Cortes, it’s funny you should mention McDonald’s managers compared to these guys…
My first “real” job was working at Wendy’s…worked there for about 9 months, then went to a year of college. Ran out of money (lack of planning on my end), came back, worked at Wendy’s again. Worked my ass off, within a few months got promoted to shift supervisor. Fast forward about half a year, got promoted to assistant manager. A few months later, and my general manager was talking about how in the near future she’d like to see me be her co-manager, and replace her as GM when she retired (was approaching within a couple years). I was 19 years old at this point.
I don’t say this to brag or anything, I mean it IS “only” fast food…my point is, there were people getting 2-year degrees to be “qualified” for assistant manager, and 30-40 year old people working as co-managers, and with no college degree, at not even 20 years old, I was looking to have that job, and probably higher.
You definitely can work your way up the chain if you just work at being the best at what you do…though for me, I decided I didn’t want to stay in that line of work anymore, and joined the USMC. Amusingly, despite collecting BAH/BAS, I’d be making more money right now at Wendy’s, and working less hours.
[quote]hungry4more wrote:
Cortes, it’s funny you should mention McDonald’s managers compared to these guys…
My first “real” job was working at Wendy’s…worked there for about 9 months, then went to a year of college. Ran out of money (lack of planning on my end), came back, worked at Wendy’s again. Worked my ass off, within a few months got promoted to shift supervisor. Fast forward about half a year, got promoted to assistant manager. A few months later, and my general manager was talking about how in the near future she’d like to see me be her co-manager, and replace her as GM when she retired (was approaching within a couple years). I was 19 years old at this point.
I don’t say this to brag or anything, I mean it IS “only” fast food…my point is, there were people getting 2-year degrees to be “qualified” for assistant manager, and 30-40 year old people working as co-managers, and with no college degree, at not even 20 years old, I was looking to have that job, and probably higher.
You definitely can work your way up the chain if you just work at being the best at what you do…though for me, I decided I didn’t want to stay in that line of work anymore, and joined the USMC. Amusingly, despite collecting BAH/BAS, I’d be making more money right now at Wendy’s, and working less hours. [/quote]
The cool thing is, you’ll succeed at whatever it is you do. In whatever job market. Whatever economy.
[quote]hungry4more wrote:
Cortes, it’s funny you should mention McDonald’s managers compared to these guys…
My first “real” job was working at Wendy’s…worked there for about 9 months, then went to a year of college. Ran out of money (lack of planning on my end), came back, worked at Wendy’s again. Worked my ass off, within a few months got promoted to shift supervisor. Fast forward about half a year, got promoted to assistant manager. A few months later, and my general manager was talking about how in the near future she’d like to see me be her co-manager, and replace her as GM when she retired (was approaching within a couple years). I was 19 years old at this point.
I don’t say this to brag or anything, I mean it IS “only” fast food…my point is, there were people getting 2-year degrees to be “qualified” for assistant manager, and 30-40 year old people working as co-managers, and with no college degree, at not even 20 years old, I was looking to have that job, and probably higher.
You definitely can work your way up the chain if you just work at being the best at what you do…though for me, I decided I didn’t want to stay in that line of work anymore, and joined the USMC. Amusingly, despite collecting BAH/BAS, I’d be making more money right now at Wendy’s, and working less hours. [/quote]
It’s funny that people look at it at “only” fast food when it’s a multi-billion dollar a year multi-national organization … An opportunity is an opportunity, and as your experience shows, having pride in what you do and the motivation to be the best can lead to very lucrative positions … even if it is “only fast food”
Sorry Cortes, but you’re flat out wrong about a lot of your assumptions regarding zoo work.
The animal keepers generally do the script for their own shows. While the buildings aren’t designed by them, they very much are responsible for designing the enclosures and exhibits within it. The head keeper and curator may veto ideas but generally people are entirely responsible for their section–you get a list of overarching goals (“You will display these species” and you get certain physical sections of the buildings to sue) but you’re left to figure out everything beyond that. It’s really not a bad gig as far as responsibility vs authority goes,a nd you get a lot of leeway (at least what I’ve seen-I’m sure there’s exceptions somewhere).
The main issue is that so many people want to be in zoos at every level relative to the number of zoos that they can get away with paying crap, even for head keepers. For instance, when the zoo I was interning at had an opening in the primate house they got something like 400 applicants. For a beginning keeper position that paid like 20k a year.
You have an easier time getting into and advancing in smaller zoos (even non-AZA ones) but the pay there is even worse. For instance the head of our local zoo here in town makes about 28k a year. And you have to keep in mind that there’s really only about 2-3 dozen significant zoos in the whole country (hundreds of crappy ones). So it’s a pretty limited market. I could, and I know this, go in to the local zoo (I’ve been offered jobs there) but the pay is 7.50/hour for animal work. And I just can’t afford that even if it is temporary (I could for a few months but no longer).
I actually entirely agree with the statement that you don’t need much formal training for the job–I’d put myself against most zoo guys as far as competency in keeping herps goes–but it’s still usually required to have at least a bachelors and masters degrees get a strong preference in any hiring process. And when you get hundreds of qualified applicants well…those “preferences” are usually going to become qualifications. It’s just the way it is. And I don’t begrudge them that, but I don’t want to top out making (at most) 35k a year in a major metro area–because that’s about what head curators for sections got.
Field stuff, which I like even more, is even worse All of the field gigs I’ve seen are seasonal work, so you’re never employed for more than 6-8 months at a stretch and that’s just not a life style I want.
I remember when this was posted, because it struck a bit of a nerve with me at the time. I had been in a rut for years, and was depressed.
Anyway I decided to take some action, and not just because of the article. Though I’m not near where I’d like to be, I’ve made more progress in the last 6 months (leaving shitty job, relationship, finishing studies) than in the previous 2-3 years. Luck and good timing had a fair bit to do with it, but more than that, I feel it was more betting on myself and making the most of that bet.
Enough about me though. I wonder if anyone read this and took some action. Not just on this forum, but I’d like the see some follow up from the Cracked readers. Maybe I’ll see if there’s a thread in their forums.
Yeah, generally speaking, this stuff is fairly obvious. It’s different though be fully cognizant of it and living your life with it in mind. Some of us weren’t raised with that killer spirit. It’s a hard thing to teach oneself.
As an aside, Wong is one of the better writers on the site. His patronising style can be irritating though when it pervades every one of his articles.
[quote]infinite_shore wrote:
Meh. Typical Internet drivel. [/quote]
Is it?
Because when I think typical internet drivel, I think of a bunch of feel-good articles with tips and tricks that nobody will ever use, written mainly just to sell ad clicks. Not usually “get off your ass and actually do something with your life.”[/quote]
I don’t think what the guy wrote is necessarily wrong, but he doesn’t offer anything constructive to actually help people getting shit done.
It’s like telling the clinically depressed person that he should just get his shit together and follow his dreams. Or telling the heroin junky that his addiction is fucking up his life and he should stop. Well, no shit Sherlock. HOW exactly is the real and extremely difficult question.
I think some Asian-looking chick made a similar comment on the page.
Just my opinion.
ps: Some like the “feel-good” approach and some the “tough-love” approach, the content is typically pretty much the same.[/quote]
I understand what you are getting at, but I believe you are supposed to find out. It’s not his job to hold your hand and guide you along the way. It sounds like he’s saying get off your ass and do it and if you don’t know how to do it find out how to do it and do it.
not too complex of an article guys…I think it’s a much needed message for people who are stuck in inaction.
aka most of my generation. A constant thing I see is that they all believe highly of themselves and their lofty goals, but can’t get basic things done.
All of the field gigs I’ve seen are seasonal work, so you’re never employed for more than 6-8 months at a stretch and that’s just not a life style I want.