Need employment advice - Please?

[colorado thinker]

After this week, I don't think I can make myself go back to my job. I've worked there 7 years, on top of a previous 28 years toiling away in Corporate America's cubicle farms. But this place is the worst. Too complicated to tell you, suffice it to say that we've spent the last 18 months trying to shove 1000 lbs of manure into a 500 lb bag and management is now panicking because it isn't working.

Anyway, I need input/advice on the following: I'm an early 50's female, making excellent money in a semi-professional job category. I suddenly have this burning desire to chuck it all, go to bartender school, sign up for a political science degree and bartend to support myself. All I really need to make is 50 to 60% of my current salary to meet the bills, get my 19 year old son fully employed and out of my house, and start living a different life.

Am I mad? Would anyone hire me as a novice bartender at my age? I'm healthy, fit, and physically sound (no joint problems, weight within reasonable limits for my height/age) and love to talk to a variety of people.

Could this work? I have to get out.

Thanks for your help!

[Buzz Clik]

1. Sounds great.

Make mine a Guinness.

[salin]

2. The one summer I did the bartending thing, I enjoyed it -

but I was 23ish and being on my feet for hours wasn't a big deal. It was a lounge in a hotel bar. Folks were interesting - and when I was bored I got into conversations and found ways to steer those into interesting areas. I really enjoyed it - for the short term. Since it was a slow paced place - the tips were decent, but not great (relatively slow business) but at that point in time it was enough to live on.

[bemildred]

3. Find a good bar, don't sample the wares.

Sure it can work.

[evlbstrd]

4. Wow, you sound just like me.

I'm the male version.
My mid-life crisis plan is to buy a school bus and add a veggie oil tank to it and hit the road. Use it to educate people about energy and convservation technologies and campaign to draft Al Gore for president.
I hate my current job. I've applied for a dream job and haven't heard back yet, though it's only been a few days. My son is 17 and needs a GED.
But being in the job market and over the age of fifty is a bitch. We're considered over qualified or they can't pay us what we deserve. I'll bet you'd make a great bartender, though.

[colorado thinker]

6. Maybe it's our ages

I just can't tolerate arrogant stupidity like I used to. I work my ass off, am credentialed in my field, and am horrified to find that the people coming up under me are incapable of common sense . . .

Get the bus! I have dreams of becoming an ancient left leaning poli-sci professor and changing the way the students look at the world . . .

[evlbstrd]

10. I will get the bus.

And I know what you mean about the people coming up. Unfortunately, many of them are "above" me. There's a nasty combination of arrogance and ignorance at play.

[napi21]

5. Changing jobs at 50+ isn't as bad as it used to be.

I did it without much problem. It all depends on YOU. I don't know about the Polysci Degree. Are you sure that's what you really want to do? If it IS, go for it! Just don't let your disgust with the current state of affairs make you THINK that's what you want when it really isn't.

I'm a firm believer in getting the hell out if your job is driving you nuts. I stayed at one of them far too long and I paid a very hard price (mentaly).

Assess your qualifications for other jobs. Sometimes you are qualified for positions you never even thought about.

If you want to try bartending, then go for that too, but recognize it's a really hard job and you have to deal with a lot of sh*t...with a smile!

Good luck, and let us know how things are working out for you.

[colorado thinker]

8. Dealing with sh*t with a smile

is part of the job description in Corporate America these days! I am very skilled at that.

[Poiuyt]

12. It depends on where you live

My sister spent a year and a half looking for a job. There was no doubt age discrimination going on.

[dweller]

7. i'd stay where i'm at

and actively search for another job (or start looking at what are thinking of pursuing p/t) while still employed knowing full well you'll move on when you want to, not suddenly finding yourself unemployed and desperate for something else. You have the option then to go when you've put together a plan with concrete offers, not leaving just b/c you are unhappy at the moment. We are all unhappy at moments, and they pass.

this is just my insight. when i was f/t employed last, i still pursued the options and kept up with what was available, and it seemed there were more opportunities available then. Now those opps aren't there, and i'm just putting together p/t, temp jobs, anything i can get to make ends meet. I'm not suffering, but i'd rather be in a something more secure.

my 2 cents having been there when the jobs were abundant and i had one, and without one when they were scarce. And i'm also a curmudgeon these days and probably fos... you decide.
dp

[colorado thinker]

9. Actually, I've been doing just that

for about a year, I could see this mess coming. However, while I used to be able to go on one or two interviews and land a new job quickly, that isn't happening now. Age, I believe. Or, it could be my growing discontent with corporations is showing through, perhaps.

Since that approach doesn't seem to be working, I believe a more radical approach might be in order. Since I'm likely to be out of a job soon anyway (the whole place is deteriorating rapidly due to lousy decisions) I'm inclined to take matters into my own hands, rather than waiting for it to happen to me!

[lectrobyte]

11. I've just taken a 40% pay cut to get to a less stressful place in life,

you will have some days when you might question your sanity, or miss the money, but overall you will be happier and saner in a few months. Good luck!

[unkachuck]

13. stay....

....do some research and start a Union!...what have you to lose?

....if you go down the street to work it'll be the same crap in six months anyway....and in the process, maybe you employer will screw up and you can sue the fascist bastard for something....

....think Left, live Left....

[tech3149]

14. I dropped out of the consumer economy 5 years ago

I spent the last 15 years trying to keep my employer from shooting themselves in the foot and tending the wounds as they continued to do so. I haven't found anything that would satisfy me and take care of my needs. What I know that it needs to do is take care of the needs of others and work toward a better world. In my field of training, their are few options, but I could use that training in public service to help avoid wasting public funds on stupid projects and boondoggles.

To be specific to your situation/question, never under estimate the toll taken by any job. Service work like a bartender, waitress, serviceman, whatever, can be enjoyable and uplifting. The downside is you will have to work your butt off and there will be a good percentage of those you serve who show no appreciation or worse.

One way or another, we either have to get off this madhouse ride or throw the monkey wrench into the works to stop it. We're about the same vintage and I think you are feeling the same pressures that put me where I am today. Whatever you choose to do, I hope that the choice is one that is for the greatest feeling of satisfaction and personal happiness. In spite of it all, it's a beautiful world and we should enjoy it.

[colorado thinker]

15. Thank you for your uplifting response

I, too, believe that the consumerism in this country is what is going to be the death of us. The insatiable need for things is driving people to ignore their own souls.

I knew I'd get some good words from DU'ers!

[Morgana LaFey]

16. Go for it!!

As Joseph Campbell advised us: Follow Your Bliss!

The best advice guidance you will ever get reaches you through your heart and its true desires. Your inner instincts. Trust them, follow them.

And as for your age, as someone a bit older than you (not too much, just a bit), I say: don't let it worry you one bit. Don't even entertain the idea it'll be a problem.

[gravity]

17. Sounds good

Some advice would be to don't quit your job before you sign up for bartending classes. It would be better to see if you are up for it, before you quit your day job. It's also much less stressful looking for work when you already have a job.

I don't know what you use your poli-sci classes for, but if that's what you want, go for it.

[jilln]

18. If I were you I'd do it.

In our country we're taught to fear being jobless and not saving for the future all our lives, which results in a lot of us staying in jobs we hate for the money. If you think you'll be OK financially doing what you propose, do it and don't look back. You wil find a place that fits you. Good luck, I hope it makes you happier.

[Hamlette]

19. do it but don't burn any bridges

I did the same thing (own my own store, not bartending) when I was about 45. Within 3 months I knew it was not for me but I stuck it out (for a total of 18 months) because I had a lease. One of the things that got me was I couldn't shake the feeling that I could make as much in my profession working only 150-20 hours per week as I was making in the store working 50.

I'm glad, on balance, I did it. Because now I know there are lots worse things than being a lawyer. It helped me appreciate what I did like about my profession and what I did not like so when I went "back on the market" I knew what to stay away from.

[L. Coyote]

20. Go tell your boss the real deal. Say it like it is. Fix things for the sake of all.

Step up first, and see how that goes. It might be fun to turn the place real. If that fails, go have a drink.

[live love laugh]

21. I have a crazy job too. I interviewed for another job in another city today

but it's still with the same company and the culture is not "compatible" with my nature and sense of right and wrong. If I get the job I'll be closer to friends and other family and my employer will pay for relocation. At least I can take advantage of getting them to foot the bill to move me but I think that I will end up with the same craziness in the new job.

I have worked full time since I was 17 years old while friends have quit jobs and gotten new ones and survived in between. I, on the other hand, have always hung on for dear life no matter how bad things got out of fear that I would lose some false sense of security being unemployed.

Now I either have to face my fears or risk working in conditions so hazardous that I actually fear for my health due to the stress.

I hope an offer materializes. I give myself one year to see if I can stomach this place. In the meantime, I plan to find a job coach and resume writer to assist in formulating a Plan B.

If all else fails, Plan C: I could actually tell them to take the job and shove it, sit at home for two years if I had to, and be able to pay the bills. I'm sure I could find a job in that time.

[emilyg]

22. Go for the joy!!!

[uppityperson]

23. I changed jobs to lower paying but much less stressful mid 40's

I figure what I have saved on psychiatric and other health care has made up for my loss in income. On the positive side, you won't be calling in hung over, or needing to stay home with a sick kid or getting home early for youngsters either. You can work nights, weekends, whenever. People skills are very important.

[applegrove]

24. I'd love to do the same thing. Except not a bartender..I'd like to be a cashier

somewhere. But can I afford it?

[jmowreader]

25. You don't want to be a cashier

Especially in a store like the one I work at.

The pay sucks, half the customers are pissed because they don't want to buy the things they're buying (trust me, no one WANTS to buy a water heater) and the other half are pissed because they don't like the prices.

If you INSIST on being a cashier, find a very small store that will only have one or two people on the floor at any one time, and be sure they sell things you're into. That way you can have stimulating conversations about the merchandise with your clientele.

[LisaL]

26. I second that. I've worked as a cashier and I found nothing

pleasant about the experience. Add to that it's a dangerous job (due to being robbed).

[jmowreader]

27. It's dangerous even if you DON'T get robbed

Today's candidate for retail immortality comes to us from the garden cash registers. Someone had picked up a handful of items in the main part of the store and was trying to check out through the garden checkout.

Quick note: at Home Depot, the price of the item is always on the beam above theitem, not the beam it's sitting on. We do it this way for uniformity--many items sit directly on the floor, not on a shelf, for various reasons.

This customer selected an item off the shelf, noted the price of the item under it (which was a couple dollars lower) and went on with her shopping. When she got to the register, the item in question scanned at its proper price (higher than the price she was expecting to pay) and she started screaming at the cashier. The cashier explained that the price was above the item, and she must have read the price below it--very common mistake. The screaming got louder.

Finally the customer decided the cashier was accusing her of lying and pulled a knife on the cashier to help reinforce the lesson that you should be more respectful to customers.

Quick recommendation: if you're going to pull a knife on a cashier to reinforce a lesson about respecting customers, PLEASE make sure the next customer in line isn't a Special Forces warrant officer purchasing a shovel.

[applegrove]

30. There are stores that are not so dangerous. Like in malls or box stores.

I'd just like a job where I can have fun with the customers and leave at the end of the day satisfied that I have worked hard..but with nothing to worry about.

[applegrove]

31. Doesn't sound like a place I'd like to work at either.

[WritersBlock]

28. If it makes you happy, do it.

Just make sure you really want to bartend, though. Have you ever done it? If not, maybe you could find a place that would let you do a work trial of sorts first?

I'm only thinking of your poor feet; the very thought of standing for that long is making my ankles swell as I type :D

[rucky]

29. Coyote Ugly?

Maybe not, but I'm sure many classy establishments would be happy to hire someone of your stature. Sounds fun, except for the hours.