Serious Question to anyone who works in retail

htownskinsfan, tell your mom congrats, and enjoy her retirement. to work for that many years at any job is commendable. let alone a Wal-Mart

Firstdown's post about getting an education is accurate to those people who are high school dropouts, but anymore today, education, military experience, and anything else doesnt mean jack shit to help you in the job hunt.

That is experience talking. I have a college degree and a military background, and nobody cared jack shit about that. That's probably a reflection of the times as a whole, but i can tell you for the longest time, i had jobs that only payed 9 and 10 dollars an hour. I got lucky because a staffing company had a job opening that paid 14.00 an hour, and i got the job. Long story short, the company ended up hiring me full time. But if not for that, i would still be out there with meaningless jobs, despite a government paid education.

Thats what makes it a joke. This "obama money for school" wont do shit for you. You get out of college and can only be glad for the experience. But until things turn around, college does not guarantee you a good job. It's like one of my good friends told me, who was a major in education:

He told me that companies anymore can barely afford to get by, and as such, are going to pay accordingly. The company doesnt want to give you a high wage, they want to keep you middle of the road (12-15.00 per hour). And i agree with him. Keep in mind i live in Frederick County, VA though, and one of my best friends got a teaching job last year, and he only made $28,000 a year. And thats at a high school level.

Firstdown's post about getting an education is accurate to those people who are high school dropouts, but anymore today, education, military experience, and anything else doesnt mean jack shit to help you in the job hunt.

That is experience talking. I have a college degree and a military background, and nobody cared jack shit about that. That's probably a reflection of the times as a whole, but i can tell you for the longest time, i had jobs that only payed 9 and 10 dollars an hour. I got lucky because a staffing company had a job opening that paid 14.00 an hour, and i got the job. Long story short, the company ended up hiring me full time. But if not for that, i would still be out there with meaningless jobs, despite a government paid education.

Thats what makes it a joke. This "obama money for school" wont do shit for you. You get out of college and can only be glad for the experience. But until things turn around, college does not guarantee you a good job. It's like one of my good friends told me, who was a major in education:

He told me that companies anymore can barely afford to get by, and as such, are going to pay accordingly. The company doesnt want to give you a high wage, they want to keep you middle of the road (12-15.00 per hour). And i agree with him. Keep in mind i live in Frederick County, VA though, and one of my best friends got a teaching job last year, and he only made $28,000 a year. And thats at a high school level.

Teachers are known for not getting paid squat, especially if you're fresh out of college, expect to be eating Ramen Noodles in your studio apartment for awhile.

But being that I graduate in May holding nothing but a B.A. in psychology, I see now that I'm pretty much fucked. I'm pretty much looking to intern at a few places for free for some months/years, cross my fingers and pray for an offer for a full-time position.

What's your degree in SS84? Just curious.

ive got a degree in spanish/international studies and the only offers i got were from financial companies where i would be doing commision based work in a field that didnt interest me. i could barely even find work as a server or any other college student type job, now 8 months after graduation im going to odu for an education masters (teaching english as a second language).

What's your degree in SS84? Just curious.

I have a bachelor's degree in Business Management. Graduated in 2005.

factor in too a lot of people that are working as supplimental income to support a husband/wife or whatever.

I just hate it that the response is to treat retail workers and people who work with the public as less than human. Ie) retail workers, resteraunt workers. I wish there was a way for us all to have wages where we can actually afford to live...

And a company that makes a 200Billion profit each year can afford to pay their workers more than 7.00 an hour...thats some bullshit right there!

I was just about to bring up this point. Even with a good accounting job, I used to work a second job at a pizza shop a few evenings a week when my wife became a stay-at-home mother, cutting her income down dramatically (but worth it to raise our son). Of course, I was hired as a manager, but I would have taken a "regular" pie tosser job too.

As I stated before, minimum wage was never intended to be a living wage and even if someone doesn't have the education, capability or opportunity to get anything other than a minimum wage job for a period of time, there is nothing stopping them from working more than one job to make ends meet. It's called being an adult. So the stats will always be swayed by that fact, that the McDonalds job being counted is more likely not their sole source of income.

Even working in that pizza shop, I never saw any of the kids being hired at minimum wage. McDonalds and the convenience stores are always advertising their hourly wages and they're always higher than minimum. I'm not sure many employers even pay minimum wage anyways, they still have to compete for workers within their market.

I was just about to bring up this point. Even with a good accounting job, I used to work a second job at a pizza shop a few evenings a week when my wife became a stay-at-home mother, cutting her income down dramatically (but worth it to raise our son). Of course, I was hired as a manager, but I would have taken a "regular" pie tosser job too.

As I stated before, minimum wage was never intended to be a living wage and even if someone doesn't have the education, capability or opportunity to get anything other than a minimum wage job for a period of time, there is nothing stopping them from working more than one job to make ends meet. It's called being an adult. So the stats will always be swayed by that fact, that the McDonalds job being counted is more likely not their sole source of income.

Even working in that pizza shop, I never saw any of the kids being hired at minimum wage. McDonalds and the convenience stores are always advertising their hourly wages and they're always higher than minimum. I'm not sure many employers even pay minimum wage anyways, they still have to compete for workers within their market.

I make fun of McDonald's too, but the truth is their positions pay significantly higher than most retail stores. Keep in mind i used to be in Leesburg, VA, and the shift managers at McDonald's made 10.15 an hour....thats not too bad if it is a supplimentary income job. (helping out a spouse, 2nd job, etc.)

I make fun of McDonald's too, but the truth is their positions pay significantly higher than most retail stores. Keep in mind i used to be in Leesburg, VA, and the shift managers at McDonald's made 10.15 an hour....thats not too bad if it is a supplimentary income job. (helping out a spouse, 2nd job, etc.)

Wasn't making fun of them, but they're always the first business that comes to mind when discussing "entry-level" jobs. Your point further instills that people actually minimum wage is an uncommon thing anymore. If you are stuck making it, work more hours to make what you need to. I've always worked WAY more than 40 hours a week no matter what field/career I'm in. I currently have 2 accounting jobs and am "on call" for contract work with a large architectural firm. I do taxes and build/repair computers on the side occasionally too. If you need more, do more. This applies to any education level. Heck, I've even sold, well attempted to sell vacuum cleaners before!

Yeah, store managers DO make good money.

I don't eat there, but if someone is working there hard to support their family, I have all of the respect in the world for them. They're a highly successful business, even though I think their product is crap. :D

I think anybody who is earning a living, or trying to, should get my respect. My dad once told me there was nothing wrong with having ANY job...but maybe the pay should be higher...idk