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Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

I landed a magazine gig awhile back that I thought for sure was going to be one of the greatest jobs I'd ever have: big publication, big city, big money. Three months in, turned out to be the worst job I'd ever had. I couldn't stand it, from the idiotic bosses to the constant trash talking and drama amongst the employees. So I walked, and after a long search back into the biz, I turned to waiting tables for the first time since high school. It about killed me. To this day I'm still not sure what pisses people off more: their kid not being mentioned in the paper or a messed up food order.

I do know one thing for sure: Even though the money was better waiting tables at times, I've never been more happy to be back chasing stories rather than another ramekin of fucking ranch dressing.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

I applied for seasonal work at Best Buy a couple times, no clue how you get past the personality test. That thing is total bullshit.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

One thing I would add is to look into the possibility of getting in with a non-profit. Of course it doesn't pay anything, but the board of directors meets once a month, you can make some great contacts and you can even create a committe that will look nice on your resume. I just got voted onto a board and got nominated to the Media Development committee, which consists of putting up some FB posts.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

This wasn't my "bailed on journalism" story, but it's the one of a guy in my college j-school class. He got out about three years ago, went back to pizza delivery to tide him over before he found a "real job," and is still doing it because it makes him more money than working in media did. He still freelances and is thinking about grad school. If (sometimes a big if) the area you work in isn't egregiously unsafe, it's a better option than it might at first glance seem.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

Man, this thread is depressing. I know work is work, but it says a lot about our society when college graduates are discussing retail or food service as serious job options.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

I'm trying not to look at it like that anymore. I spent a long time being pissed off at the industry because the "career" I'd dreamed of and studied for had stopped being a job where I could've theoretically supported myself five or ten years before I graduated. But standing in traffic yelling about the direction it's moving doesn't change traffic. And if being a night manager at Target or delivering pizza puts more money in your pocket and allows you both more personal time and ability to pursue ways to better yourself than an office job that is more mentally and emotionally taxing on your life and requires an advanced degree, the fault is not with the pizza delivery jobs or Target jobs. In a lot of cases it is the smart choice for your personal life, at least for a short time, to work retail for awhile. If you do the job well and are paid equitably for it, there is zero shame in that.

I was reading Steven King's "On Writing" last night and I paused at the end of the chapter where he was talking about sobering up from years of alcohol and cocaine abuse. I would not compare working in an underpaid professional field with being a drug addict, but there was one line I've been thinking about all day, and I can't help but feel like it circles back to this:

"Life isn't a support-system for art. It's the other way around."

This is true of everything. Your life isn't a support system for your career. Your career is ideally one peg that makes up the support system for your life, but it shouldn't have anymore value than that.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

I got out about a year ago after more than 10 years in the industry and I haven't looked back. The lousy pay, the crappy hours, weekends, holidays and a desire for something better all paid a role. I think it is sad that a journalist can make more in the restaurant industry or retail or working at Starbucks than you can at journalism, but as J-School said Standing in Traffic and yelling for it to stop isn't going to stop it.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

Thanks to this thread, I just applied at Demand.

Thank you.


ADDENDUM: And was turned down. :

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

Temp Work. Trust me on this.

Check it out.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

I'm a college graduate and I love my job. I work outside, I work with great people and I leave the job at work when I clock out for the day.

And I get to fly for free.

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

 

Re: When did you give up on a job search and deliver pizza?

Judging from the comments at the DemandStudiossucks forum, I don't think we're missing much.