okay this is tl;dr so i understand if you don't wanna read it lol
so currently work for the city (public transportation department) about 10 minutes from where i live, though my commute takes about 30 minutes. i will have been employed there for three years on january 24th. i work 8:00 - 5:00 with a one-hour break; i do a lot of stuff, but my main job is working with the paratransit (little buses for disabled and elderly) end of it such as: creating the drivers' schedules, taking passenger's appointments/reservations, creating the drivers' manifests, generating various reports, etc. my job is not hard, stressful at times, but not difficult. i like my job and i like most of my passengers. the pay isn’t bad and the benefits are awesome. so there shouldn’t be a problem, right? wrong. i hate the director of the department and i hate my immediate supervisor. the director is a total dingbat and i honestly do not understand how in the world she got that position; my immediate supervisor started three months after me and she is the biggest ass kisser and know-it-all (well, pretends to be) i have ever met in my entire life. they make waking up and going to work unbearable at times. they put me to work every saturday, which is completely unnecessary (no, really, it is... even the assistant director agrees with me, but he’s the only one that ever has my back tbh) and they don’t want to work with my schedule for school (i asked to skip lunch and leave at 4:00 PM on one day out of the week and the director nearly had a fit - again bc i asked last semester and she had none of it that time either. she hates that i'm going back to school.) i feel like i'm under a microscope six days out of the week and the only reason i don't work seven is because there's no bus service on sundays, otherwise i'm sure i wouldn’t even get a day off.
so with that being said, a few months ago i was so upset and fed up that i applied for about three clerical positions for the school district in my town. i had an interview at the high school, but never got a call back. well this past monday i received a call from one of the elementary schools asking if i could go in for an interview on tuesday. it went well. apparently the position is a "purchase order clerk" and it's $0.13 more an hour than i make now. they explained to me that the main job would be handling the purchase orders for the school and covering areas like reception, lunch/cafeteria duty, maybe a classroom if a teacher is running late, things like that. i am not familiar with purchase orders, but from what my coworkers (the nice ones) and friends have told me, they aren't difficult. and since this job is with the school district there would be weekends, holidays, winter break, spring break, and summers off. plus it's during school hours, the lady at the interview said her current clerk works 8:00 - 4:30. also my commute would be shorter. however, i don't know what the benefits are like and i'm still fuzzy about the whole monthly paycheck (as opposed to biweekly) with them holding money out of each check so they can pay me in the summer...
anyways so the school has already called three of my references, one of them being the assistant director. he told me that if they're calling my references then i pretty much have the job. he says he doesn’t want me to leave because he knows paratransit will go to shit and that since i've been here the numbers have improved so much, etc. but he understands why i'd want to leave. i told him i liked my job, but certain coworkers make it difficult to even show up in the morning and also i hate working every saturday, to which he claimed that starting next month i won't be working weekends anymore.
i really do not know what to do if i'm offered the position at the school. like i said... i like my job and i'm comfortable with it and my work, it's the people that i work with, that i work under. i'm really stressing out about it. what do you think i should do?
I wouldn't worry about it until you actually get an offer letter. Especially because you don't know what the benefits are like (a big part of whether you take the job, or what the pay is like in regards to them holding your money for summer vaca) At that point, weigh the options. If you really are comfortable where your working, then maybe the fact that you got another job can incentivize your current bosses to make your current situation better so you won't have to leave.
i'd check into what the benefits package is like, because that can add a lot of value to a job, but it sounds like the school job will be a better fit in terms of schedule + your mental wellbeing. you can totally handle purchase orders and whatever else the job requires. i was going to ask what the summer situation will be, but it sounds like they spread your total salary over 12 months. if you can survive on whatever the monthly take home would be (after the summer deduction) i'd say to go for it!
the only thing i'd say about working at a school, and this is only my experience (and some family members who worked in education), is that it's difficult to take vacations that don't line up with breaks. i know it seems like a lot of breaks built in, but it got annoying after a few years. it seems like you're in school, so that wouldn't be an issue at the moment, but it just popped into my head to mention it.
in my experience, i had a job i was comfortable with and liked my co-workers, but my bosses and some clients were driving me up the wall, so i took a leap. it's worked out so far. it sounds like you're a smart, sharp person, so whatever you decide, i'm sure you'll do great!
congrats on the reference calls! will keep my fingers crossed for you.
this is great advice, ty. i'm glad to hear that your new job has worked out so far. that's what worries me... like what if the people/coworkers are worse at the school? what if i hate purchase orders?
also i didn't think of that vacation thing, so that's also something i need to take into consideration.
Take the job. Better hours, slightly better pay, plus you can use your job to do outreach (at like book fairs and stuff) and if some one's making problems for you, there'll be copious receptive ears because it's a larger staff. And you can always look into transferring to a similar position in another school in the district if things get rough.
And you can use your influence to train a demonic child army to do your bidding; raining down mischief against all who stand in your way. Plus, baked goods abound.
But do your assistant director a solid and leave copious notes/instructions to help your replacement/the poor temp who'll cover until they replace you. Even if your tips are ultimately so obvious that they're worthless, hopefully the gesture will be remembered and you can count on glowing recommendations from him for years to come, and maybe it might have a mitigating factor on any attempted torching from your other supervisors.
I agree with the sentiment that you could probably use a change. Aside from getting Saturdays off, nothing at the moment is going to change about your situation regarding your superiors. And the fact that you went out and got these job opportunities lined up says to me that the work conditions are miserable enough that your heart wants to leave--don't let the anxiety and fear of change stop you from trying something else! Life's too short to not give this a shot.
But yeah, see what the job offer + benefits entails before you make your final decision. If it's not up to snuff, keep looking for something better!
At your current job you work 12mo/yr right? And at this school job you'd be working 9-10mo/yr? Even with the raise you'd be taking huge pay cut. Unless I'm confused, which is totally possible I admit.
I would use this job offer to get a better deal where you are now. Remember the grass is always greener. I'm old and I've had a lot of jobs which I thought were horrible until I left and then I realized how good I had it.
so currently work for the city (public transportation department) about 10 minutes from where i live, though my commute takes about 30 minutes. i will have been employed there for three years on january 24th. i work 8:00 - 5:00 with a one-hour break; i do a lot of stuff, but my main job is working with the paratransit (little buses for disabled and elderly) end of it such as: creating the drivers' schedules, taking passenger's appointments/reservations, creating the drivers' manifests, generating various reports, etc. my job is not hard, stressful at times, but not difficult. i like my job and i like most of my passengers. the pay isn’t bad and the benefits are awesome. so there shouldn’t be a problem, right? wrong. i hate the director of the department and i hate my immediate supervisor. the director is a total dingbat and i honestly do not understand how in the world she got that position; my immediate supervisor started three months after me and she is the biggest ass kisser and know-it-all (well, pretends to be) i have ever met in my entire life. they make waking up and going to work unbearable at times. they put me to work every saturday, which is completely unnecessary (no, really, it is... even the assistant director agrees with me, but he’s the only one that ever has my back tbh) and they don’t want to work with my schedule for school (i asked to skip lunch and leave at 4:00 PM on one day out of the week and the director nearly had a fit - again bc i asked last semester and she had none of it that time either. she hates that i'm going back to school.) i feel like i'm under a microscope six days out of the week and the only reason i don't work seven is because there's no bus service on sundays, otherwise i'm sure i wouldn’t even get a day off.
so with that being said, a few months ago i was so upset and fed up that i applied for about three clerical positions for the school district in my town. i had an interview at the high school, but never got a call back. well this past monday i received a call from one of the elementary schools asking if i could go in for an interview on tuesday. it went well. apparently the position is a "purchase order clerk" and it's $0.13 more an hour than i make now. they explained to me that the main job would be handling the purchase orders for the school and covering areas like reception, lunch/cafeteria duty, maybe a classroom if a teacher is running late, things like that. i am not familiar with purchase orders, but from what my coworkers (the nice ones) and friends have told me, they aren't difficult. and since this job is with the school district there would be weekends, holidays, winter break, spring break, and summers off. plus it's during school hours, the lady at the interview said her current clerk works 8:00 - 4:30. also my commute would be shorter. however, i don't know what the benefits are like and i'm still fuzzy about the whole monthly paycheck (as opposed to biweekly) with them holding money out of each check so they can pay me in the summer...
anyways so the school has already called three of my references, one of them being the assistant director. he told me that if they're calling my references then i pretty much have the job. he says he doesn’t want me to leave because he knows paratransit will go to shit and that since i've been here the numbers have improved so much, etc. but he understands why i'd want to leave. i told him i liked my job, but certain coworkers make it difficult to even show up in the morning and also i hate working every saturday, to which he claimed that starting next month i won't be working weekends anymore.
i really do not know what to do if i'm offered the position at the school. like i said... i like my job and i'm comfortable with it and my work, it's the people that i work with, that i work under. i'm really stressing out about it. what do you think i should do?
omg this is so long i'm sorry
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
this is exactly what i'm hoping for tbh bc i know the assistant director and drivers (and passengers) don't want me to leave.
Reply
the only thing i'd say about working at a school, and this is only my experience (and some family members who worked in education), is that it's difficult to take vacations that don't line up with breaks. i know it seems like a lot of breaks built in, but it got annoying after a few years. it seems like you're in school, so that wouldn't be an issue at the moment, but it just popped into my head to mention it.
in my experience, i had a job i was comfortable with and liked my co-workers, but my bosses and some clients were driving me up the wall, so i took a leap. it's worked out so far. it sounds like you're a smart, sharp person, so whatever you decide, i'm sure you'll do great!
congrats on the reference calls! will keep my fingers crossed for you.
Reply
also i didn't think of that vacation thing, so that's also something i need to take into consideration.
tysm bb! i really appreciate your kind words. ♥
Reply
Reply
And you can use your influence to train a demonic child army to do your bidding; raining down mischief against all who stand in your way. Plus, baked goods abound.
But do your assistant director a solid and leave copious notes/instructions to help your replacement/the poor temp who'll cover until they replace you. Even if your tips are ultimately so obvious that they're worthless, hopefully the gesture will be remembered and you can count on glowing recommendations from him for years to come, and maybe it might have a mitigating factor on any attempted torching from your other supervisors.
Reply
But yeah, see what the job offer + benefits entails before you make your final decision. If it's not up to snuff, keep looking for something better!
Reply
I would use this job offer to get a better deal where you are now. Remember the grass is always greener. I'm old and I've had a lot of jobs which I thought were horrible until I left and then I realized how good I had it.
Reply
Leave a comment