#Underemployed

[defferedmanagement]

A New Chapter in Post-Grad Reality:

Dining Room Attendant

I woke up this morning still hoping there had been some mistake. That maybe I had dreamed the whole thing. That maybe, overnight, I’d get an email from a real job—one that would save me from what I was about to do.

But reality doesn’t work like that.

I arrived ten minutes early, as instructed, wearing what I thought was an appropriate outfit—only to be met with my first lesson in corporate conformity.

Before I could even clock in, my manager, a guy named Jake, who is a twink who looks 19 looked me up and down and immediately shook his head. “Shirt’s too loose, and your pants aren’t regulation.”

I had assumed that any black pants would do. But no. Mine weren’t “approved” because they weren’t the stiff, scratchy, polyester kind that make your legs feel like they’re wrapped in a garbage bag. He tossed me a folded uniform package and pointed to the bathroom.

Inside, I unwrapped my new identity. Another grease-scented polo with the Burger King logo. Thin crusty Black pants, . A visor—because nothing says authority like a flimsy piece of plastic strapped to your forehead. And, of course, the non-slip shoes. I put it all on and looked at myself in the gross mirror.

I had never felt smaller in my life. But I guess my life now is small and insignificant. Just Tyler the Trainee at Burger King.

Jake took me to the front of the store and gestured toward the tables. “Your job is to keep this clean. Wipe down the tables, sweep, mop, empty the trash. Make sure it looks presentable.” “

If you see a mess, clean it up. If you don’t see a mess, find one."

It sounded easy enough. But the moment I started, I realized something: nobody respects the guy cleaning tables. Customers don’t move out of the way. They keep eating as you awkwardly reach around them to wipe down surfaces. Some don’t even acknowledge you exist.

I spent the next two hours wiping down tables while customers barely acknowledged my existence. So many managed to leave their trays for me to clean up, others shoved their trash into the bin that I’d have to empty later.

The worst was when I caught the glance of someone my age. Someone who had landed a real job. Someone who had been smarter, luckier, or just better at playing the game.

I could see it in their face—the silent recognition, the internal judgment.

He must’ve screwed up somewhere.

They never said it. But they didn’t have to.

I wanted to tell them, to tell them that this wasn’t me. That I was supposed to be in a city organizing movements, not scrubbing tables in a smelly uniform. That I had a degree. That I wasn’t some high school dropout stuck here forever.

But what good would that do?

Jake had me clock out at 9pm after they closed the dining room. I worked 6 hours today.

I guess i made $84 dollars today.

Every little bit counts right?

[xhittenofficial]

📄🔥 NEW RELEASE: "Resume on Repeat" – The Hustler’s Anthem for Every Job Seeker! 🔥📄 V2.20

Just dropped my raw & relatable track "Resume on Repeat" – a Hip-Hop/rap banger about the grind of spamming applications, beating the algorithm, and staying relentless in the pursuit of that dream job. 💼🎤

💻 "Applied to 100 jobs, got 99 rejections?" Tag someone who’s been there & drop your best job-hack in the comments!

🎧 Stream now YouTube

[jopzer]

🃏 always an angel / never a god 🃏

happy holidays from me to you and all of us in the this is perverse discord server <3

[anonsally]

I finally got my promotion!

[ghostlyheart]

Dear job gods, please send me a job. Amen

[autumn-storms-and-coffee-rings]

and i keep getting told to do informational interviews, talk with people who are currently working the job you want. spend 80% of the time networking and 20% of the time applying.  but - with what time. i have to converse with strangers AND volunteer AND learn new skills AND update my resume AND update my linkedin AND apply to jobs AND try to manage my chronic illnesses AND try to not go insane AND recover from burnout AND and AND and AND  i have a small network because of how my life has unfolded. i’m also an introvert.  i’m tired. my health insurance is running out in november and i cannot afford marketplace insurance in my state in my zip code with my medical needs.  i've never been good at jumping through arbitrary hoops  or playing games that everyone seems to know the rules to but me. this feels like that. 

an overview of the difficulties in finding common decency, basic communication, and kindness during a job search:

of the 201 positions i've applied to this year, i have completed:

- 4 writing samples/questionnaires/assessments (i was not compensated for my time or work, but they did at least let me know i would not be moving forward).

- 4 online face-to-face interviews (i have been ghosted by 2 of these).

- i've received communication about rejection or postponement/cancellation of the position from only 74 of 201.

(p.s. i recognize people are overworked. trust me, i've been there. but email scripts exist for a reason.

(p.p.s. yes, i send a thank you email after every direct interaction.)

(p.p.p.s. i recently hired a resume writer to help me get through the ATS b*llsh*t, so fingers crossed that progress will be made soon.)

[kirkwallguy]

okay last vague about it. but it's funny for me to mention that it's weird to default to calling someone names and implying they're a bigot for disliking a video game, and then the response was to call me a bigot for disliking taash and swear at me lol.

[doctorjuvenile]

This summer really HAS felt like a dream, anyone else

[xhittenofficial]

📄🔥 NEW RELEASE: "Resume on Repeat" – The Hustler’s Anthem for Every Job Seeker! 🔥📄 V 1.53

Just dropped my raw & relatable track "Resume on Repeat" – a Hip-Hop/rap banger about the grind of spamming applications, beating the algorithm, and staying relentless in the pursuit of that dream job. 💼🎤

💻 "Applied to 100 jobs, got 99 rejections?" Tag someone who’s been there & drop your best job-hack in the comments!

🎧 Stream now YouTube

[suddenrundown]

i swear to god. i applied to a job back in november, had an initial interview and never heard back. i know i am 100% qualified AND that they desperately need people because i have a former coworker of mine who currently works there who just texted to say that they had a whole meeting about how they needed more people and were struggling. and im like. right fucking here.

i emailed whoever interviewed me and found the director of the department's email and emailed them too AND name dropped my former coworker. and still nothing.

and its like. hey? HEY!! WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO!!!

[muirneach]

had the thought ‘i should read some james joyce’ just now okay i need to GET A REAL JOBBBBB

[heart-forge]

thoughts on veilguard? not sure if you've shared any opinions on it already!

I think we can all agree it's a game that exists for sure.

[battlestarbones]

mmmmm just saying if I was already a fullassed NP I would absolutely not be volunteering to go through med school and residency. it's hell Avery. why would you do it?? like for what reason Avery??

[skautism]

“deep clean and organize the break room” ok i can do one of those things but “organize” is fucking vague you asshole. it already looks organized. “bad at working without instructions” well your instructions suck ass

[lambentgrey]

watching the tlt/bg3 enjoyer crossover on my dash is hilarious bc i get to see In Real Time tlt people lose their minds over shadowheart/karlach and it's like

oh, you like the concept of an amnesiac goth nun in a death cult and a butch gregarious-sometimes-inappropriate heavy-hitter trying to escape her chains? i couldn't possibly see why!

[nic0-r0bs]

I kid you not.

Context, I'm at work. Design furniture company.

For Chapter II, I was thinking about the outline of the relaxation area to understand where to put the piano and the pool table. I even sketched it in between tasks, to understand light sources and movements for the following chapter as well.

I get a call

"Put an order for this and that tables and these and those chairs for our two relaxation areas"

And I'm like "??????? Ok?????"