My work experience
I never before thought about writing about this. But I just watched a video about it and it turns out, I got a few things to say, so here we go.
The video was about work ethics and how Gen Z care too much about social media to work. Usually when I find something I disagree with I just move on, because I just assume no one will understand, but in this case I went back and wrote about my experience.
For as long as I can rememeber I have been somehow taken advantge of at all my jobs, one way or the other.
The first job I got, I remember it was thanks to red cross, they have a program where they help people get jobs. I signed up for it to get a job during summer, I didn't think anything would come out of it cause I heard lots of people got nothing out of it.
I had to do a course that lasted a few weeks while they helped me and other people aroud my age look for jobs. I remember I would say "I am open to all type of jobs", basically cause I had 0 experience, so I had no idea what i was up for. Towards the end of the course i got offered a job as a bartender. I remember being so so excited, I was also so nervous, I was about to have my first ever interview. A lady at red cross told me she was send me and some other guy I didn't know, but said it was not a competition, because the company asked for 2 people, and they thought about me because I had a good personality. I went over to the place, again, feeling so nervous about the whole I could almost hear my heart beating out my chest. I remember trying to keep in mind everything everyone told me "Don't do this, don't do that, if they ask this you say that yadda yadda..:"
The interview was short, he asked if I had any experience, which I said I didn't but he already knew that. He asked a few other questions, but I rememeber towards the end he asked "Do you know anything about the other guy they are sending?" I said no, and he told me to inform Red cross he hadn't showed up. He told me to come back the next day at 9 am to start my trial. I had no idea how much I was gonna be making (cause I was told never to ask about money during interviews becasue it sounds like all I care about is money) and I had no idea how many hours per day I would be working, cause that never came up during the interview, mind you, that was my very first real interview, I had no idea what I was suppose to care about and not. When I got home I called Red cross and told them about the interview and everything he asked.
So next day I arrieved at 9 am, and thats when I learned (from my now workmates) I was gonna be working from 9am to 2pm, then later in the afternoons, I would have to come back in for another shift going from 6pm to 12pm. At the time I thought nothing about it, cause lot of people had split shift here in Spain as bartenders, it's really common. I remember being exhausted when I got home that day, and so many things to learn, and feeling so stressed because I got home really late and I had to get to sleep as soon as I could because I had to me up 8 am the next morning to be there at 9 am. The next day I was told a lot of people had been asking about me, where I am from (I am black, they were asking about my country of origin which I thought was weird, bc I didn't understand why they cared) also, aparrently jokes about how I am gonna lose my virginity to a middle age lady they had there regularly, because she had me talking about me a lot. I remember feeling like it was just too hard, the whole thing... like the disrespect aside, I was just so exhausted from the day before. I also think I got a lot of orders wrong (Again I was learning) and the other bartenders would get so mad at me, saying stuff like "We just lost a client becuase of him... you know that right?" while talking outloud between themselfs. I rememeber deciding to quit on my fouth day, and I told everyone the day before, my family and everyone at Red cross, while apologizing because I felt like I screwed a HUGE oportunity, becasuese I was too weak. I rememeber thinking, I let down everyone at red cross who belived in me, my family was right, I am weak...
So I went back to the course at red cross that was still on going. I explained to everyone my experience and I remember one of my classmates back then saying "Well Junior, I dont know what you expected..but that's what we are all here for, looking for the type of job you just let go" and that for me was like adding salt to an open wound, it really made me feel like I wasn't good enough. At the end of the course we each had a private fake interview to practice with someone outside Red cross. During mine, the lady interviewing me asked if I had any work experience, and I talked about my recent experience as a bartender. At the end she said to me "Never talk negativly about other companies you worked at in an interview, it will only make you look bad, also, if a company is doing something wrong, you have to inform Red cross about it"
When she said that at first I thought "Did you hear what I said? I was the one who...." That when I thought "Maybe it wasn't my fault.." and slowly I started piecing everything together, I had no experience...he knew that, it would have been easy to take advantage of me if he wanted to, everyone else only did morning or afternoon shifts, I was the only one doing both, so I counted the hours (I hadn't untill that moment) and turns out I was there 12h a day. Everyone else did only 6h, mornings or afternoons... maybe thats why he asked for 2 guys, because one of them to be there 6h in the morning and the other 6h in the afternoon, but the other guy never showed up... but he had 2 shifts to cover... so him know how naive I was, he decided to make me cover both shifts, thats why he didn't mention anything about my work schedule during the interview...
Even till this day my family still brings that that experience up as an example of I am incapable of holding down a job.
All this happened in Spain, when I was 19 year old I think.
I wasnted to write about all my work experiences and interviews in one post, but I think I am gonna have separete it in different posts.
The video was about work ethics and how Gen Z care too much about social media to work. Usually when I find something I disagree with I just move on, because I just assume no one will understand, but in this case I went back and wrote about my experience.
For as long as I can rememeber I have been somehow taken advantge of at all my jobs, one way or the other.
The first job I got, I remember it was thanks to red cross, they have a program where they help people get jobs. I signed up for it to get a job during summer, I didn't think anything would come out of it cause I heard lots of people got nothing out of it.
I had to do a course that lasted a few weeks while they helped me and other people aroud my age look for jobs. I remember I would say "I am open to all type of jobs", basically cause I had 0 experience, so I had no idea what i was up for. Towards the end of the course i got offered a job as a bartender. I remember being so so excited, I was also so nervous, I was about to have my first ever interview. A lady at red cross told me she was send me and some other guy I didn't know, but said it was not a competition, because the company asked for 2 people, and they thought about me because I had a good personality. I went over to the place, again, feeling so nervous about the whole I could almost hear my heart beating out my chest. I remember trying to keep in mind everything everyone told me "Don't do this, don't do that, if they ask this you say that yadda yadda..:"
The interview was short, he asked if I had any experience, which I said I didn't but he already knew that. He asked a few other questions, but I rememeber towards the end he asked "Do you know anything about the other guy they are sending?" I said no, and he told me to inform Red cross he hadn't showed up. He told me to come back the next day at 9 am to start my trial. I had no idea how much I was gonna be making (cause I was told never to ask about money during interviews becasue it sounds like all I care about is money) and I had no idea how many hours per day I would be working, cause that never came up during the interview, mind you, that was my very first real interview, I had no idea what I was suppose to care about and not. When I got home I called Red cross and told them about the interview and everything he asked.
So next day I arrieved at 9 am, and thats when I learned (from my now workmates) I was gonna be working from 9am to 2pm, then later in the afternoons, I would have to come back in for another shift going from 6pm to 12pm. At the time I thought nothing about it, cause lot of people had split shift here in Spain as bartenders, it's really common. I remember being exhausted when I got home that day, and so many things to learn, and feeling so stressed because I got home really late and I had to get to sleep as soon as I could because I had to me up 8 am the next morning to be there at 9 am. The next day I was told a lot of people had been asking about me, where I am from (I am black, they were asking about my country of origin which I thought was weird, bc I didn't understand why they cared) also, aparrently jokes about how I am gonna lose my virginity to a middle age lady they had there regularly, because she had me talking about me a lot. I remember feeling like it was just too hard, the whole thing... like the disrespect aside, I was just so exhausted from the day before. I also think I got a lot of orders wrong (Again I was learning) and the other bartenders would get so mad at me, saying stuff like "We just lost a client becuase of him... you know that right?" while talking outloud between themselfs. I rememeber deciding to quit on my fouth day, and I told everyone the day before, my family and everyone at Red cross, while apologizing because I felt like I screwed a HUGE oportunity, becasuese I was too weak. I rememeber thinking, I let down everyone at red cross who belived in me, my family was right, I am weak...
So I went back to the course at red cross that was still on going. I explained to everyone my experience and I remember one of my classmates back then saying "Well Junior, I dont know what you expected..but that's what we are all here for, looking for the type of job you just let go" and that for me was like adding salt to an open wound, it really made me feel like I wasn't good enough. At the end of the course we each had a private fake interview to practice with someone outside Red cross. During mine, the lady interviewing me asked if I had any work experience, and I talked about my recent experience as a bartender. At the end she said to me "Never talk negativly about other companies you worked at in an interview, it will only make you look bad, also, if a company is doing something wrong, you have to inform Red cross about it"
When she said that at first I thought "Did you hear what I said? I was the one who...." That when I thought "Maybe it wasn't my fault.." and slowly I started piecing everything together, I had no experience...he knew that, it would have been easy to take advantage of me if he wanted to, everyone else only did morning or afternoon shifts, I was the only one doing both, so I counted the hours (I hadn't untill that moment) and turns out I was there 12h a day. Everyone else did only 6h, mornings or afternoons... maybe thats why he asked for 2 guys, because one of them to be there 6h in the morning and the other 6h in the afternoon, but the other guy never showed up... but he had 2 shifts to cover... so him know how naive I was, he decided to make me cover both shifts, thats why he didn't mention anything about my work schedule during the interview...
Even till this day my family still brings that that experience up as an example of I am incapable of holding down a job.
All this happened in Spain, when I was 19 year old I think.
I wasnted to write about all my work experiences and interviews in one post, but I think I am gonna have separete it in different posts.
26-30, M
