Pink Fungus™ ([info]pinkfungus) wrote,
2005-09-08 20:42:00
  • Mood: exhausted
  • Music: i don't know, austins music is playing
so I got a job. It's at a place called Fry's Electronics. It's sort of like a Best Buy, only not as big of a chain. I get to be a cashier, and that is a load of fun.
Funny thing is...my second day there, I got a phone call for a job. A graphic design position. I would be completely retooling this company's catalog. Working with AutoCad, Photoshop, Illustrator, and using some of my own artistic skills. You know I called them back. I get to set up an interview for sometime around the Monday after next. I also got a job offer today, while working at Fry's. For some guy who needs people to use either 3-D skills, or photoshop skills to do silk screening stuff. I don't care, either or...both would look better on my resume then Fry's. And both would pay more. The first job is $12/hour. More than I made at my last job, and a much more fulfilling position.

Yesterday, at Fry's, they had all of us new hires do the Fry's Cheer in front of all the customers, and today, in front of all the opening associates.

Twas fun.

I dont really care though. It's only $8/hour, but I havent had a source of income for 5 months other than selling stuff and money that I saved from my last job, which surprisingly lasted about 2 months.

So, now, I go to look over the past few days of friends posts...cause for the first time, my brain isn't totally fried from learning the massive amount of stuff needed to run the registers at this place.

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  • 27 comments

[info]scoth

September 9 2005, 09:37:46 UTC 6 years ago

Sweet. I wish there was a Fry's in Ft Collins. I've never been in one, but I hear that their selection in computer gear is the bomb-diggidy.

[info]pinkfungus

September 9 2005, 13:34:47 UTC 6 years ago

aye mate, it be the bomb diggity if that be what ye is lookin fer. Only problem is, it takes a while to find what you're looking for due to the size of the place and the lack of desire that the emloyees have to help you out.

[info]scoth

September 9 2005, 18:08:08 UTC 6 years ago

Sounds like heaven.

the lack of desire that the emloyees have to help you out

If my experiences at Breast Buy in the computer section apply, it's usually good when the employees leave you alone. Half of them are just sales drones spreading disinformation and lies. On the rare occassions when I ask for help, explaining what type of computer component I'm seeking, as often as not they just look at me and blink.

[info]audreystats

September 10 2005, 06:35:13 UTC 6 years ago

I live within 10 miles of 2 Fry's, and they are great places to find things - you really need to know your stuff before going in though, as you are faced with rows of teeny tiny wires & carbon bits to make your own motherboards, etc. I personally am not that much of an expert, so google comes in handy. But, as with Home Depot or those other huge places, you can spend an hour wondering around and have no idea where to find something.

When I bought my digital camera there, I needed to buy a larger memory card, so I asked my friendly employee where the cards were. After going through 3 guys, one brought me over to a row about 200 feet long, full of memory cards behind a sheet of glass. So, confronted by so many cards, I asked him where the card for my Canon would be.

Me: Can you tell me where it is?
Him: Hmm, well it would be on that half of the row.
Me: Um, can you be a little more specific? (I didn't have the box yet, so I didn't know what kind of card exactly, but I'd handled it so I knew it was small and rectangular)
Him: Well, which one does it look like?
Me: (pointing to random card on wall) I think it's kind of like this one?
Him: Then that's probably it. (Walks away)

Twas funny. I ended up going back to the camera section & finding out the details, then searched the rows of cards to find several different brands for different sized cards.

[info]pinkfungus

September 10 2005, 17:32:14 UTC 6 years ago

Yeah, they kind of stick people out on the floor and tell them that they have to "qualify the customer" and that's about it. Then the managers just assume that they are doing everything right and leave it at that. No one seems to actually know anything about the department that they are in. It's ridiculous.

[info]audreystats

September 10 2005, 17:44:11 UTC 6 years ago

"Qualify the customer"?? What does that even mean? I imagine it must be incredibly frustrating working there then, I always just kind of figured they were being lazy, since they always seem to cop an attitude with me (I have noticed they did not cop an attitude when I would go in with Eric, my computer-geek ex, who knew more than them & would just ask for directions to the hard drive section or something). I think it may have something to do with the fact I'm a girl and taller than most of the guys who work there (I'm 5'7, but still...), and the fact I am a novice about a few things.

On the plus side, buying things there is so cheap that I have been inclined to learn the details I need online - so now I feel like I know more than a lot of them... still no expert though.

[info]pinkfungus

September 10 2005, 20:26:57 UTC 6 years ago

Qualify the customer...I could not actually tell you what it means. They just tell us that we need to do this.

They showed us a training video and everything...which showed an employee talking to a customer who wanted a game, and then the employee started suggesting things like a new controller, some memory cards, a strategy guide...blah blah blah...so from what I can tell, qualifying the customer is simply about trying to get people to buy things that they didn't really want in the first place.

And yeah, it is rather frustrating, because they want me to do things that I don't seem to be willing to do, like "never say no". I can understand this to an extent, but to the level that they want it is that if there is something that we are not able to do, we take the customer to a manager and have the manager make an exception for the customer...which seems to me to be that if this were done...there would be a lot more people that would take advantage of the company.

That and after tonights shift, I become "certified" which means that I don't make $8/hour any longer, but instead make $6.50/hour plus commission...I get $23 for every $10,000 dollars that I ring up. which i haven't come close to yet...so, my paychecks will start being small.

[info]audreystats

September 11 2005, 05:02:53 UTC 6 years ago

$23 for every $10,000??? Hmm... sounds like they're ripping you off pretty bad :( & isn't minimum wage $6.75/hour?

Funny, I was never offered additional crap by salespeople... they just always seem to want to get away from me ASAP. I think maybe since the place is always totally packed, it's more cost-effective for them to run around & get their names on as many high-rollers as possible. Which I guess is quite good for me anyway.

[info]pinkfungus

September 11 2005, 07:21:25 UTC 6 years ago

You are very correct about the high rollers thing. They really just want to get as much money as they can get out of someone and thats that. If you want to buy two 65 inch plasma screen tvs...then they'll help you. (which, coincidentally...some guy did that two days ago, and I had the pleasure of helping to load the suckers into the back of a trailer....YAY!)

Yeah, they are ripping people off. And the way that the cashiers work is that they will kinda wait until a big expensive item comes down the aisle and flag that customer down to try and make comission off of them, and ignoring the people who might have just a soda. Me, I just try to get as many people out of there as possible, cause the faster the line goes away, the sooner I can just start staring into space.

[info]audreystats

September 11 2005, 17:56:20 UTC 6 years ago

Jeez, I didn't know the cashiers worked off commission too! Now I know why there is such an attitude swich between buying, say, a soda... & buying computer speakers, etc. (Or that time Eric spent about 3 grand on computer parts... oh yeah). I wonder how happy the cashier/salesperson was when my friend Chris bought not one, but 2 of those gargantuan Mac monitors that cost $3K each - then again, he bought 2 because Fry's had messed up on the price, & had accidently marked them at $2K. So yeah, he got $6K worth of monitors for $4K. He was happy little rich boy.

[info]pinkfungus

6 years ago

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[info]glittermasq

September 9 2005, 18:10:52 UTC 6 years ago

I miss the Frys in CA. Could find anything there.. and the one in San Jose that I went to all the time had an Aztec theme. Was kind of entertianing.

Glad to hear about all the offers though! That is great!!

[info]pinkfungus

September 10 2005, 17:34:08 UTC 6 years ago

Thank you! It's deffinitely really cool with the job offers. I might start moving up in the world.

[info]deputycheese

September 9 2005, 20:06:59 UTC 6 years ago

I have never heard of Fry's but then again I wouldn't have being that I grew up in Cow Town USA!! tee hee But glad to hear you have some income coming in. Nice job offers!! Way to go. Good luck with that!! :)

[info]pinkfungus

September 10 2005, 17:33:26 UTC 6 years ago

why thank you. And don't worry about not hearing about a Fry's. It's not that great of a place.

[info]magickgrl

September 10 2005, 04:08:41 UTC 6 years ago

Oh god the cheers I hated those working at CompUSA

[info]pinkfungus

September 10 2005, 17:32:45 UTC 6 years ago

we had to do them at wal-mart also...it's wretched.

[info]audreystats

September 10 2005, 06:27:58 UTC 6 years ago

Fry's employees never know what they're talking about -- you can be the go-to guy, & you may get promoted pretty quickly. I have the owner's email address laying around somewhere at work if you ever want it, for brown-nosing or otherwise. The graphic design job sounds amazing -- is it a full-time sort of job or a part-time gig? Either way... good luck.

[info]pinkfungus

September 10 2005, 17:36:59 UTC 6 years ago

The first graphic design job would be part time and contract hire only. I think it would end in either February or April. The other one I believe would be a bit more permanent.
Doesnt matter though...I would want either of them more than Fry's. I need to add more to my resume then comic book artist/entrepenuer, and shipping manager. I have one graphic design position already, but it's only been for a few things so far.
And thank you for the good lucking!

[info]audreystats

September 10 2005, 17:49:24 UTC 6 years ago

Ah... well, from my experience, a job like Fry's (I worked at Barnes & Noble, same difference really) you'll only want to stay at a few months anyway. I worked at B&N for 6 months, and when I got offered my current job, I dropped them that same day (kinda had to in order to take the new job, as it was an immediate position, but I was so so so glad to get out of that stupid place!) The whole time I was working there, as a supervisor, I got a whopping $8.75/hour, which after taxes was about $8/hr... in San Jose, that's well below poverty, and my credit card bill - whose debt I'd hoped to pay off - just grew bigger... so now I'm still in debt, even though I have a decently-paying job (about $11.75/hour - salary, so even if I skip lunches/go overtime I don't get paid extra...last week was filled with 9 & 11 hour days too). So now I'm looking again... even though my current job lets me pay the bills I get now & add to more debt, it's still not paying off the debt I got during the B&N days, which has growing interest.

Blah! Money sucks. I keep dreaming of Communism/Anarchy, which are really the exact same thing. Anyway, now to watch cartoons!

[info]pinkfungus

September 10 2005, 20:28:55 UTC 6 years ago

i wanna watch cartoons.

I figured you would be making more money then that. or, more to the point, you should be.

where are you looking at now for a job?

[info]audreystats

September 11 2005, 05:07:34 UTC 6 years ago

I'm not sure, I am kinda lost for ideas. I like the office route much much better than retail (clean office & weekends off), but I absolutely hate what it's done for my lifestyle (I used to be nocturnal, basically... now I have to go to sleep around midnight every night so I can get up at 7AM, & I don't write as much since I typically write late at night... so I don't see many of my friends as much anymore... so it's lame). I always felt like I was wasting my time in retail & here I do feel like my input makes a difference, so I don't know. Ideally, I'd find an office job that I'd work at from 12-8PM, but I haven't exactly seen many craigslist postings for that sort of thing :(

So I don't know. But I think I'll know it when I see it. Or... you know, I'll start my own business, which if my college will ever open its counseling hours (they've been closed the last week due to budget cuts or something), I'll enroll in classes to learn how to do. We shall see...

[info]pinkfungus

September 11 2005, 07:23:17 UTC 6 years ago

You should start your own business. I'll be the art person for your company. I can make ads and such...even draw up a company mascot and everything. And the place would only operate from 12 to 8 like you said...cause thats my preferred schedule.

But just don't go into retail...that just doesnt seem like it would be something that would make you thrilled with life.

[info]audreystats

September 11 2005, 18:05:06 UTC 6 years ago

Starting a web design company sounds so cliche now, here in SJ anyway. My dream job, in reality, is to start my own publication. Working for San Jose Magazine has helped me learn a lot about these things, at least with the marketing side of things (which is the part I knew nothing about going into it), so I'm not in any way regretting getting this job. It's just not the direction I want to go forever - my dream job is in no way to be an assistant :P

But yes, I am thinking about bugging the publisher of the Wave to hire me on as something, because their hours are much better (10-7ish) & they keep beer in their fridge. Their office is also located in the highrise across from SJM's highrise, so there's really no commute difference. And they are an ENTERTAINMENT magazine... not a stuck-up-rich-people magazine. Yay! But we'll see... the guy is a total flake. I applie awhile back for an editor position but wasn't qualified enough, & the guy took nearly a month to get back to me to let me know.

All in all, I'd love to start some sort of entertainment guide. You know, the sort of publication where editors get to go to concerts with VIP passes & interview people & enjoy their stories! Yay... my dream job, anyway. Hence why I want to learn things about business, & government grants for getting started, etc.

If all this happens... you're hired as the lead art director.

[info]pinkfungus

September 11 2005, 18:21:09 UTC 6 years ago

An entertainment magazine with beer in the fridge, and working 10-7ish wounds incredibly delightful. That would be an awesome job.

And if you ever figure out a way to learn anything about government grants...let me know. I have been trying to hunt down some info that doesnt cost me an arm and a leg to get some money to start my own comic company.

You should never want to be an assistant, cause it has the word ass in it...which makes assassin the worst job ever. ass...ass...in. It's terrible I tell you...that and I just woke up...so typing out the word ass is just a slight bit amusing at this point...later...I'll understand that it's not amusing.

So how long do you think it will take you to learn about business and government grants and all that so you can do this? Are we talking years upon years? or might you be able to do this if applied correctly within a shorter span of time? Would you have to try to do samples of the publication to submit for grants?

[info]audreystats

September 11 2005, 18:36:41 UTC 6 years ago

I have no idea, to tell you the truth. Hopefully within a year or two - the small business program at DeAnza College is only 12 credits (going part time would take less than one year), so I'd be certified & that would help my chances of getting grants, I'm certain. Yesterday afternoon my housemate & I went to some seminar on grants that he said was put on by the government - it wasn't, rather a group posing as a government agency to get you in there to buy their stupid program for $1,200 & waste 2 hours of our lives. The first 10 minutes, they did actually give out some info though... & then they presented their crappy deal, & the speaker suddenly morphed into a bad used-car salesman, babbling like a preacher about how we must be oh so tired of living paycheck-to-paycheck, blah blah blah. It was about that time I noticed a man with a curly mullet in front of us, & we left. Oye.

So we're going to attempt to get books on government grants... which I'm sure will be created for lawyer decoding & thousands of pages of small print. Still, we shall try. We plan to go to a bookstore today & hunt. So we'll see. I am also curious if there are any classes at DeAnza on the subject, though I sort of doubt it.

[info]pinkfungus

6 years ago

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