So What Do You Want To Do?

That's the question that I get asked a lot when people hear that I've applied at the Apprentice School. Particularly, people I work with have asked me that question and I really have to hold back from saying, "Well, if I even get the job, there's a good chance, whatever field I end up in, that my salary will finally inch past the national poverty level."

Sad isn't it?

The amount of responsibility and even risk that I have at my current job would, in a perfect world, warrant my being "gainfully employed". At least slightly. Instead, I and my peers are told, in essence, that whenever something goes wrong at the branch level and it has cost the company some profit, then we are responsible. Conversely, when things go right (i.e. our branch nets a huge amount of money) suddenly the manager and his sales counterpart reap the benefits in the form of monthly thousand dollar plus bonuses. Nevermind the possibility that I and my coworkers could have had a hand in it. Thankfully, when our branch is doing really well, our manager occasionally purchases pizza for us, which he later sends up an expense request for.

Yes, I know that is what happens when you are in an entry level position in a fairly large company but it does get old. For example, one of our semi-upper management members sent an email to our area discussing, among other things, what folks in my current position are doing wrong. This email basically set forth the premise that I, and my peers, are grossly overpaid for the amount of work we do. This is the same person that, when challenged on this topic, would say, "You are awesome at what you do. Keep up the good work. Wish I had more like you." Come on. Do I really seem that naive? (Umm, don't answer that.)

I suppose this is one of those talents that you have to possess in order to move up in this company: the ability to agree with someone completely but still tell them that they are dead wrong. I mean that in all seriousness. I could sum up so many "discussions" with this manager with the following made up quote: "I know you would never do this but I have to tell you anyway and don't worry; I know every possible question and concern you could possibly have so don't bother saying anything. If you do say anything contrary, I will simply agree then tell you how you are an overpaid moron. Have I told you lately how much this company would miss you if you left? It would take us a matter of hours to find a chimp that could do your job better than you. And that includes all the time that he would spend throwing his own feces against the wall."

Wow. I guess I've got a little bit of pent up frustration about work. What was this post supposed to be about anyway? Oh yeah, my future career aspirations. Can you tell that those aspirations don't lie with my current job? I hope I was vague enough in my griping so that I don't have to resort to editing my profile so I'm a little more anonymous. Anyway, I'd better go now. Believe it or not, I feel much better. Thank you. Thank you for not ratting me out to my boss. 'Night!