Have you ever worked a retail job? - Page 6

Brent · 07-19-2012, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenikz

ya I've been trying to find a non soul crushing job cus a degree in graphic design is obviously getting me no where, might just go back to ASU for a business or CIS degree but then I'm pretty much stuck in one of those fields :/

**** the free world

CIS could help you land a decent job in Austin, so long as you have some experience, even if it's you coding your own website or etc.

WCH · 07-19-2012, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wogitalia

I only have one friend who I'd say genuinely loves his job and he has to work a second job to supplement it because he doesn't earn enough (he hates that part of it). The type of person you are and where your priorities are in life will often dictate whether you love or hate a job. For instance when I worked in the pub I loved how laid back it was but eventually I had to go somewhere I'd have to work harder if I wanted more money! If money isn't important that is going to make a job a lot easier to love :)

I can relate. I enjoy my job, my boss is cool, my coworkers are mostly cool, I have a lot of autonomy, and there are great long-term opportunities; but the pay isn't ideal and I'm looking for a second job to supplement my income for the time being. If I had a family to support, I'd be ******.

I earned more money before I even went to college, but I hated all of my jobs back then.

MetSox17 · 07-19-2012, 03:22 PM

What do you guys call "dirt pay"? Just curious and really looking to manage my expectations for my first career oriented job.

Ness · 07-19-2012, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetSox17

What do you guys call "dirt pay"? Just curious and really looking to manage my expectations for my first career oriented job.

Depends where you live. Minimum wage basically. I got paid around $11.25 an hour. In San Francisco that's peanuts.

jrdrylie · 07-19-2012, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetSox17

What do you guys call "dirt pay"? Just curious and really looking to manage my expectations for my first career oriented job.

My first job I got paid $38,117 a year and all I was doing was getting my Masters Degree. After I graduated and actually started working, I was making $48,221.

Brothgar · 07-19-2012, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetSox17

What do you guys call "dirt pay"? Just curious and really looking to manage my expectations for my first career oriented job.

I call it considerably below the national average.

MetSox17 · 07-19-2012, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrdrylie

My first job I got paid $38,117 a year and all I was doing was getting my Masters Degree. After I graduated and actually started working, I was making $48,221.

And would you consider that dirt pay?

jrdrylie · 07-19-2012, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetSox17

And would you consider that dirt pay?

For me, living on $38,000 in Texas was easy. I went out every Friday and Saturday night. Cost of living was cheap. No state taxes. But I did have quite a bit saved up from my college days. Living on $48,00 was actually harder because I got married, but it was still doable. My brother lived in McAllen for a little while, and it didn't seem like cost of living was too bad there so $30-35K is definitely not too bad (althought I'm glad to be making much more than that now).

Vox Populi · 07-19-2012, 07:31 PM

Retail is great. I've been selling Cutco knives for 14 years now and have almost paid off the model set that I had to buy when I got the job through the incredibly rigorous hiring process!

vidae · 07-19-2012, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vox Populi

Retail is great. I've been selling Cutco knives for 14 years now and have almost paid off the model set that I had to buy when I got the job through the incredibly rigorous hiring process!

Good luck man! You're almost there!!

But yeah, working retail sucks.

b316 · 07-19-2012, 09:14 PM

Engineering? Graphics and Marketing degree go together.

wogitalia · 07-19-2012, 09:42 PM

Dirt pay is relative to your industry really and where you live.

I'm on a little over 80k a year which is very poor pay for where I live and a bit below average in my industry and is significantly less than I am able to make elsewhere. Once I get my additional qualifications that will go up significantly, especially if I change employer.

For comparison sakes, that puts me at about 3rd lowest paid amongst my direct circle of friends and the gap between myself and the next lowest is significant.

I can live on that and afford to travel and the like but given the technical requirements of the job, the qualifications required and my level of productivity within it I am distinctly underpaid. Which of course means that I dislike the pay element of the job. If I was overpaid but still on a **** wage I imagine my perspective would change on how to deal with being paid a **** amount.

jrdrylie · 07-19-2012, 09:47 PM

It's crazy how expensive Australia is. In most places in the US, 80k is very good pay.

wogitalia · 07-19-2012, 10:06 PM

Yep...

The median house price here is nearly 500k, that is for a crappy house that is 30 minutes from the city, if you want to live within a reasonable distance of the city you are looking at a million, if you want a nice house on top of that it's more like 1.8m! If you want river or ocean views... make that more like 4m.

Everything is just so expensive, not just real estate as well but that is the main driver. I always find it funny when people I know visit New York and they come back and the first thing they say is "I can't believe how cheap it is" for a comparison point, you know the city you live in is expensive as hell when New York seems cheap.

Perth is a great city but it is expensive as ****!

MetSox17 · 07-19-2012, 10:59 PM

Pretty sure California real estate is more expensive.

phlysac · 07-19-2012, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ness

Depends where you live. Minimum wage basically. I got paid around $11.25 an hour. In San Francisco that's peanuts.

That's just under what I make after 18 months at a job that requires a Bachelor's or higher. Complete and utter crime the pay rates for social service.

Caddy · 07-20-2012, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetSox17

Pretty sure California real estate is more expensive.

I'm not super familiar with Perth where wog is from, but I know statistically Sydney is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live. I'd be very confident suggesting it's a more expensive city to live in than all the Californian cities. Just by some quick googling you can see that several Australian cities feature in the top 10 most expensive places to live in the entire world, and not one American city is featured.

Then again, I survive on a $245 per week student allowance so what do I know.

wogitalia · 07-20-2012, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caddy

I'm not super familiar with Perth where wog is from, but I know statistically Sydney is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live. I'd be very confident suggesting it's a more expensive city to live in than all the Californian cities. Just by some quick googling you can see that several Australian cities feature in the top 10 most expensive places to live in the entire world, and not one American city is featured.

Then again, I survive on a $245 per week student allowance so what do I know.

That it is smart to stay with the parentals as long as possible :)

My prices are just average houses in those types of areas, we have suburbs where the average price is 10m+, I'm sure that some of the estates in California are more expensive, the most expensive place in Perth went for about $60m from memory. Put it this way, a ****** 2bed apartment in Perth will cost you about 2500 a month to rent if you want a comparison point.

All I know is that Melbourne, Perth and Sydney are all more expensive than New York which is the most expensive city in the US by quite some way. Heck after having a closer look, Adelaide, Canberra and Brisbane are also more expensive than New York.

On top of that, it isn't just the real estate that is expensive, everything is expensive. It's $10 for a pint of beer at a cheap pub. A shot is also on average in the $10 range. To buy a carton of Corona's is $50. A Big Mac is like 5 or 6 bucks.

Ngatachance92 · 07-20-2012, 04:56 AM

****, I pay 400 a month for the place I'm living at now. Of course I'm surrounded by the criminal element.

Caddy · 07-20-2012, 05:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wogitalia

That it is smart to stay with the parentals as long as possible :)

My prices are just average houses in those types of areas, we have suburbs where the average price is 10m+, I'm sure that some of the estates in California are more expensive, the most expensive place in Perth went for about $60m from memory. Put it this way, a ****** 2bed apartment in Perth will cost you about 2500 a month to rent if you want a comparison point.

All I know is that Melbourne, Perth and Sydney are all more expensive than New York which is the most expensive city in the US by quite some way. Heck after having a closer look, Adelaide, Canberra and Brisbane are also more expensive than New York.

On top of that, it isn't just the real estate that is expensive, everything is expensive. It's $10 for a pint of beer at a cheap pub. A shot is also on average in the $10 range. To buy a carton of Corona's is $50. A Big Mac is like 5 or 6 bucks.

I've been independent for five years.

Ron · 07-20-2012, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phlysac

That's just under what I make after 18 months at a job that requires a Bachelor's or higher. Complete and utter crime the pay rates for social service.

Not really. Just sort of a basic supply and demand sort of thing.

b316 · 07-20-2012, 07:50 AM

shouldn't have been a social service worker.

SeanTaylorRIP · 07-20-2012, 08:21 AM

4-5 years ago I was working in a call center making $8.50/hour, i basically worked 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, as getting OT was the only way I could have possibly got by on rent. Horrible experience. I think I've said this call may be monitored for quality assurance at least a billion times. My rent alone was $1300/month so u can imagine how i struggled to get by. Even with working basically all day i was still only bringing home like a $1200 bi-weekly check so after car payments, cell phone,gas, food, i basically had like 50 bucks or so every month just to use on stuff for me.

Ron · 07-20-2012, 08:28 AM

Uh...why the **** would you live in a 1300/month place on a 8.50/hour salary.

phlysac · 07-20-2012, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhaarat316

shouldn't have been a social service worker.

With education and social services being cut, the kids that I help might end up on the street trying to rape or murder you. Perhaps more people should be social workers and teachers.

Don't get me wrong. I don't do what I do to be rich. It's just an indictment of our society as whole that I should have to restrain violent kids all day at $11.50 an hour and try to counsel their behaviors when even THEY know they can make alot more on the street than I do trying to help them.

More and more single-parent, low-income households and poor neighborhoods equals more and more kids reverting to criminal acts and more and more kids in the juvenile justice system. Yet the financial reward for those trying to prevent criminal behaviors is becoming less and less.