The Job Search Continues

Last week I applied to and interviewed for a position I turned down in 2020. The job is with a large office supply chain, which I will not mention the specific name. When I interviewed before, the position paid five dollars an hour less than I was making as a supervisor for a craft company, so I turned it down. Now I find myself lowering my standards and trying to get in again.

Though the pay has increased over the past two years, the job is still one I consider to be not extremely ethical. It is in their tech sales department, and I am definitely qualified for all aspects of that position. In 2020, I was actually asked to apply by the tech supervisor after she overheard me help a couple who were shopping for a new computer. I was there to help my mother buy a new laptop and the couple was listening to my advice. They asked a few questions, and since the store was short-staffed and I know a lot about computers, I answered them and helped steer them toward better options for their needs.

When I interviewed in 2020, I was told the job included a lot of up-selling software services — services I actually charge to uninstall with my own tech business. I found it was a conflict of interest: how could I upsell bloatware that I, as a separate business, charge to remove? Based on that knowledge and the low pay, I turned it down. Fast-forward to today, when I am struggling to find ANY job that I can physically and mentally perform.

I no longer advertise tech services for my company, focusing on retail sales instead simply because people do not like to pay for computer repair — even those who know me. The number of times I heard friends say “I could buy a new one for that price” when I quote them my fees is astounding. We’re not talking hundreds of dollars here, we’re talking twenty-five dollars for a checkup, fifty dollars for virus removal, and fees starting at one hundred dollars for hard drive recovery. I would love to know where these people are buying fifty-dollar computers that are in better shape than the ones they want to have repaired.

I still see the corporate job as a conflict of interest, but we have to pay bills and we need to eat. My pets have to eat and get health checks. We need more income, and until my writing or my e-commerce business brings in enough to pay me for my time, my dreams of being self-employed in a job I love will have to take a backseat to a paying job that will make me miserable.

My interview on Wednesday went well, so I will hopefully hear back from them this week. The biggest hurdle will be the manager : a woman I interacted with multiple times when I managed a neighboring store. We did not get along, with her attitude that her office store was more important than my craft store. The shame is I absolutely love office stores — so much more than craft stores — but I do not do well with arrogant individuals who think that their job is better than someone else’s, especially when both jobs are the same rank within separate companies.

Perhaps it was because I interviewed for and was offered to proceed to the next step for her job. This was before she was promoted. They needed a store manager and I was contacted and interviewed for it. The interviewer was unaware that they had promoted someone from within that morning, so my job opportunity came to an abrupt end. I cannot say I would have taken it anyway — it was more hours than my job at the time, and I wanted fewer hours to pursue other interests.

I still consider the sales position for which I interviewed last week to be below my level of ethics. I never cared for pushing useless add-ons to customers, preferring to be honest with them. I’m sure my honesty is what cost me a position with T-Mobile, though I cannot say I am upset about that — I don’t even like them as a service provider and was perfectly happy with Sprint before the merger. I would still take them over AT&T, but that is a story for another day.

What has happened in the United States that one must lower one’s own ethics and morals to get a low-paying job at a time when companies claim there is a worker shortage?

Actually, I have the answer to my own question: corporate greed.

Originally published at https://jensully17.blogspot.com on August 11, 2022.