anything now though, after taking the job knowing that stipulation existed? Ok so another thing... benifits... they dont start until after 90 days. Great, would have been nice to know when I was hired... I'm off my dad's insurance in two weeks. I'll have to pay through the nose for temp insurance. Ok and my final gripe.... time off... I suppose that walks hand in hand with the fact that they wont even garuantee Sundays off... I get no say on my schedule... and Saturday's and Sunday's are their busiest days. Unless I get a Tuesday or Thursday off I'll probably never see Ken. Oh yeah and I do get vacation time - AFTER A YEAR of working there. So what about things that are coming up that I have scheduled *ie the Praxis exam... Ben and Melissa's wedding* can I do those? Well its not really a question of can... its a question of will it be held against me when I do?
I came back home from orientation and my dad asked how it was. I told him it was fine until they talked benifits and time off. I told him my benifits wont be in effect til 90 days is up. My mom automatically said - do temporary. I then said something about the fact that I'm required to be available Sundays and he started raising his voice at me and saying that you do what you have to do to put money in your pocket. I realize that... but I thought there were laws about religious observation... or do those laws only apply to other religions?
I dont know... I guess my biggest fear is the fact that I'll never get to see Ken. It's all on me to go see him since he doesn't have a car... and the fact that I feel like I have to be married to Home Depot doesn't help. Maybe if he were closer I wouldnt care so much... but I have to drive an hour to see him and drive an hour back. When you get out at 5pm *at the earliest* that doesn't/wont work so well. I don't think I'd be so scared of taking this job if I were single or he were closer.
I was all excited about the job this morning... she was talking about advancement and how nice/comfortable the staff is. The dress code is great. The pay is fairly nice. The people all seem nice and personable. They're all about customer service and keeping yourself busy (if that isnt me I dont know what is). She talked about volunteer opportunities through Home Depot (helping to fix up homes and bulid playgrounds for kids and stuff). There is a service called I CARE that provides support *of almost any kind* to employees... most importantly for me it offers personal counseling *three sessions for free and after that they work with you to find a counselor covered by your benifit package*. Everything sounded great.... and then I had to shoot into panic mode over the benifits not kicking in for three months. Then the whole no vacation/personal time for a year threw me further. I have two days that I know of right now that I need off... it would be three if I had medical/dental insurance before mid May.... but since I don't I have to reschedule my dentist apt.
I know I needed a change from Sears... If Id gone for the lead shoe position I know I wouldn't have done my best because I was tired of doing work with little appreciation or acknowledgement. The training lady at Home Depot even talked about her experiences shopping at Sears and I had to agree the customer service there *unless you got one of the rare helpful ones* was terrible and employee morale was awful. Its hard to work in a place where you manager doesn't know who you are and never praises the work you do. Its hard to work in a place that never gives you raises and always puts more responsibility on you with no extra inscentive to do it.
I think Home Depot could be a great place to work... I just wonder if I can deal with not being able to request days off and not always getting my Sundays. When you're already in a spiritual drought the last thing you need is to have your worship time/day ripped away from you.
Anyway... I guess I feel a little better...
I started training at Home Depot today. For the first half of the training the lady was really energetic and everything seemed great, I was excited about the job and everything. We broke for lunch a little after 12 and then we came back in a little after 1. That is where the excitement and joy subsided and the frustration and aggrivation set in. The training lady started talking about the employee benefits and also the attendence policy. I took the job for three reasons = full time, benifits and pay. The only stipulation with full time is the fact that you have to be fully flexible with your availibility... if you want Sunday off (you do get worship time) too bad. Since church is over at 12 I'll be scheduled in at 12:30 or 1 o'clock if they so choose. The hiring manager said it will be rare when I get scheduled for a Sunday morning but it will happen over the course of the year at least once. Aren't there laws against this? The hiring manager made it sound like he was doing me a favor by even giving me most Sunday mornings... oh how generous... ever read the bible? Ok then... ever heard of the 10 commandments? Sunday = religious observation day and day of REST. Can I really say anything now though, after taking the job knowing that stipulation existed? Ok so another thing... benifits... they dont start until after 90 days. Great, would have been nice to know when I was hired... I'm off my dad's insurance in two weeks. I'll have to pay through the nose for temp insurance. Ok and my final gripe.... time off... I suppose that walks hand in hand with the fact that they wont even garuantee Sundays off... I get no say on my schedule... and Saturday's and Sunday's are their busiest days. Unless I get a Tuesday or Thursday off I'll probably never see Ken. Oh yeah and I do get vacation time - AFTER A YEAR of working there. So what about things that are coming up that I have scheduled *ie the Praxis exam... Ben and Melissa's wedding* can I do those? Well its not really a question of can... its a question of will it be held against me when I do?
I came back home from orientation and my dad asked how it was. I told him it was fine until they talked benifits and time off. I told him my benifits wont be in effect til 90 days is up. My mom automatically said - do temporary. I then said something about the fact that I'm required to be available Sundays and he started raising his voice at me and saying that you do what you have to do to put money in your pocket. I realize that... but I thought there were laws about religious observation... or do those laws only apply to other religions?
I dont know... I guess my biggest fear is the fact that I'll never get to see Ken. It's all on me to go see him since he doesn't have a car... and the fact that I feel like I have to be married to Home Depot doesn't help. Maybe if he were closer I wouldnt care so much... but I have to drive an hour to see him and drive an hour back. When you get out at 5pm *at the earliest* that doesn't/wont work so well. I don't think I'd be so scared of taking this job if I were single or he were closer.
I was all excited about the job this morning... she was talking about advancement and how nice/comfortable the staff is. The dress code is great. The pay is fairly nice. The people all seem nice and personable. They're all about customer service and keeping yourself busy (if that isnt me I dont know what is). She talked about volunteer opportunities through Home Depot (helping to fix up homes and bulid playgrounds for kids and stuff). There is a service called I CARE that provides support *of almost any kind* to employees... most importantly for me it offers personal counseling *three sessions for free and after that they work with you to find a counselor covered by your benifit package*. Everything sounded great.... and then I had to shoot into panic mode over the benifits not kicking in for three months. Then the whole no vacation/personal time for a year threw me further. I have two days that I know of right now that I need off... it would be three if I had medical/dental insurance before mid May.... but since I don't I have to reschedule my dentist apt.
I know I needed a change from Sears... If Id gone for the lead shoe position I know I wouldn't have done my best because I was tired of doing work with little appreciation or acknowledgement. The training lady at Home Depot even talked about her experiences shopping at Sears and I had to agree the customer service there *unless you got one of the rare helpful ones* was terrible and employee morale was awful. Its hard to work in a place where you manager doesn't know who you are and never praises the work you do. Its hard to work in a place that never gives you raises and always puts more responsibility on you with no extra inscentive to do it.
I think Home Depot could be a great place to work... I just wonder if I can deal with not being able to request days off and not always getting my Sundays. When you're already in a spiritual drought the last thing you need is to have your worship time/day ripped away from you.
Anyway... I guess I feel a little better...