Long post alert! So, I've graduated high school. Sounds exciting, right? Not so fast... I've got to find a job, a longer lasting one because my parents want me to pay for the car they got me and I want to be able to buy some stuff, go out with friends and buy food whenever the hell I want it. What the big question is, is how can I get over my fear of work? Here's some backdrop: This past October (From late September to early November) I worked at Sobeys, a large grocery store chain in Canada. Before I got hired, I figured it'd be a good place for me, and I figured it wouldn't be bad. I was wrong. When I first spoke to the produce manager (There are managers for each department in the store, and I was applying for a produce clerk position, where I'd stock shelves, help customers and make sure everything was tidy) I got hints right away that I didn't want to go back. After the first "Interview" day, I was very tempted to not return the next time they called me back. The first thing I didn't like about the produce manager was the way he spoke; he was very difficult to understand. His accent was so heavy that I could barely make out a lot of what he would say. It was when I first started working that I was really unhappy. I learned of how the produce manager (then my boss) would sometimes take all the workers out back and yell at them when something was done poorly, but he was made to stop. But, he was way too firm with me, it seemed that he expected me to know everything, know where everything was and to work faster than humanly possible, which was not possible at the time because I was unfamiliar (and still am) with the work environment, and they knew that. And, when I did something wrong, the way he'd tell me to do it was scary like he was very angry. If I recall, I had a couple minor panic attacks when I was there. Other than that, the first few days I was there and early into my shifts I felt very awkward and uncomfortable working there. But, the paychecks were nice. I loved the paydays because it felt like a little weight off my shoulders. My first check was $350. But it wasn't enough to keep my motivation for that place. Then, in early November, my boss called me into his office. My heart was racing, because I had a good feeling I was in trouble. I was right. He didn't yell, but what I was told made me very unhappy. I was told that I was slow and rude. I might have been slow, but I don't ever recall being rude. Also, I was told that I "talked back" to the assistant produce manager (who was nice) which I thought to be complete bull. He even told me if it kept up that they'd fire me. So, I quit right there and then, stating that I felt far too pressured (and unsafe, due to some of the practices they had me doing like stacking our carts much higher than our heads). I handed him my tag, my exacto-knife, apron, identity card used to sign in and hat and left. I was so glad that I didn't ever have to return, but my parents were disappointed that I left even though I made sure they knew I hated it there. Now, I'm going to have to get a new job very soon, and I'm worried. I have been considering EB Games. I was considering the Apple Store because I'm good with computers and I'd likely do well there, but I decided against it because my hours will be based on business needs and that means that my hours are not flexible. Now, even though I do like video games and EB Games seems like an easy place to work, I can't help but worry. I'm most scared about going for the interview. You see, when I was at Sobeys, I never had a real interview as most of you would think of one. There were only a couple interview-like questions and the rest was just explaining some stuff. What makes this worse is the fact that I was recently diagnosed with a social anxiety disorder and clinical depression, and in some situations, my medication does nothing for me. I get shaky and sweaty, my heart starts pounding and I become very stuttery. Then, the headaches set in. This occurred when doing presentations at school, and it happened during my first "interview". It also happened when my boss took me into his office and told me to step up my game or I'd be fired. So my biggest fear is flunking the interview, which I have a very strong feeling I'd end up doing. Then, there's the fear of hating the work. People say work isn't supposed to be extremely fun. That's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about absolutely fucking hating being there, excuse the language. I'm also worried about rude customers and a rude boss, and to a lesser extent, rude co-workers. I'm also very worried about doing the job wrong, and eventually losing it. I'm very worried about not being able to keep the job. I know it's a long post, but if you read through it, could you please give me some advice?
My advice? Go to school, University, tech school, vocational and get a good skill to market yourself and the degree / certificate to back it up. You will always run into this situation at these type of jobs because you are usually at the lowest rung of the employment. I have found out from my experience working these jobs that the managers usually give you crap, because they get crap from the people above them. Set yourself goals and in the mean time find a job where you can support yourself. Knowing that there will be an end to it makes it much easier.
The easiest way to get through an interview is to try to put yourself into the shoes of the people interviewing you. Pretend you're a store manager at EB Games. You're looking to hire a new employee, and you have a guy coming in to interview for that job. What sort of person would you want? What sort of things would you be worried about? One thing you probably wouldn't want - somebody whose attitude is "this will be an easy job". You put out a "HELP WANTED" sign, not a "I'M BORED - I'LL PAY YOU TO HANG OUT HERE" sign. It's fine to want a job that you'll enjoy, but THAT will be the angle you want to push, not "this will be an easy paycheck" one. So when you go into the interview, you want to emphasize "I really like video games, and I like turning people on to new and different games". Another employee you probably wouldn't want to hire? Somebody who is very rigid about his preferences. No problem with a preference of Xbox over Playstation, but you wouldn't want to hire somebody who not only doesn't know anything about Playstation, but who refuses to even learn about the console. So your attitude during the interview should be "Actually, all my knowledge is about the Xbox because that's the one I have, but I wouldn't mind learning about Playstation." And in reference to Jwis's comment above - he does have a point, but that doesn't mean that early jobs are completely worthless. My first job was making pizza, and no, I can't say as I use the pizza-making skills I picked up that often. But I DID learn a lot. I learned about how to keep employers happy. I learned how to get along with a wide variety of co-workers. I learned how to deal with work-related problems when they come up. These sort of things pop up no matter what job you get, and the earlier you can get better at them, the better you'll be served throughout your life. Much better to learn those lessons on the fly working in the grocery store than in that absolute perfect job that might come along later. Lex
No you are 100% correct here. I didn't mean to demean early / first jobs. They are VERY important. They are where you will build your work ethic and how to deal with people. Skills that will transfer to any job that you will have.
