I found out on Friday that I’m no longer employed.
Back in winter of 2008, I took a job at a popular clothing store in my local mall. I started work in November as a seasonal employee earning minimum wage. In January 2009, after the Christmas shopping season had ended, I was told that I would now be considered a part time associate if I desired. I was fine with this and worked until March. I myself actually quit then because I wanted to focus on sports and didn’t think I would have enough time to juggle school, work, and practices 6 days a week.
This winter, I re-applied and they hired me…for the second time! I was pretty excited and was glad to be earning some money again. I fully expected to become a part time associate again…since they were fine with that last year. Talk about counting your chickens before they hatch.
I knew something was up on the 4th. I couldn’t login to the time clock computer so a manager had to manually clock me in. Red flag #1.
Then, we received new name tags. Except I didn’t. Mine wasn’t anywhere to be found. I told a manager and she replied that she must have forgotten to make one. I didn’t think this was big deal… Red flag # 2
The store I work at is a part of a large corporation and they have a website setup where you can go and view pay stubs, tax forms, and other important information. I hadn’t been able to access it since last Sunday. Red flag #3
Friday was the final nail in the coffin. Every week, usually on a Thursday, the store emails all of the employees a work schedule for the upcoming week. I still hadn’t received one. Red flag #4.
Fearing I already knew the truth, I called the store and spoke to my manager. I played dumb and asked if there had been some computer problem that prevented me from receiving a new schedule. She confirmed that “all seasonal hires had been termed out (terminated? fantastic) and that last week was it.”
Wow. I feel like a dumbass. Sure, I assumed that I would be keeping the job, but I had no reason not to. Last year they offered me a part time position so why wouldn’t they this year? I even mentioned in my interview this time that I didn’t have sports to worry about and was fully planning on staying on past Christmas.
I’m also pissed. No one told me that my employment was over. An employee should never uner any circumstances have to ask if they are still employed like I did. The company supposedly sends snail mail to seasonal hires that have not been kept on, but I have yet to receive it. And even if I do, it’s worthless. That letter should have been mail last week.
I’m trying to not be too bummed out. Losing the money sucks, to be sure, but I met a lot of cool people through my little part time job. It was nice having people that didn’t go to your school to talk to and hang out with, it provided a totally different perspective on things.
With my new found free time, I’ve decided against trying to get another typical retail job. Truth be told, I never really enjoyed the actual work all that much. Coworkers were great, customers provided endless entertainment, but the work was usually boring. Instead, I’m going to explore ways to make money doing things I actually like. I’ve read about many bloggers who have managed to earn some decent spending money so I’d like to see if I can replicate some of their success.
Stay tuned!
