This is a little late since I started the job in early November, but seeing as a lot of my threads seem to take a negative turn, I thought I'd start one that is on a positive note.
After spending the last 4 years trudging along at FedEx Office (what used to be Kinkos) I received a call while on vacation from a print shop that I had applied to on Craigslist looking for a graphic designer. I got my degree back in '09 and had only been doing freelance work on the side while having my skills almost entirely wasted at FedEx. They would take advantage of my knowledge in a pinch, but all of their design services were farmed out to some place in India. It was really frustrating because I was basically just the middleman while someone else did all the work. It was also frustrating because the place was still technically retail, and some of the people we would deal with had ridiculous expectations and even worse treatment of myself and the staff.
I was able to put my two week notice in for the first time once I got the job, which felt amazing. I am in a much different environment now, as the place is a franchise and is much more of a commercial print shop with very little customer facing time for me as the designer. The owner does most of the front counter work and I only talk to customers if they need to consul with me. I'm only one of 3 people at the shop and the only one who has has responsibility over the graphics, so it's been awesome to go from being told that I can't work on graphics to being solely in charge of them. The best part...my job title actually matches my degree which should help out nicely in the future on my resume. The guy I'm replacing was there for 5 years and moved on to a much bigger company as their designer, so I see him as being a glimpse into my future.
I also love the set schedule. At FedEx, since we were a 24 hour store, my schedule was all over the place, and since I knew how to do everything, it was usually a swing shift from 4:30p to 12:30a shift, usually on the weekends...which as you can imagine takes away a lot of chances for a social life or any time spent with your significant other who works regular hours.
Now I work 8:30a-5:00p Monday through Friday, all the time. It's also really flexible in that if I am running late I can just make up for it on the back end and stay later. There's even the possibility that I can work from home if something where to come up where I couldn't make it in.
The only drawback has been the commute, as I went from a 3 mile trip to work during non peak times to a 22 mile commute during rush hour, both ways. Being on my motorcycle has helped a lot, being able to use the HOV lane and other methods which I dare not speak of to get through traffic faster. My main issue has been the cold, but seeing as I'm in California and the worst it's gotten is about 35F with zero snow and just a bit of ice, I can't complain. I simply bought some good cold weather gear and utilize a space heater at my desk to warm up.
I also don't have benefits, as they aren't offered but I was able to get on my wife's plan, which is even better than FedEx. I am going to have to roll my 401K over to an IRA or something, too, but in the long run that's not a deal breaker. Being able to come in, not have to deal with a uniform or a name tag, sit down at my desk every morning with a hot cup of coffee and just get to work has been great. A lot of the time it doesn't seem like work at all. I got to add some Santa hats to a photo of ducks for a Christmas card last week, and tomorrow when I go in I have an old 1950's arcade shooting gallery graphic to restore. Some of my tasks can be monotonous (setting business cards 18-up for press or changing prices on a deli menu) but I don't mind because I also get to do some really fun stuff as well.
Anyway, I wanted to try my hand at a good positive thread for a change where there's not really any chance of differing opinions. The only question I pose is what has been your best, most rewarding change of employment? For me this was a new feeling since all of my other new jobs have been out of necessity (I seem to have a knack for working for places that lay people off or go out of business) and this is the first that's actually in my field of study.
After spending the last 4 years trudging along at FedEx Office (what used to be Kinkos) I received a call while on vacation from a print shop that I had applied to on Craigslist looking for a graphic designer. I got my degree back in '09 and had only been doing freelance work on the side while having my skills almost entirely wasted at FedEx. They would take advantage of my knowledge in a pinch, but all of their design services were farmed out to some place in India. It was really frustrating because I was basically just the middleman while someone else did all the work. It was also frustrating because the place was still technically retail, and some of the people we would deal with had ridiculous expectations and even worse treatment of myself and the staff.
I was able to put my two week notice in for the first time once I got the job, which felt amazing. I am in a much different environment now, as the place is a franchise and is much more of a commercial print shop with very little customer facing time for me as the designer. The owner does most of the front counter work and I only talk to customers if they need to consul with me. I'm only one of 3 people at the shop and the only one who has has responsibility over the graphics, so it's been awesome to go from being told that I can't work on graphics to being solely in charge of them. The best part...my job title actually matches my degree which should help out nicely in the future on my resume. The guy I'm replacing was there for 5 years and moved on to a much bigger company as their designer, so I see him as being a glimpse into my future.
I also love the set schedule. At FedEx, since we were a 24 hour store, my schedule was all over the place, and since I knew how to do everything, it was usually a swing shift from 4:30p to 12:30a shift, usually on the weekends...which as you can imagine takes away a lot of chances for a social life or any time spent with your significant other who works regular hours.
Now I work 8:30a-5:00p Monday through Friday, all the time. It's also really flexible in that if I am running late I can just make up for it on the back end and stay later. There's even the possibility that I can work from home if something where to come up where I couldn't make it in.
The only drawback has been the commute, as I went from a 3 mile trip to work during non peak times to a 22 mile commute during rush hour, both ways. Being on my motorcycle has helped a lot, being able to use the HOV lane and other methods which I dare not speak of to get through traffic faster. My main issue has been the cold, but seeing as I'm in California and the worst it's gotten is about 35F with zero snow and just a bit of ice, I can't complain. I simply bought some good cold weather gear and utilize a space heater at my desk to warm up.
I also don't have benefits, as they aren't offered but I was able to get on my wife's plan, which is even better than FedEx. I am going to have to roll my 401K over to an IRA or something, too, but in the long run that's not a deal breaker. Being able to come in, not have to deal with a uniform or a name tag, sit down at my desk every morning with a hot cup of coffee and just get to work has been great. A lot of the time it doesn't seem like work at all. I got to add some Santa hats to a photo of ducks for a Christmas card last week, and tomorrow when I go in I have an old 1950's arcade shooting gallery graphic to restore. Some of my tasks can be monotonous (setting business cards 18-up for press or changing prices on a deli menu) but I don't mind because I also get to do some really fun stuff as well.
Anyway, I wanted to try my hand at a good positive thread for a change where there's not really any chance of differing opinions. The only question I pose is what has been your best, most rewarding change of employment? For me this was a new feeling since all of my other new jobs have been out of necessity (I seem to have a knack for working for places that lay people off or go out of business) and this is the first that's actually in my field of study.
