Time for a new job?

musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
edited July 2008 in All Encompassing Trip
Got my first ever job (grocery store) a little less than three months ago. The important thing is I have something on my resume now. I have SOMETHING. But its been three months, and I am getting that voice, in my head, in my heart, that says maybe its time to move on.

Complicating matters, is the fact this job has been relatively understanding in my wish to not work past 9pm (as I volunteer at a music venue, which is the most important thing to me).

How do you know when its time to move on?

Will the voice get louder, as it did in my decisions to get the job and to move out of my grandfathers house?

What if I start looking for a new job and no one is accomadating to my wish to not work past 9pm?

3 months isnt a long time to have a job, but to be honest, I am 24. I cant be loyal to anything at this point, frankly. Who could?
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Comments

  • libragirllibragirl Posts: 4,632
    I would try to get another job before quitting that one? Are you going to college? Maybe try to get something in your field.

    Good luck.
    These cuts are leaving creases. Trace the scars to fit the pieces, to tell the story, you don't need to say a word.
  • musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
    graduated college, my field is sociology, not the most employable degree.

    the point being, how do you know when its time to move on?
  • LONGRDLONGRD Posts: 6,036
    take libragirl's advice. stick with the old until you get a new one.
    jobs are hard to get these days.

    i'm in the same boat and good luck.
    PJ- 04/29/2003.06/24,25,27,28,30/2008.10/27,28,30,31/2009
    EV- 08/09,10/2008.06/08,09/2009
  • rival.rival. Chicago Posts: 7,775
    not to get too personal, but if this is your first job at the age of 24, how did you make ends meet in the past?
  • GraySaturdayGraySaturday Posts: 2,878
    I wouldn't blame being 24 for not being able to commit to something. I think that's taking the easy way out. I'm 24 and I certainly can commit and hold my responsibilites.

    I wouldn't leave your job unless its for the right reasons. Maybe if you seek out, and get offered a job that better suits your interests. I know music is very important to you. Possibly stick it out until you can work in the music field? Don't leave this job just to leave and take the next whatever you can get job, or in another 3 months you'll be in the same exact position as youre in now. Bored.
  • decides2dreamdecides2dream Posts: 14,977
    I am 24. I cant be loyal to anything at this point, frankly. Who could?







    at the age of 23 i got married and at 24 started grad school, so yes...many of us can.
    :)



    it's not 'loyalty'...it's being pragmatic. how will you support yourself without a job? keep the job you have while you look and explore other possibilities. keep doing that until you find something worth making a move on. sitting at home unemployed will not make you feel better, nor help in your quest.
    Stay with me...
    Let's just breathe...


    I am myself like you somehow


  • chadwickchadwick up my ass Posts: 21,157
    good for you radiohead
    it might be time to move on, yes.
    however, one shouldn't quit a job until they have another to step into.
    once you have the other job lined up, then yes it is responsible and reasonable to quit the grocery store job.
    with all that said, 3 months work experience is nothing much what so ever.

    you probably should be dragging your happy ass to work and deal with it
    until something better comes along.

    24 yrs old and this being your first job is kind of unique in an odd kind of way.

    good luck with your future work ethic and future job/jobs.
    for poetry through the ceiling. ISBN: 1 4241 8840 7

    "Hear me, my chiefs!
    I am tired; my heart is
    sick and sad. From where
    the sun stands I will fight
    no more forever."

    Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
  • rival.rival. Chicago Posts: 7,775
    bartending/waiting on tables is a good job when you are stuck in a holding pattern.

    straight up good cash & you will meet and work with some fun people too.
  • dunkmandunkman Posts: 19,646
    become a lion tamer... i always said that to the career people at school.. and look at me now!!! ... still not a fuckin lion tamer... although i have done enough training to appease a slightly annoyed puma.


    p.s. what does a sociology degree allow you to do? do something with that!!
    oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
  • chadwickchadwick up my ass Posts: 21,157
    dunkman wrote:
    become a lion tamer... i always said that to the career people at school.. and look at me now!!! ... still not a fuckin lion tamer... although i have done enough training to appease a slightly annoyed puma.


    p.s. what does a sociology degree allow you to do? do something with that!!

    haha @ become a lion tamer.
    you're a funny guy sometimes mr.dunkied dunk.
    key word being...sometimes... ;)

    that was truly pretty humorous.
    thanks dude i needed that.
    for poetry through the ceiling. ISBN: 1 4241 8840 7

    "Hear me, my chiefs!
    I am tired; my heart is
    sick and sad. From where
    the sun stands I will fight
    no more forever."

    Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
  • CityMouseCityMouse Posts: 1,010
    graduated college, my field is sociology, not the most employable degree.

    the point being, how do you know when its time to move on?

    You don't have to get a job DIRECTLY in sociology (frankly, that probably can't be done with any science unless you have a PhD and are trying to do research or teach at a uni). But ANY college degree is "employable." Just look for entry level job postings and find something that interests you. Spin your background to fit the description (plus, I'm assuming you took other subjects at school, making you a well-rounded, informed individual). Honestly, you have a college degree, no wonder you are bored after three months at a grocery store.

    To 100 percent honest with you your problem is NOT going to be your sociology degree. A degree is an ASSET not a liability. Your problem is going to be that you've been out of school for what, 2 years? and you haven't had a "real" job. yes working in a grocery store can be a demanding job, but employers aren't going to see it that way (plus you've only been there 3 months). Large gaps in your resume are a problem that need to be explained to the potential employer.

    So you really had no summer internships or assistantships or anything in college to put on your resume???

    Do you want to continue in academic sociology? If so why not start applying to grad programs?
  • small town becksmall town beck Posts: 6,691
    dunkman wrote:
    become a lion tamer... i always said that to the career people at school.. and look at me now!!! ... still not a fuckin lion tamer... although i have done enough training to appease a slightly annoyed puma.


    p.s. what does a sociology degree allow you to do? do something with that!!


    But have you tamed a cougar yet? ;)
  • dunkmandunkman Posts: 19,646
    But have you tamed a cougar yet? ;)

    i am highly skilled with a whip. ;)
    oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
  • PJSerfPJSerf Posts: 637
    3 months experience in a grocery store is not going to get you very far. I agree with the above post in regards to using your degree to your advantage. How many college grads are you working with at your grocery store?

    You are at a disadvantage with having no work experience at 24. I had no "real" work experience related to my field when I was 23/24, but had still built up a resume of 8 years worth of jobs (grocery store, retail, factory work,etc.) to prove dependability. I don't think 3 months would cut it. Its just going to get you to the same place.

    At this point, you may want to suck it up, pay your dues while you look for something along the lines that you are interested in. The last thing I would do is quit.
    "If you love someone, set them free... if someone loves you, don't fuck up" - EV
  • xscorchoxscorcho Posts: 409
    the problem with looking for a job while you have a job is that you won't look as hard because you have something to fall back on....

    if you quit then the "fear factor" comes into play and you get your ass in gear and find one asap but you may settle for something that isn't ideal since you need a job.

    3 months is not that long for a job.

    have you thought about working in a juvenile detention center .. often they only require a 4 yr degree .... or can you work your way up at the grocery store into management (future employers always look kind to that).

    good luck with whatever you decide :)
  • musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
    I am assuming you all arent familiar with me, and as this is a forum and we have all never met, I assume you dont know my past. I never got a job in high school or college. I was busy studying. Some people can pull off a job and school and a family. I could never do it.

    Sure, not having much or any job experience at my age is tough, but what are you (or I) gonna do? It makes no sense to make it sound like I have failed my life or something.

    I spent months and months applying at literally any job. With no experience on my resume, I didnt have luck. The grocery store was literally the first place to interview me, and the only one to contact me back. I took the job.

    I guess I dont inhabit the same place as most of you. At 24 I am a college graduate, but also a seeker. Someone who knows I think and will be different than most people. In work and in life. My destiny is different. I have never and will never take the path most people take. thats the way it is.

    My line of thinking is aligned with the Born to Run era Uncle Bruce, Jack Kerouac, hermann Hesse, and Chris Mccandless. They explain the youthful ehuberance and the unwillingness to settle down, to commit. I am 24. It is an excuse to be youthful. I personally dont care to be put down for feeling this is the "springtime of my loving" as Robert Plant once said.

    Jobs want you to commit. Even at my age. Any job I ever take will be asking me "how long do you intend to keep this job for". The joke is, if people were honest, and said the truth, no one ever would get hired. We all lie. Life happens. things happen. Our feelings and passions change.

    I make no apologies for not getting a job earlier, and I make no apologies for my feelings now.

    Ultimately I feel I answered my own question. the fact that I am feeling this way, may be a sign unto itself

    PJSerf wrote:
    3 months experience in a grocery store is not going to get you very far. I agree with the above post in regards to using your degree to your advantage. How many college grads are you working with at your grocery store?

    You are at a disadvantage with having no work experience at 24. I had no "real" work experience related to my field when I was 23/24, but had still built up a resume of 8 years worth of jobs (grocery store, retail, factory work,etc.) to prove dependability. I don't think 3 months would cut it. Its just going to get you to the same place.

    At this point, you may want to suck it up, pay your dues while you look for something along the lines that you are interested in. The last thing I would do is quit.
  • musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
    thanks for the replies, they are helpful, even if I disagree with alot of them
  • musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
    I also think the point is working at a grocery store the rest of my life, really doesnt interest me.

    No one has really answered my stated question. i am sure I am not the only person who has felt these things. Wanting to leave a job, feeling their passions are elsewhere and wanting to find a way to get a job in that passion, etc...

    how do you know when to leave something? A job? A situation? A state?
  • musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
    More detailed writings on my feelings on this subject can be found elsewhere. But ultimately, its about this. I spent my high school/college years, being studious, being a book worm, being worried about tests and grades. The last term of college, I had a rough time. For the first time in my academic life I couldnt study. I didnt want to spend my life in books and in classrooms. I didnt want to study for tests. I found out I need to be living life, experiencing things. Being studious and stuff, doesnt interest me now. I want to live life. I dont think going to graduate school would interest me.

    Its a problem no matter what I do. Even if I spend 2 years at this job, the employer in the future will say "you have a college degree yet you worked at a grocery store for 2 years why" and if I leave now, they say the opposite.

    I cant change my past. I didnt get a job until now. it is what it is. My life isnt ruined. Why should I spend more time at a job I know intuitively isnt my calling? 3 months of any job is gonna look decent on my resume because I have nothing else on it.
    CityMouse wrote:
    You don't have to get a job DIRECTLY in sociology (frankly, that probably can't be done with any science unless you have a PhD and are trying to do research or teach at a uni). But ANY college degree is "employable." Just look for entry level job postings and find something that interests you. Spin your background to fit the description (plus, I'm assuming you took other subjects at school, making you a well-rounded, informed individual). Honestly, you have a college degree, no wonder you are bored after three months at a grocery store.

    To 100 percent honest with you your problem is NOT going to be your sociology degree. A degree is an ASSET not a liability. Your problem is going to be that you've been out of school for what, 2 years? and you haven't had a "real" job. yes working in a grocery store can be a demanding job, but employers aren't going to see it that way (plus you've only been there 3 months). Large gaps in your resume are a problem that need to be explained to the potential employer.

    So you really had no summer internships or assistantships or anything in college to put on your resume???

    Do you want to continue in academic sociology? If so why not start applying to grad programs?
  • CityMouseCityMouse Posts: 1,010
    I am assuming you all arent familiar with me, and as this is a forum and we have all never met, I assume you dont know my past. I never got a job in high school or college. I was busy studying. Some people can pull off a job and school and a family. I could never do it.

    Sure, not having much or any job experience at my age is tough, but what are you (or I) gonna do? It makes no sense to make it sound like I have failed my life or something.

    I spent months and months applying at literally any job. With no experience on my resume, I didnt have luck. The grocery store was literally the first place to interview me, and the only one to contact me back. I took the job.

    I guess I dont inhabit the same place as most of you. At 24 I am a college graduate, but also a seeker. Someone who knows I think and will be different than most people. In work and in life. My destiny is different. I have never and will never take the path most people take. thats the way it is.

    My line of thinking is aligned with the Born to Run era Uncle Bruce, Jack Kerouac, hermann Hesse, and Chris Mccandless. They explain the youthful ehuberance and the unwillingness to settle down, to commit. I am 24. It is an excuse to be youthful. I personally dont care to be put down for feeling this is the "springtime of my loving" as Robert Plant once said.

    Jobs want you to commit. Even at my age. Any job I ever take will be asking me "how long do you intend to keep this job for". The joke is, if people were honest, and said the truth, no one ever would get hired. We all lie. Life happens. things happen. Our feelings and passions change.

    I make no apologies for not getting a job earlier, and I make no apologies for my feelings now.

    Ultimately I feel I answered my own question. the fact that I am feeling this way, may be a sign unto itself

    My question from reading this is, if you are such a "kerouac," "mccandless" whathaveyou, why are you concerned with putting your resume together at all?

    Yes, what we have told you is that it is very difficult to get a job with a blank resume. HOWEVER your resume does not HAVE to be blank (or only contain 3 months at a grocer). My resume out college BRIEFLY mentioned part time summer jobs. what it did go in detail about was stuff you probably have too:

    -did you do a thesis or major senior project in college?
    -did you assit any profs with research?
    -tutor anyone?
    -were you a resident advisor or involved in any student government positions?
    -did you plan any major events
    -attend any specific training events, work shops, etc.

    these are all things that go on a resume.

    Also, I just wanted to comment on your comment about working during school...outside of the stuff I listed above, I didn't work much during school either. But don't think us crazy for assuming people work during the SUMMER. And unfortunately for your position, employers will assume that as well.

    HOWEVER

    One of my college friends came from a very wealthy family and did not work until she graduated from college. She did however manage to put together a resume using most of the things I mentioned above and get jobs. It is work and takes some creative thinking but it can be done. Even though you are 2 years out, you can still contact the career office at your school, and they can give you advice on resumes and interviews.
  • jeffbrjeffbr Seattle Posts: 7,177
    3 months of any job is gonna look decent on my resume because I have nothing else on it.

    You are certainly entitled to choose your own path, and I say go for it.

    But you did ask opinions, and while most of them weren't what you wanted to hear, most offered sound advise for someone on the typical path.

    To be clear, I'd like to know more about why you care what your resume looks like if you aren't travelling the typical road. A 3 month job will not look decent on any resume I've ever reviewed. Having left after 3 months shows an unwillingness to commit on your end. Most employers figure they spend the first 3 to 6 months training you to be productive. They are not going to want to hire someone that leaves just when they can finally carry their weight.

    It sounds like the best advice in this thread was the advice about working restaurants or bartending. You get flexibility, staff comes and goes, once you get hired at one bar you can usually find work at other bars no matter where you end up. The requirement to finish by 9pm might make things tough, but lots of places look for daytime help, because the experienced bartenders want to work nights when the drinks are flowing and the tips are better.
    "I'll use the magic word - let's just shut the fuck up, please." EV, 04/13/08
  • CityMouseCityMouse Posts: 1,010
    More detailed writings on my feelings on this subject can be found elsewhere. But ultimately, its about this. I spent my high school/college years, being studious, being a book worm, being worried about tests and grades. .

    me too. part of that experience for me, personally, was assisting professors and tutoring other students. those weren't jobs I did for money- it paid almost nothing. I did it to learn more about my major (and to accumulate a CV).
  • CityMouseCityMouse Posts: 1,010
    jeffbr wrote:
    It sounds like the best advice in this thread was the advice about working restaurants or bartending. You get flexibility, staff comes and goes, once you get hired at one bar you can usually find work at other bars no matter where you end up. The requirement to finish by 9pm might make things tough, but lots of places look for daytime help, because the experienced bartenders want to work nights when the drinks are flowing and the tips are better.

    I just remembered what she said about the 9pm requirement!

    PUT THAT VOLUNTEER WORK YOU DO AT 9 PM ON YOUR RESUME!!!!!!!
  • libragirllibragirl Posts: 4,632
    graduated college, my field is sociology, not the most employable degree.

    the point being, how do you know when its time to move on?

    Well I do think you should move on..but having another job is always a good bet. If you are constantly having "voices" telling you something's not right..then you got all the signs you need.
    These cuts are leaving creases. Trace the scars to fit the pieces, to tell the story, you don't need to say a word.
  • __ Posts: 6,651
    You should follow your heart.

    That said, given your concern about your resume and schedule, there are some practical things you may want to consider:

    1. As someone who has been responsible in the past for reviewing resumes and hiring, I would say that it almost looks worse to have a job on your resume for only 3 months than to have no job at all. As someone else has already mentioned, future potential employers will very likely see that as a sign that they can't count on you to stick around after they've put money into training you. I can't blame you for not wanting to be committed - who does? - but you can't blame people who won't interview you after they see that you bailed on your first job after only 3 months. And if they do decide to give you an interview, they're going to be expecting a pretty damn good reason for you having left so soon.

    I would suggest you stick it out with this job until you've been there longer or are able to get a much better job - preferably one that utilizes your degree. "Moving up" for a job more in your field would come across as a good excuse to leave your grocery store job. Plus, any gap in employment will look bad on your resume as well - and may (if your finances are like most people's) weaken your financial security. Bottom line is this though: Wanting to move on to something more exciting or to avoid commitment does not make you a bad person, but it does make you less employable.

    2. It can be pretty hard to find jobs that will be accommodating of people's personal schedules. Unless you get a regular 8 AM - 5 PM job, you're not likely to easily find another job that won't ever make you work past 9 PM.
  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    Got my first ever job (grocery store) a little less than three months ago. The important thing is I have something on my resume now. I have SOMETHING. But its been three months, and I am getting that voice, in my head, in my heart, that says maybe its time to move on.

    Complicating matters, is the fact this job has been relatively understanding in my wish to not work past 9pm (as I volunteer at a music venue, which is the most important thing to me).

    How do you know when its time to move on?

    Will the voice get louder, as it did in my decisions to get the job and to move out of my grandfathers house?

    What if I start looking for a new job and no one is accomadating to my wish to not work past 9pm?

    3 months isnt a long time to have a job, but to be honest, I am 24. I cant be loyal to anything at this point, frankly. Who could?

    Your first job at 24? All I can say is wow.
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    More detailed writings on my feelings on this subject can be found elsewhere. But ultimately, its about this. I spent my high school/college years, being studious, being a book worm, being worried about tests and grades. The last term of college, I had a rough time. For the first time in my academic life I couldnt study. I didnt want to spend my life in books and in classrooms. I didnt want to study for tests. I found out I need to be living life, experiencing things. Being studious and stuff, doesnt interest me now. I want to live life. I dont think going to graduate school would interest me.

    Its a problem no matter what I do. Even if I spend 2 years at this job, the employer in the future will say "you have a college degree yet you worked at a grocery store for 2 years why" and if I leave now, they say the opposite.

    I cant change my past. I didnt get a job until now. it is what it is. My life isnt ruined. Why should I spend more time at a job I know intuitively isnt my calling? 3 months of any job is gonna look decent on my resume because I have nothing else on it.

    If you spent all that time studying, why didn't you graduate college at about age 20?
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
  • blackredyellowblackredyellow Posts: 5,889
    If you've been somehow getting others to support you and pay your way through life so far, then why stop now?
    My whole life
    was like a picture
    of a sunny day
    “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
    ― Abraham Lincoln
  • PJSerfPJSerf Posts: 637
    I am assuming you all arent familiar with me, and as this is a forum and we have all never met, I assume you dont know my past. I never got a job in high school or college. I was busy studying. Some people can pull off a job and school and a family. I could never do it.

    Sure, not having much or any job experience at my age is tough, but what are you (or I) gonna do? It makes no sense to make it sound like I have failed my life or something.

    I spent months and months applying at literally any job. With no experience on my resume, I didnt have luck. The grocery store was literally the first place to interview me, and the only one to contact me back. I took the job.

    I guess I dont inhabit the same place as most of you. At 24 I am a college graduate, but also a seeker. Someone who knows I think and will be different than most people. In work and in life. My destiny is different. I have never and will never take the path most people take. thats the way it is.

    My line of thinking is aligned with the Born to Run era Uncle Bruce, Jack Kerouac, hermann Hesse, and Chris Mccandless. They explain the youthful ehuberance and the unwillingness to settle down, to commit. I am 24. It is an excuse to be youthful. I personally dont care to be put down for feeling this is the "springtime of my loving" as Robert Plant once said.

    Jobs want you to commit. Even at my age. Any job I ever take will be asking me "how long do you intend to keep this job for". The joke is, if people were honest, and said the truth, no one ever would get hired. We all lie. Life happens. things happen. Our feelings and passions change.

    I make no apologies for not getting a job earlier, and I make no apologies for my feelings now.

    Ultimately I feel I answered my own question. the fact that I am feeling this way, may be a sign unto itself

    I'm sorry if you felt that I was putting you down. That was not my intention.

    I admire your free spirit, and wish you success with whatever path you take. However, your quest for living a "simpler" life, may make your life more difficult in the long run.
    "If you love someone, set them free... if someone loves you, don't fuck up" - EV
  • dunkmandunkman Posts: 19,646

    how do you know when to leave something? A job? A situation? A state?


    when the cops come around and start asking questions like.. where does he keeps his computers.. what does he do between 2am and 4am... why is he on ebay buying ski-masks, leather dungarees and a samurai sword...

    thats when i knew it was time to go.

    sociology? what does a sociologist get paid? it sounds easy
    oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
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