[BrentN]

Well folks, I have been working for the same company now for 6 long fucking years...

Retail, computer department and dealing with tens of thousands of customers and to say the least I am sick and bloody tired of it.

The past couple years I have been trying to get out, trying to find something new and at the same time trying to improve what I have with this company. I started out at 6$ an hour and I have gone through 10 payscale changes, the last came just last january at 17.01 an hour...

I have seen and delt with everything you can imagine in retail. I have been called a "fucking idiot" all the way to a "god send" lol (some customers think your jesus when you give them good computer advice.. yea right.) I have been offered countless times to do home installs, I have gone through relationships with other employee's, official and not official. I have seen the most disgusting people on this said earth, I swear to god, to the most beautiful and/or kind. I've seen people run in and take computers and hop into a van speeding away, I've seen homeless people shit right in the middle of the floor. I've seen kids parents instructing them to take a piss in the corner of the recieving area, I've seen customers fight and employee's
I've seen it all.

I started out as just a salesman and for the first 3 years I did just that, sell with no responsibility. I started getting responsibility with some small 'override status' and eventually (just last year) moved up to assistant manager. Since that year I've delt with thousands of complaints, praises and all kinds of crap. I've delt with employee issues, I've delt with personal and professional issues that have been pretty insane. We even busted a guy for watching kiddy porn, no word of a lie, in the tech room.

Point being, I'm so sick and tired of it all. All I care about is two things, getting PAID and getting LAID lol. Thats all that matters. Once friday hits, its all about the party's, the relaxation and the money, what little I do get.

I still live at home and I'm 24, not a big deal in this city since the cost of living is insane, and housing is also insane. A brand new basic house costs 380K. The least expensive house in the city is 200K, its just nuts. I make just barely enough to survive, and I'm sorry folks, I am not going to just 'scrape' by, thus I live with my dad.
I pay rent, buy my food, but the rent is nowhere near what I would pay if I moved out.

Point being I've been looking for something better for a while, I don't have anything past high school, shit, I didn't even graduate. Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining about not being able to find a job that pays better easily, I'm just complaining about my current job and how annoing it is.

Anyways I was offered a job with my step bro doing sprinkler system installing. I would work for a union and would be sent to work for a company and start at 19$ an hour. There are a few reasons as to why this interested me

-Completley different line of work, no more customers, no more suits, no more covering up the eyebrow ring (unprofessional, apparently, where I work). I would be doing something completley different, something interesting and I wouldn't have to worry about how well I look.

-No more managment. I'm sick and tired of the damn "delegations" that I deal with all the time (see above). Its seriously stressing me out, having to always wonder if the "manager" is going to chew you out is a real pisser. I really don't think I was meant for that position to tell you the truth, I just don't like it.

-Better Pay. They start at 19$, they pay for your schooling towards a journeyman, which in the end makes 40-50$ an hour. As you train and become more qualified you make a better wage. This is defenite career money and I know that I can do it. My step bro is taking the classes now over a period of 4 years (he just started) and in the end he may or may not make it. Either way, he'll be getting paid more.


Point being, they are so desperate for people, once I go for the interview its going to be pretty much work the next day, seriously. I'm going this friday for it and my bro says that I will be hired for sure. I'm going to tell them that I need a week before I start, its just not fair where I work to leave them that quickly, its not like the people I work with are assholes, quite the opposite.

Point being, I'm going to take a leave of absence for 2 months and work as a sprinkler installer during that time. I'm going to give it everything I got, and I'm damn excited, real excited to be doing something different! Bring on the fucking manual labor, cause I'm sick and tired of dealing with customers.
If the job doesn't pan out, which I have to consider, I don't want to fuck with my bread and butter without a backup plan, the leave of absence will cover me. I will retain my wage, and my position. If I come back, which I will anyways I will only do 2 sundays a month to 'keep' the job. Keep it for the discounts and the fun times that sundays always brings with the people I work with. I won't have the position, not that I care, but I'll still be making 17$ an hour there.

Anyways, have any of you guys done anything similar? I used to just love computer stuff, any of the old skool members would know (blackplague was my last user name) but I'm just so sick and tired of it. I really don't give a fuck at all about the latest game, newest cpu, or what FSB some asshole in denmark has achieved with a quad core...

[ATIzed]

There was a critical career branch earlier in my life where I could have gone into computer sales/support/etc. with an acquaintance, and thankfully after carefully weighing my options, I chose an alternate branch that is directly responsible for me getting the job I hold now which I absolutely love and look forward to doing each day. Well, the acquaintance's computer business went belly up couple months later from the time at which I had been offered a job and I never saw him again.

I mean geez, if I had taken that job I would have missed the opportunity that has allowed me to be where I am now. Strange to think about how much your life could be affected by a seemingly minor thing like a summer job. You gotta find the right job for you, whatever the work may be, cuz working in a field you like is priceless. I deal with clients now, but generally everyone is nice, and only a few are sort of bothersome. I've never been chewed out, or mistreated, which I'm thankful for because nobody wants that crud in their day.

[gB dAvId x]

Ha yeah i know where your comming from on the customers part... I do tech support for the iphone as a tier 2 person, pretty much I am the last person they get off the phone with if they want to talk to a "manager". Funny thing is I haven't been even doing it for 2 months and there are some bad days. Most day's are pretty good and then there's some people where you could give a crap about, I might stick with this for at least a year for the experience, but I really dont know what to do. Nonetheless i am going to do until January and if i dont' like it at that point I am going to just finish school and get my Bachelors in Business admin w/ a concentration in Information Systems and try and get a system admin job where i can deal with people more one on one in an office type setting, no answering phone bullshit

What do you do ATIzed?

[Electric_Head]

I worked retail for 3 1/2 years. Supermarket Dairy! I been working IT since senior year highschool and been doing so since. My work day is pretty independent not really dealing with too many people. I'm a windows administrator at a hospital. Currently making 5x what I did working at the supermarket. Paid time off and full benefits is nice too. I'm allmost 21yo still living with the rents.

Sounds like a good opportunity for you. Good luck!

[ATIzed]

Originally Posted by gB dAvId x

What do you do ATIzed?

I'm a graphic designer.

[offroadin]

When you say sprinkler systems are you talking irrigation or fire supression?

My job for the last 3 years has been Landscaping, all types of labour as well as Irrigation Installation, residential, and commercial. This is actually my last week as im heading back to school for something completely different.

[gB dAvId x]

Originally Posted by offroadin

When you say sprinkler systems are you talking irrigation or fire supression?

My job for the last 3 years has been Landscaping, all types of labour as well as Irrigation Installation, residential, and commercial. This is actually my last week as im heading back to school for something completely different.

What are you going back to school for?

[BrentN]

Fire suppression, internal stuff.

I actually had another job lined up that was a desk job, no customer relations, it was a computer buying position at memory express. I would work at their head office with one of my good buddies buying computer equipment for store stock.
I defenitly have the skills, the pay was much better but in the end, its really the same old shit. I would start to get bored quickly and probably start to get really lazy and just not give a fuck. I don't want that with a 'new' job. I want something completley different, and this is it.
Bring on the steel toe boots and coveralls

[gB dAvId x]

Originally Posted by ATIzed

I'm a graphic designer.

That sounds cool, i wish i had the skill set to do something like that

[Chainblade]

well to be honest, Brent, i would kill to be in your position. I understand the whole customer thing as I work for a tier 3 tech support. However, it sounds like at least you got raises and promotions and stuff. I've been with the same place for 3 years. I've busted my ass and gotten no promotions and barely any raises (mind you, I have a college degree too). I live in the Seattle area where it's pretty much just as expensive. I live in a cheap town in a crappy neighborhood in a mobile home and it still costs $700/month to live here. It's freakin ridiculous. And mind you, I only make a $14.67 an hour.

With all that being said, I have thought many times of leaving the whole tech support/customer service shit for some type of manual labor. The stress of working with customers is just too much sometimes. They have literally sucked the fun out of computers for me where I don't like them anymore either. I haven't kept up with them since college.

I say go for that sprinkler job. I'd do it. Sounds like a really good gig. I wish I could find something like that..

Good luck!

[gB dAvId x]

Originally Posted by Chainblade

well to be honest, Brent, i would kill to be in your position. I understand the whole customer thing as I work for a tier 3 tech support. However, it sounds like at least you got raises and promotions and stuff. I've been with the same place for 3 years. I've busted my ass and gotten no promotions and barely any raises (mind you, I have a college degree too). I live in the Seattle area where it's pretty much just as expensive. I live in a cheap town in a crappy neighborhood in a mobile home and it still costs $700/month to live here. It's freakin ridiculous. And mind you, I only make a $14.67 an hour.

With all that being said, I have thought many times of leaving the whole tech support/customer service shit for some type of manual labor. The stress of working with customers is just too much sometimes. They have literally sucked the fun out of computers for me where I don't like them anymore either. I haven't kept up with them since college.

I say go for that sprinkler job. I'd do it. Sounds like a really good gig. I wish I could find something like that..

Good luck!

Wow att pays you guy's pretty shitty

[Chainblade]

Originally Posted by gB dAvId x

Wow att pays you guy's pretty shitty

Yes, yes they do. i'm trying to find something else because I'm tired of being disrespected and under appreciated. i may have to take an even bigger pay cut though...

i wish i could find a good gig like brent with his sprinkler system, that sounds awesome.

[Mr. Ali]

shit chainblade, if you make that much, what the fuck does tier 1 and 2 make?

jebus, no wonder why you guys haven't been outsourced yet. at intel i was tier one and was getting paid 14.75 an hour after working their a year. mind you i was a contractor, the actual intel employees were pulling $25-35 an hour doing the same job (plus bi-yearly bouns + stocks), with tier 2 making even more. but yeah, getting paid a lot at a call center = inevitable outsourcing

[mistawiskas]

Brent, the cost of living vs. the payscale is better there than in the NW USA and most of the northern states. Fire suppression systems are a good trade. You get to get into the pipefitters union and that alone offers alot of oportunity. The knowledge you have in computer hardware can also be put to use. Word of caution though. With each kind of job, more pay equals more responsibility. There are always customers to deal with. in the building and related trades, we have clients that are shelling out semi-mil to millions of bux. Their brand of "irritation" can be legendary compared to a tech hardware customer. lawsuits....sure there are, with consequences that can be astronomical.

[jake]

Ive heard good things about sprinkler install in Calgary. Especially with all the new towers going up. If it dosen't pan out for you and you feel like you want to get back into computers you should try for an internal tech support job with an oil and gas company down town. The pay is usually pretty good with full benefits and slack ass hours. I chat with the techies at my company all the time and they really like their job.

[Electric_Head]

Originally Posted by Mr. Ali

shit chainblade, if you make that much, what the fuck does tier 1 and 2 make?

That's what I was thinking. You have a college degree and 3 years experience in IT? Your time is worth much more than $14.67/hr... Our call center people start at $12.50 I think and level 1 desktop support techs start at $15/hr with full benefits and PTO. I started as a lvl 1 tech, currently working as a junior administrator making close to $30/hr.

[ThatHideousStrength]

Shit. I made 14.00 dollars an hour as a Intern at a nice corporation.

[Chainblade]

Originally Posted by Mr. Ali

shit chainblade, if you make that much, what the fuck does tier 1 and 2 make?

jebus, no wonder why you guys haven't been outsourced yet. at intel i was tier one and was getting paid 14.75 an hour after working their a year. mind you i was a contractor, the actual intel employees were pulling $25-35 an hour doing the same job (plus bi-yearly bouns + stocks), with tier 2 making even more. but yeah, getting paid a lot at a call center = inevitable outsourcing

i actually don't work directly for AT&T, I am outsourced...that's why the crappy pay. But there aren't any tech support call centers around here. i'm trying to get out of call center anyways as it sucks

[Chainblade]

Originally Posted by Electric_Head

That's what I was thinking. You have a college degree and 3 years experience in IT? Your time is worth much more than $14.67/hr... Our call center people start at $12.50 I think and level 1 desktop support techs start at $15/hr with full benefits and PTO. I started as a lvl 1 tech, currently working as a junior administrator making close to $30/hr.

I agree. My time is worth more than what I make and I do not get any respect and am very under appreciated for what I do. The IT market sucks here in the seattle area. that's part of the problem. I'm looking and applying to some jobs that look better than I have but nothing has really jumped out for me. And especially nothing that pays anymore than I'm making now. Sadly, I make more than any of the IT jobs I've found ;-( But I'm ok with taking an initial pay cut if I get into a good IT job that has advancement opportunities.

[Electric_Head]

Look at the job postings at any hospitals and schools near you. If you know your shit, medical IT has lots of opportunity for advancement. Even starting out as a Per-diem with no benefits you would probably be making the same hourly rate. They usually don't post around monster.com and other classifieds though.