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Raw Paleo Diet Forums => Off Topic => Topic started by: Raw Kyle on August 17, 2008, 02:41:24 am

Title: I got a job!
Post by: Raw Kyle on August 17, 2008, 02:41:24 am
After looking for jobs since graduating mid-May it appears I landed one (contingent on drug test and background check) for American Water, the largest water testing company in the country. I believe my job will consist of gathering samples of water from different locals in the morning and in the afternoon running some tests on it and sending samples to different labs. All in all I'm pleased with the job and hopeful that I'll at least a little bit enjoy it. Yesterday I went out and bought some snazy clothes for work so that was fun too!
Title: Re: I got a job!
Post by: Satya on August 17, 2008, 02:47:18 am
Congratulations!  That's got to feel good.
Title: Re: I got a job!
Post by: TylerDurden on August 17, 2008, 02:58:37 am
Congratulations!!! I'm amused  re the curent US obsession re drug-testing, though!
Title: Re: I got a job!
Post by: boxcarguy07 on August 17, 2008, 03:03:25 am
It's a ridiculous practice IMO. Okay, it's understandable for jobs where people's lives depend on you, but what someone does in their free time should be none of anybody's business. It's just a waste of (taxpayer) money.
/rant

But congrats on getting a job! I would think it would be fun to get to go all over and see different bodies of water! But of course, I'm easily amused.
Title: Re: I got a job!
Post by: Raw Kyle on August 17, 2008, 03:10:37 am
Thanks. Ya I'm not too fond of the idea of drug testing, this will be my first. I heard an idea that it was to make the potential employee feel inferior. The same way supermarkets and other stores have cameras all over and treat the employees like they're stealing right off the bat. With very little exception the employer is in a much better situation and can treat the employees as they want.

Actually I won't be testing many bodies of water, it's mostly testing water out of faucets to see what the microbe count, pH and chlorine levels are.
Title: Re: I got a job!
Post by: TylerDurden on August 17, 2008, 03:15:26 am
This reminds me of a recent newspaper article which pointed out how Polish employees in German-owned supermarkets/factories in Poland  had to endure only occasional toilet visits, so much so, that they had to wear adult "nappies" for those times when they had to go, but weren't allowed to, for profit-related reasons(and who were continually scrutinised by CCTV). It seems that employees have so few rights, these days.
Title: Re: I got a job!
Post by: wodgina on August 17, 2008, 07:17:27 am
After looking for jobs since graduating mid-May it appears I landed one (contingent on drug test and background check) for American Water, the largest water testing company in the country. I believe my job will consist of gathering samples of water from different locals in the morning and in the afternoon running some tests on it and sending samples to different labs. All in all I'm pleased with the job and hopeful that I'll at least a little bit enjoy it. Yesterday I went out and bought some snazy clothes for work so that was fun too!

I get regularly drug/alcohol tested (breathe and piss test) it stops people taking drugs at work but not outside work because the smart people know when the stuff is out of their system. There's quite often false positives too so demand a retest  on the sample given. My brother recently came back positive for opiate metabolites and had to demand a retest.

I also occasionally do similar work too Kyle, mainly on air conditioning in office blocks.


Title: Re: I got a job!
Post by: Raw Kyle on August 23, 2008, 10:31:45 pm
Everything went pretty well on the first week. I don't mind any of the tasks I have to do, but in the future I might have to deal with customer complaints on the phone and am not looking forward to that. It's tough because my opinion is that tap water sucks and if you want good water get a good filter system, but my job with customer complaints will be to pacify people who have too much chlorine taste (when I think you shouldn't have any chlorine at all!) and occasional water discoloration (again this is something that shouldn't be there).

I'm still there as a temp for a while but I'm becoming confident that they will offer me the permanent position and that I'll get a substantial pay raise when they do. I saw an email about me actually while doing some paperwork and apparently the temp agency is charging $29/hour to send me there and I'm only getting paid $16/hour. So hopefully I'll see a lot of that difference when they decide to hire me directly.

Oh and guess what? One of my coworkers told me she was getting into raw food. She meant a raw vegan type thing, but it's a start and she loves hearing about all of my diet adventures over the years. She was the only person other than me to not indulge in the Pat's Pizza sandwiches that were out for an engineering knowledge sharing conference yesterday, and it's nice to have someone that is trying to stay away from junk with you.
Title: Re: I got a job!
Post by: lex_rooker on August 24, 2008, 01:14:07 am
Kyle,
Your experience is not unusual for a person starting out.  I assure you that even if you got what you consider to be your dream job, within a very short time it would become routine and mundane unless you chose otherwise.  Enjoyment of work is all about your attitude and how you approach it, and has very little to do with the work itself.  I always tried to find a way to enjoy and feel challenged by even the simplest tasks.

One bit of advice on starting out.  Most young people - especially those that have gotten a degree - often feel that the work that they are given when starting out is low grade and beneath them.  This can cause them to not do their best at their current work, focusing instead on trying to get what they think is more "important" work.  This is a huge mistake.

I spent many years as a supervisor/manager and I evaluated all employees, new or old, based on how well they were performing there currently assigned tasks.  I assumed (as all managers and supervisors do) that those that did poor sloppy work on the simple tasks would probably continue in their poor performance regardless of what work they were given, and  these people were usually passed over for promotion.  The interesting thing is that most of these people felt that work they were assigned was boring and trivial and didn't warrent their best effort which they were saving for when they got work that they felt better fit their capabilities.

Those that found ways to add additional value to the simple tasks - went above and beyond what was required, and worked to truly understand why these tasks were important and worked to prefect what they were doing, were always the first to be promoted and, in fact, were in great demand, as it was assumed that they would bring the same high level of performance to whatever job they were assigned.  These are the problem solvers.  Always looking for ways to increase efficiency, solve problems, or add value and it is through this that they gained enjoyment - not from the assigned tasks themselves.

These people are also self motivated.  Most people know what to do to be more successful - they just don't do it.  Successful people are the ones that solve the problem of finding ways to make themselves do the things they know must be done to achieve the level of success that they desire.

I recommend that you get a book called "How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success Through Selling" by Frank Bettger.  This book uses selling life insurance as the vehicle but in reality it gives you a candid look at how a young man lost his dream of being a professional baseball player, then failed at various odd jobs, was given an opportunity to sell life insurance, failed at that, and finally began to understand that he actually knew what to do to be successful, the problem was finding a way of making himself do it.  The book is the best book on applying the Dale Carnegie principles to your daily life that I've ever read.  I made it mandatory reading for my entire staff - you couldn't work for me unless you read the book and were willing to work on applying the principles to your job.  I'm very proud to say that I had one of the most efficient work groups in the company, and the promotion rate from my group exceeded every other work group in our department.

The book is available at most book stores as well as Amazon.  It has been in constant publication since 1947 which is remarkable and speaks to the timeless lessons it contains.  It is also inexpensive at around $15 USD.  I've personally reread the book every year since 1976 when I first encountered it at a used bookstore, and have never failed to find something new that I'd never noticed before each time I read it.

I wish you great success in your life and career,

Lex
Title: Re: I got a job!
Post by: Satya on August 24, 2008, 02:00:02 am

I recommend that you get a book called "How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success Through Selling" by Frank Bettger.  This book uses selling life insurance as the vehicle but in reality it gives you a candid look at how a young man lost his dream of being a professional baseball player, then failed at various odd jobs, was given an opportunity to sell life insurance, failed at that, and finally began to understand that he actually knew what to do to be successful, the problem was finding a way of making himself do it.  The book is the best book on applying the Dale Carnegie principles to your daily life that I've ever read.  I made it mandatory reading for my entire staff - you couldn't work for me unless you read the book and were willing to work on applying the principles to your job.  I'm very proud to say that I had one of the most efficient work groups in the company, and the promotion rate from my group exceeded every other work group in our department.

The book is available at most book stores as well as Amazon.  It has been in constant publication since 1947 which is remarkable and speaks to the timeless lessons it contains.  It is also inexpensive at around $15 USD.  I've personally reread the book every year since 1976 when I first encountered it at a used bookstore, and have never failed to find something new that I'd never noticed before each time I read it.

Lex,

Thanks for the book suggestion.  It's selling for $11.20 on amazon.  And anyone can read the first few pages.  I agree with the author wholeheartedly with what I read in those 3 pages.

http://www.amazon.com/Raised-Myself-Failure-Success-Selling/dp/067179437X/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product

And I also agree with your advice to Kyle.  Attitude IS everything.
Title: Re: I got a job!
Post by: wodgina on August 24, 2008, 08:45:52 am
Kyle,
Your experience is not unusual for a person starting out.  I assure you that even if you got what you consider to be your dream job, within a very short time it would become routine and mundane unless you chose otherwise.  Enjoyment of work is all about your attitude and how you approach it, and has very little to do with the work itself.  I always tried to find a way to enjoy and feel challenged by even the simplest tasks.

One bit of advice on starting out.  Most young people - especially those that have gotten a degree - often feel that the work that they are given when starting out is low grade and beneath them.  This can cause them to not do their best at their current work, focusing instead on trying to get what they think is more "important" work.  This is a huge mistake.

I need to get hold of that book.
Good advice, I need some motivation and advice on working smarter.
One thing I've learned about working is that getting on well with the people you work with is just as important as the work itself.  If you can crack a joke and be capable, your sorted.
Title: Re: I got a job!
Post by: lex_rooker on August 24, 2008, 02:32:57 pm
The second book that I required all my staff to read is "The Servant: A Simple Story about the True Essence of Leadership" by James C Hunter.  It is the best introduction to Greenleaf's servant leadership model that I've ever read.  Add it to your must read list. If you are a supervisor or manager, use these principles and your group's productivity will go up dramatically while your management problems will all but dissappear.  It's a great book.

http://www.amazon.com/Servant-Simple-Story-Essence-Leadership/dp/0761513698/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219558030&sr=8-1

Don't get me wrong, the ideas in both Bettger's and Hunter's books are simple but not easy.  It takes a lot of work to implement them. Some people will never be comfortable working in an environment where you must hold yourself accountable and you'll just have to move them out of the way.

Basically, Bettger's book focuses on how to improve your own performance to become the best you can be, and Hunter's book targets creating an environment that allows others to give you their best.  If I could only have two business books on my shelf it would be these two.  They created the foundation around which I built my management model that turned a workgroup around from one of the poorest in the company to one of the best and most efficient.

One of the by products was that members of my staff were in great demand for promotional opportunities, however, they loved the environment so much that the offer had to be really good for them to leave.  In otherwords, they were in the drivers seat to pick and choose the cherry jobs.

Lex
Title: Re: I got a job!
Post by: Raw Kyle on August 25, 2008, 10:02:13 am
Thanks for the advice guys. I didn't mean to seem like I didn't appreciate my job, in fact I really like it. It's kind of like a first car, it might not be the fastest or best looking but you probably appreciate it more than some rich guy buying his 3rd Porche.
Title: Re: I got a job!
Post by: TylerDurden on August 31, 2008, 10:51:41 pm
I bought those books Lex mentioned, out of curiosity. While I agree that they had a number of very good points, they did seem a little too Carnegie-esque-oriented- Good points being things like not punishing people in front of others(very stupid). My experience, though, has been that a certain Macchiavellianism is required as well  at times to succeed in the workplace.