Work

[Girl With One Eye]

Ok so this is going to be a long story...(sorry for any spelling/grammer mistakes I'm feeling upset while writing this)


So this thread is basically about my experience of having a job. My first job was working as a waitress, which was done through a recruitment agency. My ex boyfriend (who was abusive) was stalking me, we had just broken up. He started working at the same place as me and make my work life hell. I couldn't handle him being there anymore so I quit.

Second job I had for a week. I was working as a restaurant and I made a mistake on the till which under-charged a customer by £16. The manager realised my mistake and screamed in my face infront of all the customers. He said I was "a stupid little girl who can't even work a till, a monkey could work that till". He made me feel so pathetic I quit right away, after which he said, "I think you made the right decision, we need smart people to work here". (I was in my first year of university!).

Third job I was working for a tour bus company. They always went to the pub after work to drink. I don't drink so I never went, and when they found that out I was treated differently. (This wasn't me being paranoid because a friend of mine who worked there also doesn't drink and experienced the same problem).


Final job, I worked for a marketing company doing door-to-door sales. This was the best job I had in my life, I was happy I made friends. Then one day I was in a house trying to make a sale, and the guy tried to rape me.

So to conclude, I've just finished university but have now developed a strong fear of work. What can I do?? (Taking into consideration I suffer from depression and self-harm/suicide issues)

Also for discussion...share your work horror stories.

 

[DividedUnity]

Try working for a family member if you can. Other than that therapy maybe?

 

[Gigaguy64]

Only thing i can think of is working for friends of family.

And if you start looking for a job again talk to your potential employer about your fears and get to know them.
It can help in the long run, especially if you like the job.

 

[Girl With One Eye]

Try working for a family member if you can. Other than that therapy maybe?

Only thing i can think of is working for friends of family.

And if you start looking for a job again talk to your potential employer about your fears and get to know them.
It can help in the long run, especially if you like the job.

Working for friends or family is not really an option for me

I am currently in theraphy but we are dealing with my self-harm issues at the moment. I just feel like theres a lot of pressure on me right now to get a job.

 

[Riobux]

Only twice I've really had problems at work.

Once was my first day there. I had never had a job and it was day centre work with the elderly so I was unsure generally. There was a creepy old guy who tried to convince me to privately teach him on his computer and maybe fix it. It was some very dodgy stuff. Apparently, he used to work at the same day centre and he was an absolute jerk to all the elderly people there, trying to get them to do what he wanted to do. The manager and the other guy who runs it ended up just sending me home half an hour or so early just because it shook me up somewhat.

The other time wasn't so much directly involved with getting in trouble with the manager, or even in trouble with the day centre. Near the day-centre, there are train-gates which can form very large queues due to the length of time they're down. I had decided to cross over to the side I needed to be (on-going traffic) but then decided to cycle on the pavement as to avoid the traffic. So I cycled down the path when a cop poked her head out of her Jeep and told me to walk. I shrugged it off and said "OKAY!". So I cycled on the pavement a bit more and got to the day centre. Just as I'm locking up outside, the Jeep pulls up behind me. The policewoman then starts laying into me telling me the dangers of cycling on the pavement, especially considering the high amount of elderly people in the area. They also told me I probably should be wearing a helmet and a florescent jacket as well (this was noon by the way). They then threatened that if they caught me doing it again, I'd get about an £80 fine.

I walked into the day-centre to find some of the staff peering out of one of the smaller windows wondering what the police were doing talking about the elderly walking on the pavement. I then admitted it was me, and they were having a go at me for cycling on the pavement. They shrugged it off and said they just simply had nothing better to do.

To be honest, working at the day-centre has been pretty good. Even if it was volunteering work, it was an enjoyable experience. It's a little bit of a shame I'll be quitting after this summer since I'll be going from the south coast to Middlesbrough to do a university course in sociology with psychology. Bad luck with your work experiences though. I may of had it a little easier to be fair because it was volunteering work so they weren't exactly paying for me. I had some good times, it was interesting when my dad worked there for a tiny bit doing volunteering work as well.

 

[Gigaguy64]

Try working for a family member if you can. Other than that therapy maybe?

Only thing i can think of is working for friends of family.

And if you start looking for a job again talk to your potential employer about your fears and get to know them.
It can help in the long run, especially if you like the job.

Working for friends or family is not really an option for me

I am currently in theraphy but we are dealing with my self-harm issues at the moment. I just feel like theres a lot of pressure on me right now to get a job.

Well if you NEED a job then doing something like Retail might be a good choice.
Especially in a small store in a Mall.
Usually you will find great people who will work with you and your schedule and get to know you.
If your not in need of cash and have another source of income id wait until you were feeling better and not under so much pressure.

I hope things work out for you!
(no pun intended....really)

 

[snowman6251]

You're going to have to deal with an asshole at almost every job you get. There is always a Dwight. Its best to just ignore it as much as possible. You've had pretty extreme examples though. Sorry to hear about that.

 

[teutonicman]

Wow..... best thing I could recommend was do something with confidence building. Maybe a some form of martial arts training or a self-help group (they usually have decent enough food so that would be a bonus). The martial arts might give you a confidence bonus which sounds like could be improved.

 

[Penguinness]

That's some unlucky stuff =S Boyfriend stalking, managers, rape... being female must suck.

Fortunately for me I haven't had to get a job (student loans ).. but 2 weeks worth of work-experience is enough to get a good feel for what retail work is like. Shoppers being dicks, work colleges being dicks, and why would I work 3 extra hours when it's unpaid? It'll come back to bite me in the future, but my spending isn't so high so I'm just enjoying the summer.

 

[Girl With One Eye]

That's some unlucky stuff =S Boyfriend stalking, managers, rape... being female must suck.

Fortunately for me I haven't had to get a job (student loans ).. but 2 weeks worth of work-experience is enough to get a good feel for what retail work is like. Shoppers being dicks, work colleges being dicks, and why would I work 3 extra hours when it's unpaid? It'll come back to bite me in the future, but my spending isn't so high so I'm just enjoying the summer.

Yep being female does suck

My student loan is pretty much what I'm living off right now. But I really want to get a job to help my mum out as its just us at home. I just need to figure out a way to deal with this fear of mine