I need some honest help with finding a job now...

[DVC~OKW~96]

Hmmmm, and that is the question I was going to ask you. Why do you think you are slow?

I'm not challenging your statement, you understand. You say you are slow, so I believe that.

But why? Do you move slowly? Do you ponder (Einstein did) and not come to extremely fast conclusions? Do you need a lot of repetition of the same thing to speed up your actions?

If it's practice you need, then do that... practice, practice, practice.

Food service requires good skills, consistency, and yes, speed. The only way to come to that is through doing it. Watch what the fastest ones do, and copy it.

You can do this if you want to. If you don't want to, not one bit of advice here is going to matter.

 

[SandrA9810]

I don't know what it is that makes me slow. Like everything I do is in slow motion from every one else.
From 4-7th grade I was placed in the DOP class (drop out prevention). Not a special ed class or anything, but it was a smaller class and the teacher taught at a slower pace.
In 9th grade I was in the colorguard. I got all of 3 compliments from our instructer out of the whole year. The rest of the year I got yelled at for being too slow.
All of school I was pretty much being picked on for being slow.
Even working with Kari at Gamestop, she used to complain all the time about how slow I ran the register. Eventually she backed off on me, but last night she told me how much it drove her nuts.
I was slow when I worked in photopass. It took me a good 6 months or so before my work was good enough (fast and quality). But I still always got yelled at for taking too much time to get to a location.

Like my whole thought process just takes longer, from thinking of what I need to do, to actually doing. And I can get a bit OCD about making things look just right, which I know cuts into my time. But the manager is also OCD about the way his store looks. So he likes the fact that I try to make it spotless (or so i think), he just doesn't like my timing.

Like how people do certain things so fast boggles my mind. And watching them doesn't make me any faster, because I do the same thing, just slower. Like certain things like cutting the lettuce, the way he showed me doesn't work well for me, but the way another person showed me works better.

 

[wdwfan16]

I don't know what it is that makes me slow. Like everything I do is in slow motion from every one else.
From 4-7th grade I was placed in the DOP class (drop out prevention). Not a special ed class or anything, but it was a smaller class and the teacher taught at a slower pace.
In 9th grade I was in the colorguard. I got all of 3 compliments from our instructer out of the whole year. The rest of the year I got yelled at for being too slow.
All of school I was pretty much being picked on for being slow.
Even working with Kari at Gamestop, she used to complain all the time about how slow I ran the register. Eventually she backed off on me, but last night she told me how much it drove her nuts.
I was slow when I worked in photopass. It took me a good 6 months or so before my work was good enough (fast and quality). But I still always got yelled at for taking too much time to get to a location.

Like my whole thought process just takes longer, from thinking of what I need to do, to actually doing. And I can get a bit OCD about making things look just right, which I know cuts into my time. But the manager is also OCD about the way his store looks. So he likes the fact that I try to make it spotless (or so i think), he just doesn't like my timing.

Like how people do certain things so fast boggles my mind. And watching them doesn't make me any faster, because I do the same thing, just slower. Like certain things like cutting the lettuce, the way he showed me doesn't work well for me, but the way another person showed me works better.

The "I am so slow compared to everybody else" makes no sense to me. Are you concentrating on what you are doing or daydreaming and not doing your job? You are young and should have lots of energy and ambition. Are you sleeping enough? Do you visualize yourself doing the job when you have idle time? This will speed you up. On those long bus rides visualize cutting up stuff, making burritos, cleaning the dining room or whatever else you are slow at but want to do. Praise yourself when you do better.

This defeatest attitude is showing in your work.

I too don't undestand the "they don't get who I am" statement. You are just another body that they employ for minimum wage to wait on customers. There is nothing to get.

Set yourself a goal and they strive to meet it.

 

[SandrA9810]

I'm not day dreaming, I'm not off in la la land when I do my work.
I actually have to concentrate at what I'm doing. Most of them do it like second nature.

I have to go through mental checklists to make sure i'm doing everything that I'm supposed to. But cutting is a bit cumbersome at the moment, because I have to wear the chainmill glove with another rubber glove on top. And well there's only one size, Large. So it makes my hand huge, and well I'm not used to it cause i don't do that sort of thing at home.
The first time, he told me to use an x-large rubber glove on top, but the tips were too long and kept getting in the way. I've discovered that using just a large glove helps hold the chain glove closer to my hand. Still bulky, but easier to deal with.

 

[SandrA9810]

nevermind... it's too much to try and explain.

to the rest of the world, i'm lazy and have no work ethics. so i will just let them think whatever they want.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

So lets start there. What the rest of the world thinks... no.

What do YOU think?

 

[SandrA9810]

well those are the words of Kari.

I'm tired of tryng to impress the world. If they don't like me, so be it. It's not worth it, if it's not making me happy.

 

[crashbb]

well those are the words of Kari.

I'm tired of tryng to impress the world. If they don't like me, so be it. It's not worth it, if it's not making me happy.

You don't have to impress the world, you just have to impress your boss enough to keep a job.

Again, it doesn't matter what Kari's words are - what words do YOU have to describe yourself?

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

OK. Happy. You want to be happy (and I would say that anyone I've ever known wants to be happy too).

Happy isn't an empty word, though and you know what? Happy takes work!

I spend most weekdays away from my wife, the woman I love and will die loving. Does that make me happy? No. My work contributes to my sense of satisfaction with my place in the world, so that can be seen as a form of happiness, yes?

I've been in jobs that made me miserable and that bled over into my personal life and made us BOTH very unhappy.

All that to say, what you do for a living, your livelihood if you will, is important. Unless you are born to the spoon, you'll be working for a living.

So, work in the job you have, not that it makes you happy, but that it's a road to happiness in the long run. If nothing else it will teach you what you DON'T want to do for the rest of your life.

Have a good old look around and as Rob says, WORK at getting another job. It's not easy work, but it can lead to great satisfaction if you land a job that better suits your knowledge, skills and abilities.

You've had much advice here, many comments, some compassionate, some not so, some very honest and forthright...

Now it's up to you. You need to do FOR you WHAT you WANT.

It take you time to determine what you want for a career, but don't stop the doing... that leads to learning better and more clearly, what you want.

 

[wdwfan16]

nevermind... it's too much to try and explain.

to the rest of the world, i'm lazy and have no work ethics. so i will just let them think whatever they want.

You need to ask yourself why do they have that image of me and how did they read that image.

Prove them wrong.

 

[enigmaMN]

nevermind... it's too much to try and explain.

to the rest of the world, i'm lazy and have no work ethics. so i will just let them think whatever they want.

You don't sound lazy or lacking work ethic to me, but you do sound as if you could use some "help". Have you considered speaking with a counselor of some type? Perhaps there are underlying reasons that have yet to be uncovered. I know this is a hard thing to do when $$ is such an issue, but there is help out there if you're willing to take it. Keep your chin up... things will get better.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

That really is excellent advice.

There are opportunities through the Department of Labor here in Florida that can assist you with gaining the skills you need to find a different or better job.

WorkForce is one such state sponsored group.

On a day off go to the Employment/Unemployment office and see what the people there have to say! Nothing to lose, eh?

 

[wallyb]

My advice is:
Stop whining.
But your nose down.
Your back into it.
AND JUST DO IT!

 

[soulmates]

And the cat is out of the bag. Good advice Walter, good advice!

 

[Broker]

My advice is:
Stop whining.
But your nose down.
Your back into it.
AND JUST DO IT!

They'll just tell you not to let the door hit you on the way out. Constructive criticism isn't taken to nicely around here. (or so it seems) I think there are underlying issues here that nobody is going to be able to fix on a message board.

 

[KirstenB]

If you have health insurance, it might be worth setting up a consult with an occupational therapist. I know it probably seems far-fetched, but you may have some underlying condition that makes you slower. Our younger dd has many issues, but some of the things that stood out very early were low muscle tone, and problems with motor planning (your brain knows what to do, but something gets lost along the way). For instance, very simple puzzles were torture for her.

 

[SandrA9810]

There's certain things I'm really good at, and other things that I'm not good at at all. Like a lot of people say math and science go hand in hand. I'm great at math, but i never understood science.
I hate doctors all around, and I'd rather not know. There's a few puzzle pieces that have come together thanks to the internet. I carry the fragile x gene (my brother has syndrome g), and while I "seem" normal, it can cause problems. But my mother always downplayed the reasons for my brother being handicap. So nothing was ever done when I was a kid.


Last week the boss sat down and talked with me about budget and that I'm not working up to his standards stuff... he said I have this week to prove that I want to keep the job. I had a long talk with the second manager about the conversation and the way he approached it. And she went to him to tell him about the way he made me feel. Which pretty much felt like "i'm going to let you go next week, i'm just letting you work it cause you're already on the schedule". It's nice that the other people there understand how I feel, and she's really good at understanding when I'm venting.
He's also been a lot nicer, letting me work the line. And giving compliments... which is just really strange. I've also been scheduled for 5hrs tomorrow night with a training manager.

He has also hired two more guys. And today was the first day for one of the guys. It's very obvious that he treats girls differently than guys. The new kid was making a lot of the same mistakes I was, and he just stood by letting the kid try. When I had my first day, he kept stepping in and taking over, not giving me that chance to work it out on my own. When I saw him doing the "first day" with the two new guys, after this talk, it really felt like "here's your replacement."

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Yep, that will happen. Not to be harsh, Sandra but get used to it. I've been in the workforce for years (and years, and years, and years ) and still encounter that sort of "thing."

I'm not going to call it an "ism" but it's out there, it's real, it happens every day. You learn to know when to call it, and when to turn your back on it.

So, if you don't like this job, your options are to look, look, look. Yes?

Given what you've said above, you really could benefit by checking into the state supported work programs. There is some training available, job coaches and the like. Only you can tap into that system though, because you are now an adult. No one can do it for you.

Take care and good luck!

 

[SandrA9810]

Well it looks like I get to keep my job.

Still horrible hours, but I've got it. I've also talked to a couple of people about the photography at Discovery Cove. So now that the weather is warming up, I think I'll apply for that. Even if it only last the summer. It's definatly one of those jobs that I thought would be cool to have when I first heard about it. And that was before I worked at Disney, so now that I have photography background, and working in the water. I hope that'll play in my favor.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

That's the way to do it Sandra! Find another job you like better while still working at the job you currently have!!

You're getting there! Might be an opportunity to have two jobs and once too, and actually get ahead where money is concerned.

Think about that, ok? You can arrange your schedules to encompass both jobs and that can only be good for you.