I need some advice...

[Kusanagi]

Been a while since I've posted, I've been extreeeeeemely busy with life. Also, I moved into a new apartment a few months ago and it's still hell trying to get everything organized.

Long story short - I love my job, but I'm getting sick of the nature of it. Let me explain.

This is my second stint working for this company. I started in January of 2005, and was promoted to manager my second month. I stayed with the company until November of that year. I was approached by a reputable company to work in insurance sales.

I left this company, and went to work for a few months and fell flat on my face. Nobody wanted to speak with a 20 year old about life insurance. After 3 months, I decided to get back into a sales environment.

Worked for a mattress company that had completely unrealistic goals, had a high turnover rate, etc. I did very well at it, but the amount of lying and dishonesty that we had to go through with customers to make the sale (call it haggling all you want, but as far as I'm concerned, if I'm trying to get you to spend the full amount when it's perfectly fine to sell it with the discount you keep demanding, it's dishonest) caused me to be let go of after 3 months. I just didn't have that "killer" instinct they were looking for.

I came back to work at the first company and they welcomed me back. I worked hard, got my old spot as manager back, and we were doing pretty damned well.

Corporate, in all their infinite wisdom, decided to introduce a new ranking/ratings system. Before, we were only rated on certain incentives that we sold along with the furniture.

The new system has us ranked on everything. Tables, lamps, chairs, rugs, financing, etc. The sales trick is to present the entire living room at one low cost and hope the customers go for it.

Here's the problem. My showroom is very small, and only writes up about 10-20% of what the others do. Our ranking in the new system always in the bottom 25% out of the 200 national stores.

In larger showrooms, that write up more volume, you have a better chance to have a good sale wipe out a bad one in the ratings because there's so much business being written up. Say you write up a complete living room to one out of every 20 people. That's fine - when you make a dozen sales a day. Our store is lucky if we have 20 sales a month. The ratings and evaluations go month to month, so in the ratings, we'll be 15%,19%,12%, 291% (that was the week we had a big sale and no bad ones to wipe it out), etc. while all the other stores float at about 150%

Does the company care about the average? No. They even started making it so the cutoff is 125%. If you get below that for two consecutive months, you're seriously considered for termination.

I've been well below that benchmark for months now. I fear my pay will get cut, I'll be demoted, or at the worst, let go. If I was a new associate they would have let me go already.

The conflict comes from me being the best salesman in the southern half of the state, as far as product knowledge, policy knowledge, and sales pitch. I'm THE textbook example of HOW the company wants their associates to be, except I'm not even coming close to reaching the new goals. That's not good for the morale of the company, no sir.

I have the same feeling I did when I left this company a year and a half ago of general unrest. It's not been fun for me, but now that I'm a few years older and more mature, I know what it is.

I'm getting sick of sales in general.

I'm 22, I've been working retail and sales in one form or another since I was 18, and three of those years have been working commissioned sales. I want to go back to school full time in the fall, and I cannot work this job and take an intensive course at the same time.

It also means I would need to find some sort of job in the next few months that would lend itself to being a student. And I know what I want to do. I want to try my hand (heh) at being a casino dealer.

The schooling for dealers lasts about 2 1/2 months, so I would have to take it very, very soon if I wanted to get it done by the time the new semester of school comes around.

But I'm conflicted. We're short staffed in my district as it is and my bosses have ALWAYS bent over backwards to help me if I needed anything. They have been very good to me, it's just corporate and truth be told, I'm not even too miffed about that. It's just a lack of desire in sales anymore and it's detrimental to both myself and my company.

How have any of you gotten through a situation like this? One where you enjoy the people and job in general but just get burned out on the type of it? I want to bring this up with my boss, because I would have to attend dealer school while still working here. I don't feel comfortable at ALL asking him to bend over backwards for scheduling so I can take this class, knowing in the back of my mind that I'm taking it so I can leave the company...

[Kusanagi]

I've thought about that and am considering it as well, but it would still be the same situation, that I would need to go to bartending school instead of dealer school, and I would have to do it before the summer ended.

[Kusanagi]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't employers, especially at the mid-to-high-end places that you're talking about want a certificate or something else to show that the person is competent in what they are doing?

Thanks for the help :-)

[Kusanagi]

I DO happen to be fairly attractive...:wink:

Servers out here make far below minimuim wage, and are expected to make up for it in tips. I suppose I'll do more checking into it. I didn't know alot of what you were telling me.

[Kusanagi]

I was looking into dealers school for the same reason. Poker dealers keep their tips, and I realized that myself and almost everyone else I see will tip the dealer a dollar or two when they win.

At about 15-20 hands an hour...that's alot of scratch.

[CancelMyService]

How have any of you gotten through a situation like this? One where you enjoy the people and job in general but just get burned out on the type of it?

Happened to me when I was working at Circuit City. Liked my co-workers, the management was awesome for retail, even the customers weren't too bad for the most part. The problem was that Corporate had an inexplicable hard-on for copying Best Buy and that set off my spider sense. Being like Best Buy meant that besides comissions going away, they were basically looking to have a staff full of easily replacable high schoolers/college freshmen.

I saw the writing was on the wall and left for a company that was going to train me to be a tech like I wanted (that ended up ending hilariously, I'll make a separate post about that). I kinda felt bad leaving since no one else seemed to have an idea of what was coming down the pike, but I gotta look after my own first.

Retail is such a mentally tasking job, I've had friends who do contractor work tease me about "standing around all day", little do they know how taxing such a job can be. My current job (customer service, but phone based) is the first job I've had in years where I wasn't feeling the burnout within six months to a year.

[draftermatt]

Having loyalty can be a bitch huh?

Really, if you want out, leave. You don't need to (or shouldn't) worry about how it affects others. You only need to worry about how you feel, and how you're affected. When/if you leave tell them exactly why. Write a letter to everyone above you explaining why you are leaving. Be nice and concise, but get the point across that corporate practices are making you leave.

[Kusanagi]

This is why I was going to shoot for Poker. There are several card houses in the are (not casinos, you can't gamble against the house in California unless it's on an indian reservation.)

Yeah, loyalty sucks. I guess I don't want to put the company in a bind. I take alot of pride in what I do at my showroom and I don't trust leaving it to anyone working right now.

[Andara Bledin]

How good are you at card handling? Seriously, to get a job as a poker dealer, you have to pass a hands on test. If you have good manual dexterity and you practice, it should be ok.

My boyfriend was trying to get into one of the local places as a blackjack dealer, but nobody was hiring. Completely dead for BJ. Unfortunately (or fortunately, since he is currently employed at a regular position with regular hours) he couldn't get high enough marks for a poker table.

Oh, and if you want a little experience that won't require a lot of training, has an opportunity for tips and is fun, you might look into one of the places that does casino parties. I worked off and on for a place called Casino de Paris doing those. You end up driving all over the place, and the work can be erratic, but it's low stress, can be incredibly fun, and if you're not available on a given night, you don't have to sign up to work. No benefits or anything, however, since you're an "independant contractor."

^-.-^

[wagegoth]

Geez, Kus, your life never quiets down.

I left my previous firm, even though I loved my colleagues and what I was doing, because headquarters made everything difficult and didn't appreciate who was really making a contribution and who was skating, everyone was treated badly.

From relatives and friends, I would suggest dealing cards. My sister dealt blackjack for a while at a casino in Nevada. The tips on the table were split out every 24 hours, so that if anyone had a slow shift they didn't have to suffer. My sister didn't like it because she got tipped really well (blonde, pretty, naturally busty), but it helped the casino get people to cover the slow shifts. She also got regular breaks. I don't know about card clubs, but the casinoes usually had 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off rotations through the shifts. Some places may pull you off a table every 20 minutes, but then just shift you to another table, for security reasons.

Servers can make great tips, they can make bad tips (often because of something they have no power over), but if you've been reading the boards, you also know that they are on their feet all shift and have difficulty getting their breaks.

As long as you don't have a gambling problem, I would go for dealing cards.

[Jester]

Okay, time for Dr. Jester to weigh in here.

First, regarding dealing and casinos: I don't know a thing about them, so will not comment.

Secondly, about your current employer: While your loyalty is admirable, you must put Kusanagi first. You can leave your current employer on good terms, and I recommend it, and give them plenty of notice....but if you want out, get out. I loved bartending at the hotel, but I was in a situation I could not live with, so I got out. (Burning Shit Weasel was just a bonus.) I am waiting tables now, not bartending as I would like to be, but I am happier. Though of course I am looking around for bartending opportunities.

Finally, about serving: I think I can safely comment on this, since I have been doing it since, oh, I don't know, about 1986.

There are a lot of negatives about serving. You have heard the stories about the SCs, but you can get those in any job. Ditto with idiot managers. And you need to MOVE! While there are slow times, just like in any business, when it is busy, you are moving, moving fast, and you have to be able to do that and be efficient AND be pleasant to people all at the same time. It is NOT easy, and NOT for everyone.

However, the positives, to me, far outweigh the negatives. Most customers are cool, pleasant, and entertaining. Most tip decently or well. And most coworkers and managers are pretty cool too. Scheduling is flexible, and EVERY SINGLE PLACE I have worked at will ALWAYS work around a school schedule. Since so many restaurant workers are students, it would be stupid for them not to do that. The money is good. Yeah, we bitch about shitty tips and shitty days, but honestly? An average server will rake in a decent amount of cash. Ignore the actual amount they are paid by the employer....that is not where you are going to make your money. Incidentally, in California, servers' hourly pay is pretty much the best in the nation, so you have that bonus.

Bartending school is 100% pointless. If you truly want to throw your money away, just send it to me. Unlike a bartending school, I will put it to good use. And RW will thank you for the lovely dinner(s).

Seriously, bartending is 95% personality, something that no school can teach. And most of what you will learn bartending you learn on the job. Not in a school. I cannot think of any school that is more pointless than bartending school. Not one employer I have ever seen gives two shits about bartending school. They want experience. Right now you have pretty much as much experience bartending as you would if you graduated bartending school: none. So no one is going to hire you to bartend at anything other than a dive bar. Your best bet, as has been said before, is to apply to restaurants/bars in your area, and for positiong desired put down "bartender/server." They WON'T hire you for a bartender position, of course, but that will tell them (as should you verbally) that that is something you are interested in.

By the way, as much as I say I am over serving, remember, I have been doing it for a long, long time, and I want to pursue other things. That does not mean it is not a good occupation....personally, I think it is great! And for a natural salesman who takes pride in his product knowledge, if you could deal with the physicality of the position, I think you would be a natural at it. I msyelf am the son of a salesman and a natural salesman myself, and have always thought that salespeople make excellent servers.

And that is my opinion. Good luck, and keep us posted on your decision!

[Kusanagi]

Well, I made the decision yesterday after, of all things, a trip to the dentist.

For the last week I've had a pain in my jaw. My lower jaw, in the four front teeth. At first it felt like cold sensitivity, like when you have a cavity or when you bite down into ice cream and you get that stabbing flash of pain. I got those randomly for two days. Switched to a toothpaste for sensitive teeth.

Then, on Wednesday, it was this throbbing pain. If any of you have had braces, you know the agony that you would get for about two days after you went in and they adjusted them, while the teeth were moving to the new position?

Yeah, like that. And that pain only comes from when teeth are moving. So I got worried.

I've been popping Ibuprofin like candy, and switched to Vicoden once in a while, doing my best House impression. The pain was so bad I only got about two hours of sleep on Thursday night, got on the phone first thing in the morning to the dentist and went in on Friday.

The teeth don't have any cavities or infections, so that's good. The dentist took one look at them and said "You're grinding them at night." They are so worn, and the grinding that's been going on the last week has been enough to actually loosen the teeth in my lower jaw. I could wiggle all four of them on Friday morning.

So...it's been determined that it's from stress. I've been stressed before and am now but I always internalize it, but I never imagined subconciously it would lead to TMJ and bruxism. They told me to pick up a mouthguard at the drug store, and I did, along with Ora-gel (Kills all sensation in my mouth, but at least there isn't any pain).

If I don't cut down on the stress to the point where I stop grinding, she told me I'd need to get the teeth pulled as they're already crowding, and will get worse as they loosen up. I'd then need a bridge across my lower canines, replacing all four teeth.

So yeah, I decided to look out for myself in this situation.

[Andara Bledin]

OT: When I was in high school, I used to grind my teeth. Not from stress, or anything like that, it was just something I did. That caused swelling in the cartilage at the corner of my jaw and led to me not being able to open my mouth all the way.

Nobody I talked to could tell me what the problem was. (I didn't have a dentist at the time) I found out years later when I read some pamphlet while waiting at a dentist's office. (the dentist sucked, but the knowledge was worth the trip)

So, to stop from grinding, I simply would put the edges of my tongue between my teeth. To clench my jaw, I would have to bite my tongue. Stopped my grinding cold and I haven't had a problem with it since.

But, yeah, if you've got enough stress at work that you're grinding your teeth in yoru sleep, you need to get out of there at the earliest opportunity. Nothing is worth damaging your health.

^-.-^

[draftermatt]

So...it's been determined that it's from stress. I've been stressed before and am now but I always internalize it, but I never imagined subconciously it would lead to TMJ and bruxism.

Same thing happened to me. My jaw pops when I try to open it. My dad has it too (his is from getting popped in the jaw as a kid).

But stress was making my jaw hurt, and giving me chest pains at the age of 19. I decided to stop letting things bother me anymore. Best decision I ever made. I still have stress (like everyone else) but thankfully it's just keeps making my hair grayer and keeping me up at night.

What the hell was the point of this? Oh yeah, seriously, good luck. For your own health and well being.

[wagegoth]

I had one job where, for the last three months I was there, I had to go home every night and lie down (this was before Motrin was available over the counter) for two to three hours until my jaw muscles relaxed and the headache eased off from clenching my teeth all day.

Keep us updated, Kus.