I’m in the US, no degree, and absolutely sick to death of working in retail.
I’ve tried all the jobs website. They haven’t even gotten me an interview. The only job search method that’s ever given me results is to think of businesses near me and apply to them directly. But that only leaves me working more retail, since public facing businesses are all I’m interacting with.
I just want a job that pays my bills, and lets me work on a consistent schedule. I’m so sick of having my hours constantly whipped back and forth. I just want to go to bed at the same time every day.
Work in security/as a security guard
The baseline pay is decent, and if you want you can get certifications that up you’re wage by a bit
OT is plentiful and the job is a joke TBH all I did was walk around and wave to people for the most part
Look for local governments, maybe parks and rec, waste water, transportation. Learn to type fast to pass the typing test, learn word and excel, and if possible systems like workday or other time and personnel software. You sometimes do not need a degree for those assistant positions
Another thing to consider: learning a trade.
I don’t know what the trades are like in the USA but here in the UK, once you have a tradesperson you like and who does an above-average job, you go back to that same person until they retire.
It could be anything people need. Electrics or plumbing are high-skill trades and really well paid. Cleaning is a good low-skill trade, it’s hard work but it’s a job for life. Buy some tools, get good at it. Start with windows, they’re easy and basically everyone needs it, and all you need is a squeegee, a clean towel, and a bucket. Get a dedicated business phone number and email address. Print up some flyers with fixed prices (find out what other local businesses are charging and undercut them slightly until you get on your feet) and your business phone number on, and distribute them as far as your legs will carry you.
In the US very few employers in licensed trades are willing to apprentice anyone anymore so it can be difficult to find your way in
The trades are run by white supremisist gangs
mmmkay
Nepotism. Who’s your daddy and what does he do?
My dad’s a gynecologist. He looks at vaginas all day long.
And if he bites you, you get rabies and die
If you’re reasonably good at using computers (you probably are if you’re posting here?), you should be able to find office jobs where your job is to enter information into computers or do similar “secretary”-like tasks. But I don’t know what it’s like in your area.
Try some sort of construction or electrical installations.
Then you learn useful skills, AND youll likely be one of the smarter people there (Lotta folks are the kind who drink a 30 pack of Busch and go to the strip club daily. Not exactly geniuses). so eventually you can get into designing drafting or management.
Or just look into drafting. Read up on how factories work. We need smart engineer type people.
Otherwise , movie theater or bowling alley? Arcade? Those jobs are hell of a lot better than Walmart. Pays shit tho.
Or, janitor. We always need people to clean. Hell, even with my full time job, I cleaned offices on weekends because it was so easy and gave me extra cash. In my case I did it alone which was great, headphones in and just clean.
It’s been decades now, but when I was still in school I worked for a temporary employment agency for a couple summers. I had an interview with them so they could get a feel for my qualifications, then they would line me up with random office jobs that could last anywhere from one or two days to a month or more. For most of one summer I worked in the mailroom of a law office.
If you can find an employment agency like that near you it might be a good way to get your foot in the door. Keep your eyes open wherever they send you and see if there might be chances for longer term jobs. The experience of being a temp with a good work ethic can also look good on a resume.
Temporary agencies was always how my wife always found work. She had old school office training in high school, so she could always get a temp job, and sooner later she’d find one that would last a few months, and eventually they’d just want her to stay on permanently. It never failed to get her job somewhere.
Spend a few months in Vocational school > massage therapist > pass all the licensure tests > earn around $500/day working at a spa.
In country out-sourcing, i.e., Quest Global, Cyient, Belcan. Bigger Companies use outsource labor for certain work, and doesnt pick the resources (people) the outsourcer uses to accomplish the work. if you can do Excel and are reliable, theres hope.
All happens locally often having you work on site at Bigger Company with a different color badge. Less resistance to hiring underqualified people this way. Typically small contained scope tasks not worth having a company man do, but excellent industry exposure. Once youre there you could see if its viable to apply to Bigger Company later, or what you need to be able to. Worth a look if you have something like that nearby.
my condolences OP
jobs are bullshit and public-facing ones are especially brutal
Don’t know where you are. But look at the directories for business parks and office buildings around you.
Check if your state requires a guard card. If so spend 100 bucks get one, it not go apply to a security company.
Make anywhere form 20 bucks an hour to 30 bucks an hour depending on where you are.
The work is basically brain dead and has zero physical requirements beyond being able to stand, walk and breath at the same time.
Security work is mostly paper work and staying awake. If you want to invest into it then armed work can make 30-40 an hour and if you REALLY invest into it the nicer companies with high end contracts basically have no upper limit on how much you can make.
But for your run of the mill guard, your basically just a modern day butler. You just watch shit, fill out reports and call the cops for the property owner when things actually happen.
If you can swing the time and tuition, every urban hospital needs CNAs. It’s probably the least schooling for the most job security. Phlebotomy as well. Hospitals also, historically, offer cheaper/better health care if you stay in house.
Mileage will vary a lot by location, in terms of pay and such, but it’s worth looking into. In adfition, it shows you options and offers tuition reimbursement.
Hospitals, not long term care. The latter is awful, in most locations.
Barring that, there’s no schooling options like EVS and logistics/supply runners. The latter will be among the first cuts if Congress allows further cuts to Medicaid or Medicare.
Nursing?? But OP said “lets me work on a consistent schedule. I’m so sick of having my hours constantly whipped back and forth. I just want to go to bed at the same time every day.”
I don’t think nursing is very forgiving in that regard. They alternate 3 shifts, 24/7, constantly changing it around. No consistent schedules, and say goodbye to going to bed at the same time every day.
You’re right. Granted, consistent rotations or lack thereof will vary by both employer and manager. RN or CMA at a clinic will have consistent weekday scheduling. Same with the non-degrees roles.
Patient registration is an option. Retail experience will likely count in her favor.
You could look into a government job. It’s kinda fraught with the current administration, but there are lots of entry level government jobs with regular schedules and decent benefits.
Another possibility is care work or whatever it’s called. I have a few friends who work in housing for the developmentally disabled and I’ve seen listings for jobs in psych wards/mental health type places that don’t have any degree requirements. There’s probably similar jobs in elder care too that don’t have any degree requirements.
I can’t really speak for today, because I know things are way different than they were before when I got out of retail
But I can tell you what worked for me and maybe you can apply something from it to your own situation
Save up enough money and buy your own tools, for me that was a $200 in 2013 computer. Sounds cheap today but it was a very tough purchase to make at the time without help and with bills to pay. Learn something that can be applied elsewhere using ‘free’ resources (r/piracy, FMHY, and your local Library would be the equivalent today). For me that was learning to use Linux, CAD and other modeling software in ways traditionally educated people at the time did not leverage them, and that edge got my foot in the door
Oh, and before you get your hopes up on the regular sleep schedule bit, I spent the past +decade swapping between nights and days every single week after getting out of retail. Now there’s also a baby in the picture and we won’t afford child care so sleep is a pipe dream. Maybe 2-4 hours a day if I’m lucky. Been that way for over a year now
Retrospectively my schedule then of 4-10:30 on week days so I could go to school and 5am-2pm weekends to get enough hours to pay the bills was amazing. Pay sucked though. So did them playing with my hours to keep me part time without full time benefits.
