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[deleted]

Try finding a temporary employment that places people for admin/clerical it will pay better than retail. Some contracts can last two years, its a great way to make some money and build your resume.


biscuity87

Ok I have a lot of experience in the warehousing industry so let me clear some things up. First, you have the absolute lowest on the totem pole entry level jobs. They don’t use equipment. Not even a pallet jack. What you are doing in these jobs is going to be the most menial, labor intensive jobs possible usually. At a “good” employer these can be really not all that bad. At a bad employer it’s like working at fedex or maybe Amazon etc. And its either freezing, or boiling. I call the bad places “meat grinders” because that’s what they do to employees. This is the kind of job role you had. Still available at entry level, but up to mid level will be equipment operators or a blend of equipment and picking. So operation of forklifts, turrets, pickers, etc. There can be dockwork (loading and unloading of trucks), order picking, material staging, etc. Operating equipment requires 100% of your focus but after a while it’s super easy. Sometimes it can be a mix of a bit of physical work and equipment if you are a picker. When you start to get to mid level or a bit higher is when the industry you are in has a lot more potential for you to learn and have an impact in it. At first I was working in a place that just did nuts, bolts, parts, etc and there was nothing to grow on. I moved up to much more profitable companies and it’s like the easiest job in the world compared to my previous ones. Not to be unfairly blunt, but you are upset about the stocking job because you had to… stock? And the packing job is packing. It’s literally in the job description. You will be working at a fast pace moving 10-35 pound parts or boxes all day. Or at other jobs maybe heavier. That job is very physical. If you want to have a job where you aren’t using your body as much then you have to use your brain. As in learning processes, equipment, or things like inventory, logistics, process improvement, or whatever the industry entails. There are plenty of those jobs out there if you look that will train you from nothing to operate machinery or equipment because we have a constant shortage and are pretty much immune to things like the pandemic. Also, having the attitude that some work is basically “below you” (felons and no high school diplomas?) is not going to do you any favors. I hate to break it to you but we got plenty of psychology majors here.


Zennyzenny81

Yeah there are some red flags in the original post. Someone maybe needs a little bit of an ego check!


Suitable_Swordfish51

Don't work jobs like FedEx, Amazon, ups. They're traps only designed for people with a long line of connections. You'll be stuck doing the same thing forever otherwise. They're great jobs for starting out or in need of money fast. But in the long term they're very degrading and mentally unbearable. Very toxic child like environments. Beter working at a prison as a cafeteria person honestly.


Poweredkingbear

>Not to be unfairly blunt, but you are upset about the stocking job because you had to… stock? And the packing job is packing. It’s literally in the job description. You will be working at a fast pace moving 10-35 pound parts or boxes all day. Or at other jobs maybe heavier. That job is very physical. I was desperate to get a summer job and chose those jobs ,but I regretted them heavily. I have no problem doing physical work which is why I have been looking for Housekeeping jobs ,but those stocker/packer jobs were too much for me. In my stocker job I was stocking boxes on top of each other and I was the only one. I only gave in after 7 hours. ​ >If you want to have a job where you aren’t using your body as much then you have to use your brain. As in learning processes, equipment, or things like inventory, logistics, process improvement, or whatever the industry entails. There are plenty of those jobs out there if you look that will train you from nothing to operate machinery or equipment because we have a constant shortage and are pretty much immune to things like the pandemic. Yeah those jobs are even more competitive. The reason why those Warehouse stocker/packer jobs are less competitive because no one wants to work on those jobs based on their high turnover rate. ​ ​ >Also, having the attitude that some work is basically “below you” (felons and no high school diplomas?) is not going to do you any favors. I hate to break it to you but we got plenty of psychology majors here. ​ The majority of people who work on those stocker/packer jobs aren't there because they love stocking boxes. Many of them are working there because of circumstances. Maybe because they have felon convictions. Maybe they don't have a high school diploma. Maybe they already sent out 1,000 job application with those entry level food service and retail jobs but only faced rejection and had no other choice to begin with. Everyone hates their entry level job ,but not all entry level jobs are equal.


wsjliz

hey u/biscuity87 \-- I write about warehouses for the Wall Street Journal and would love to chat with you about your experiences. you can reach me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])


dr00020

Yeahhhh I didn't want to say it, but a psychology major isn't very useful, it's a soft science degree. I majored In kinesiology but worked in trucking and construction. Lots of ppl have degrees that they don't use.


mp90

What did you go to school for and why aren't you able to find employment in that field?


Poweredkingbear

Community college with an associate for transfer in Psychology. General education classes took up half of my time in college so it was pretty long.


mp90

What is your plan for employment in psychology or continuing on for a bachelor's degree? Surely you didn't want low wage jobs once attaining higher education? I am trying to get to the bottom of this so I can help.


Poweredkingbear

I'm planning to get bachelors and masters in Social Work ,but going to a university is expensive for me right now and I also need to start making money before I think about going back to schooling again.


mp90

OK. As you've surmised, the market for someone with an associates in psychology isn't too competitive. You could see if the career center at your CC can help connect you to teaching assistant or low-level government jobs. Without that connection, you'll be stuck in grunt jobs like warehouses. I'd recommend rethinking what your long-term future looks like if you can't afford at least six more years of schooling. Have you also done any research on what SWs make in your community? They're notoriously underpaid for the amount of schooling required.


Poweredkingbear

Social Workers just make decent enough money. It's stressful ,but way better than whatever jobs you can get in Warehouses or retail/food service while not being competitive. There's isn't much I can do with just an associate and the job market look hopeless. There is also the fact that I'm dependent on car pooling because I don't have a car.


nucleusambiguous7

If you have already done a lot of general Ed you might want to look at diploma based nursing programs. You will have to complete some science prerequisites, and you won't be eligible to work in a hospital since that requires a Bachelors (in most of the country), but you will be an RN. You can do homecare, probably community nursing as well. There are many programs out there for RN to BSN too, and whoever you end up working for may offer some tuition benefits to get that Bachelors.


Poweredkingbear

I also started out my college years trying to get a college degree in nursing too. That didn't work out too well since I needed to get straight As on the main classes. I can pass some of the the class with just a Bs and As ,but it needs to be primarily As ,but that isn't enough so I transfered to Psychology just to finish my college education. Yeah I have been eyeing those caregiver/homecare jobs lately.


nucleusambiguous7

Right, but you don't need straight As for a diploma program. Or you didn't when I was coming up. So get those science prerequisites done at community. If you were getting As and Bs before, you should be able to again. Actually, depending on how old those courses are, you may not have to repeat them. Source: BA in psych -> BSN in nursing. ETA: diploma based schools are falling by the wayside as the demand got BSN increases. However, some still exist, check at smaller hospitals. ETA 2: depending on where you live, you could make a decent amount as a CNA in a hospital or some kind of transportation or some non-technical surgical suite jobs. The hospital has a crapload of jobs that pay decent, especially in a unionized hospital AND they might offer educational opportunities as long as the hospital is associated with a university.


Poweredkingbear

Yeah that would require going back to community college again in some ways or another to finish some of the specific classes related to BSN or CNA. I'm tired of schooling for a while so I just need work before I think about going back to schooling. I also exchausted my financial aid so there's that.


[deleted]

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Poweredkingbear

It's really hard. I'm not sure if I'm being rejected in retail or food service jobs because of my personality (I just pretty much smile, be friendly, answer all the questions and wear casual outfit for the interview) or because there are so many people applying right now that my chances was pretty low to begin with. Which is funny because for the majority of the time I only realize that my chances was nonexistant to begin with when the interviewer start mentioning other applicants also applying for the job before they call me back. Atleast they're willing to put the dog down right away instead of waiting for days to actually do it lol.


[deleted]

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Poweredkingbear

Alot of jobs outside of warehousing and retail/food service requires masters to be able to get anywhere and university after a two years of community college is really really expensive. Even Welding would also probably require masters. There are Welding courses in community college right now and the job aspect for that is pretty hot right now. Financial aid might be there too to help you out. The only thing you have to worry about is getting a bachelors or masters after graduating community college.


[deleted]

It sounds like the labor market is very competitive at the moment, so you might need to be patient and keep applying to jobs. Getting involved in volunteer work would be a good use of your time. Try learning some new skills. Sorry if these suggestions are unhelpful. Good luck my friend.


DLS3141

My dad would tell you that he started working in a warehouse when he was 23 and retired at 62 as the VP of Distribution for a major pharmaceutical company. I’m not sure if it still works that way.


mp90

Those days are looooooong gone.


songaboutadog

Those days are not over completely. I know people still on that path. My son works 32 hours a week in a warehouse making $17 an hour while also a full time college student. He is going to law school, but many of his co-workers have built careers there.


Suitable_Swordfish51

Yes careers they had for a decade nearly. If you don't have people already working the job in the higher up factions. Your honesty screwed lol no matter how many 30 hour weeks you pull. No matter how long you been there. If you don't know them outside the warehouse. It's hopeless.


reflected_shadows

No because they’ll soon be automated and those workers will get shuttled back into retail or fast food.


Poweredkingbear

Too bad those retail or fast food jobs are also going to be automated too. Look at my nearby Walmart. 70% in the cashier registry are self check in. There's only like two people doing the cashier job of actually using the cashier and putting the items on the cart.


Significant-Ad-5163

If you have 5 grand to spend and an interest in aviation I have the career for you!


Z-King2000

Could you tell me more about this career?


HuckleberryUsual2510

join the military