The Real World

Graduation came in May of 1982. Out in the real world, with a degree. Well, not actually. I had rented an apartment for my senior year and still had a few months left on my lease, so I stayed until August. During my post graduation 'vacation', I took additional accounting classes to help with my business degree. But the most exciting thing was learning to sky-dive. Of course when you are 22, you are invincible, and heal quickly. It was a fun summer, but it had to end and I moved back to Memphis in August.
Way back in 1982 we were in a small recession and entry level jobs were scarce, so a few more classes at night at Memphis State. Back in the day, there was no internet and job posting websites, just the Sunday paper, word of mouth and trips to Kinkos to get resumes printed and have matching envelopes. I usually went with a light smoke gray to stand out from all the ecru. Through diligence with the Sunday want ads I got an interview with an auto parts chain. Some things happened that day that should have warned me. I was driving my '69 VW to the interview, when at a light I shifted into 1st, and a BIG cloud of blue smoke enveloped the car and it made a strange noise. I pulled it into a parking lot and left it. So now it was 30 minutes til my interview, and I'm on foot. Luckily this all happened 2 blocks from my brother's house. I woke him up(he worked nights) and drove his car. After a brief interview and basic accounting test I got the position. YEAH!!!
The first Monday, my father wakes me up with.....only 55 more years of work.UGGHH! I was a staff accountant for the auto parts stores replacing a guy that was promoted to a new position that required LOTS of travel. He trained me on my duties and a few weeks later, he left. Within two weeks he was back. Maybe it was the fact he was still recently married and had a 3 month old child. His wife did not like him gone 3 or 4 nights a week. So now there are two of us with one job, with me being the 'newbie'. That meant I do all the work and he gets paid anyway.
This was not the best of situations. Add to it the accounting supervisor had been an English teacher, and the Controller did not go to college. Though the most interesting part of the office culture was the 5:00 Happy Hour. The old mail room was used as a liquor cabinet in the mail slots. This was possible since the accounting office was 5 miles from the headquarters and no one ever visited.
Needless to say, this job lasted about 6 months. I guess my old VW knew what was in-store and tried to warn me. At my exit interview the human resource representative came to our location. I gave standard answers to why I wanted to leave after only six months, too far to drive, etc. Then I told the person to go make a copy for me, and told them where the copier was in the mail room. It took quite awhile for them to get back after they noticed the bar set up in there. When he finally returned I was told to use him as a reference and not the accounting department staff. Was a stressful 6 moths, but it was a good learning experience

First Job

I remember getting my first job in high school. I was a Junior at a Catholic school, and it was Spring. Every year the school had 'Spring Fling' where normal classes were canceled and basically a week of fields trips was substituted. I don't know if it is still offered,but I would guess not with the way society has gotten. But back to my job. One of the 'Spring Fling' offerings was a trip to either a Spanish or French speaking country. Since I had taken Spanish, I wanted to go for my Senior year.
The cost of the trip was going to be about $600 plus additional for gifts. So while walking in the mall, I saw a shop was opening selling bagels and frozen yogurt. This was WAY before either one became so popular, it was 1977. I called the number and interviewed and got the job. I was working afternoons and Saturdays for minimum wage, I think it was like $2.65/hour. During the summer I worked mornings.
I started off cleaning up the bakery after the production was completed for the day. On Saturdays I also helped to make the bagels. Once school was over I started going in at 6am and helped with the baking. The bakery was in a small warehouse district and it was not air-conditioned. So you can imagine how hot and humid it got, since the first step in making bagels was boiling them.
I also got to deliver the bagels to our shop and few others around town since we were the only ones that made fresh bagels. Eventually we got in a few grocery stores too. During the Jewish holidays, we would also make challah. That is where I learned to braid a loaf using 6 strands.
This job lasted until I went off to college so I would guess about 18 months. I easily supplied the required money to get my passport, go to Spain, buy souvenirs, and go out after football games. So I guess this was the start of my love of international travel and my culinary degree.

Life's Changes

In the course of most people's careers, changing jobs is common. It can be from finding a better opportunity, deciding to relocate, getting fired or even laid off. Most of mine have been from deciding to relocate, guess that explains why I have lived in four states since I graduated from college. But now I am settled in Ft. Lauderdale and will stay here until I win LOTTO and move to Rome, but that is another post.
I have a friend that worked for the same company for over 21 years only to get laid off. Having not searched for a job or interviewed in that long, he had no idea where to start. First thing he did decide was to move away from Alabama and start a new phase of his life where he wanted to be. Then came the job search.
Using his computer he produced a variety of resumes emphasizing different aspects of his experience and education, from his engineering degree to his MBA. This allowed him to respond to ads with a resume which met the requirements needed. By modifying his resumes weekly, it would always surface to the top of searches. Eventually, he obtained a position that satisfies him. Because of his work experience he used the 'mega' sites that post jobs from mechanic to hair stylists to nuclear engineers.
With job.travel, the scope is limited to the hospitality/travel fields, which eliminates many jobs the searcher is not interested in. There is the ability to store several versions of your resume. This allows you the opportunity to match the position's requirements. Remember, fabricating experience is not acceptable on any resume. The variations in your resume could be stressing managerial experience, operations, or maybe financial aspects of past employment. Always be honest with your experience, and you will have no problems.

Success

After MANY attempts, I have finally succeeded in uploading my websites logo. I tried googlesites, photobucket, straight from my computer, but finally got it to work using a 'hypersnap' of the new home page. I guess perseverance does pay off in the end. The logo displayed is from the 'beta' version of the website which will roll out in early October. It has a more polished look and easier to operate.

Once the new version rolls out, the various pricing plans will be offered, the Silver or Gold. Both allow unlimited postings, but the silver limits the number that can be active at one time. They are very competitive in pricing, with the Silver Plan starting at less than $2/day. That is less than your daily latte.

Getting Started.....

New to this whole blogging thing, never even kept a diary as a child. Guess a first time for everything.

I have recently started work for a new employment website, job.travel. It is for employment in the travel/hospitality fields. Currently, since we just started in July, we are concentrating on just Florida. Eventually will go national and international. It is always free for job seekers and very reasonable rates for employers.

I also am a part of FutureVacations.com. It is a great site that offers packages with almost 20 air carriers and include hotels, cars, even cruises. Makes it easy for a total vacation experience booked through one company instead of trying to piece it together like a jigsaw puzzle as with discount websites. We offer destinations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, South America and more. And the best part, we have agents that can help you plan you trip and a real live customer service department to help with any issues, not just an email address.