Employer is holding me back from earning more money

fabforty

But at post 9, OP says that s/he loves their job and doesn't want another one, and appears to be looking at just one solution - increasing their hours in their current post. Not considering solution number two, which would be finding a full time temporary job elsewhere.

amy_lou_4

If I were them, I would still casually look because you never know what is out there! And, like I said in my previous post, it might make their employers realise that they are serious about needing more hours and more money. Speculatively looking for a job does not mean taking up a new one, unless they find something fabulous (hah, she says...)
I guess they don't have any kind of regional management meetings where the bosses can get together and talk about this? I plead ignorance on that one, but there does seem to be a lack of communication between them.

zenmaster

Hi Sarah.

There are some harsh posts here from people who seem to be missing the point/setting their own agenda.

Would it be possible for you to do an internal transfer to the other branch on a full time basis?

[Deleted User]

thank you zenmaster and everyone else for their advice!

unfortunately I can't transfer to the other branch and i doubt they'd be able to give me full time hours anyway - but i could look into this..

the area manager has said that the second branch comes first which means the only person who is standing in the way and making things complicated is my manager!

i have just heard from the second branch and they have given me some hours (only one day so far but heyho it's better than nothing and hopefully there will be more to follow!) She has explained that she is going to ring my manager on Monday and will put my case across and will also tell her that the area manager says I need to put the second branch first not my original one. She is going to tell me how it goes...

I am going to talk to my manager on tuesday about it and if I feel that things are still unresolved and i am not satisfied, I will ring my area manager and ask what she can do.

I agree that I did not go to Uni to stack shelves but that is not the point. Like zenmaster said, most of you are missing the point - I work in a busy high-street shop and work very hard. I am not afraid of hard work or doing a job I don't like (i've done them before when money was tight and i accepted it)..but as someone said, it's a choice between liking my current job or getting another than I didn't and getting paid more. I've made the choice to stay in my current job and not earn quite as much as say, working full-time as an xmas temp in boots/morrisons...the main issue is the hours are there and I am asking for advice on how to go about ensuring i get them. I think people that are unhappy with their sad lives and the wasted years that they have spent being miserable in jobs shouldn't say anything at all if they are going to be nasty and patronizing!

By the way, i don't live near a big city and job prospects are VERY limited where I live. This is making it very hard to find a job let alone getting one linked to my degree. But that isn't really what I even want..ofcourse I would love a 'career' job one day but right now, I am happy to work in retail - yes i got a degree from one of the top 10 universities in the country and often get treated like a complete idiot by horrible customers but it's easy money and i'm not oblivious to my capabilities.

I totally appreciate what the lady said about working horrible jobs such as gutting chickens - my mum used to do that! I guess over a forum such as this, people read between the lines, make assumptions and think that my problem is insignificant (which it is compared to many others'!) however, it is making me quite stressed!

:] and it has been very interesting to read how people have totally misinterpreted and misjudged my post to conclude that I am a lazy graduate!

gem4

I can understand you wanting to stay in a job you know and love, and its useful that you can also work more hours in another branch to top up your primary hours. I do feel however that you are putting loyalty to your first manager ahead of your own needs, possibly because you have been there a long time and you build up a friendly relationship over time.

If you have the backing of your area manager concerning the second shop, I would approach them for more hours and explain to your current shop manager that whilst you feel some loyalty to her she has had many opportunities to offer you more hours without doing so and that now you must think of what's best for yourself. She may decide that if she's going to lose you she would be better off giving you fixed hours.

You also need to weigh up the costs in time and travel to go to the second shop versus your first shop. It may not be cost effective to travel further on a regular basis.
Whatever you decide I think the area manager is your key person in this situation, not your current manager. Good luck.. I work in retail, it's a hard call.

Oneday77

Lets see is I can summarise the facts: -
1) Home Branch Manager is being obstructive
2) Away Branch Manager is welcome for the help
3) You work for a big retail chain
4) Your going travelling in 3 months time
5) People think your shirking work
6) Student bashing seems to be fair game

1), 2) & 3) It isn't really down to whether the home manager wants you to work in the other store. If you choose to get a transfer and the second manager promises you a new contract with minimum hours. If it is a large chain they have an HR department that you can talk to, what are the minimum hours on your initial contract.
4) If your going travelling, are there any hours going in the local bars, pubs or clubs? They will be open out of retail hours, you get experience to work in pubs whilst travelling and you get extra cash whilst keeping the other job.
5) & 6) Yes it does seem that the OP needs some harsh love but really people please read the facts of a post as listed above. I worked in Retail for over 10 years, I was very knowledgeable with what I did. In the end I never got the respect of the majority of customers or management. If the OP is in a position where they actually enjoy the retail job for now don't knock it. I bet if everyone worked in retail for a minimum of 2 weeks over christams shop staff would get a lot more respect.
For the record I now no longer work in retail, thank god but some people need to for what ever reason. I have an HND but due to no related job experience I don't even get interviews in the direct computing field I wan't after over 2 years now. Just glad I took the first job that came along just the wrong branch of computers I wanted to tide me by.

Jomo

dave4545454 wrote: »

no, they are looking for someone with experience in the job they are advertising, not experience in shelf stacking. there are many graduates who have started shelf stacking and find they are still stuck in that job 10 years later.

the crazy thing is that the government says there's a skills shortage in this country. there are many millions with skills but the lack of skilled jobs for them to do. the only place where there is an actual skills shortage is in the house of commons

Not very ambitious at all then

Seriously though, there are so many graduates these days...a few are sure to fall by the wayside.


And to the OP, not many would feel guilty about taking any work before going off on their travels, thoughtful of you I must say!

honeyD

smidge_smudge wrote: »

i don't agree.
work to live don't live to work.

Here here! :T
My Husband says this. He was in a job which he thought was going places until they realised he was too valuable in a certain position they had him in so they stopped training him for the "big job" of running part of the company by himself which is what they offered him. They wanted him to do overtime every day, and not just talking a couple of hours here either. He would do it most of the time but not every time they asked as we were newly married and did have plans sometimes! The HR woman ended up being a right nasty person and went above his managers heads to the big boss and had him fired though everyone else wanted him to stay. To top it all she offered him a role on the end of a production line for minimum wage. What a slap in the face. Oh and he worked his backside off for this company, made them thousands of pounds every day! So he wasnt lazy, just didnt live to work, he works to live! So glad hes out of that company now. It closed not too long after he left and they had major complaints from a big big company which bought from them over the quality of products since he wasnt there to check them. :rotfl:
Sorry for the ramble! Good luck with whatever you do..

Jomo

honeyD wrote: »

Here here! :T
My Husband says this. He was in a job which he thought was going places until they realised he was too valuable in a certain position they had him in so they stopped training him for the "big job" of running part of the company by himself which is what they offered him. They wanted him to do overtime every day, and not just talking a couple of hours here either. He would do it most of the time but not every time they asked as we were newly married and did have plans sometimes! The HR woman ended up being a right nasty person and went above his managers heads to the big boss and had him fired though everyone else wanted him to stay. To top it all she offered him a role on the end of a production line for minimum wage. What a slap in the face. Oh and he worked his backside off for this company, made them thousands of pounds every day! So he wasnt lazy, just didnt live to work, he works to live! So glad hes out of that company now. It closed not too long after he left and they had major complaints from a big big company which bought from them over the quality of products since he wasnt there to check them. :rotfl:
Sorry for the ramble! Good luck with whatever you do..

I do agree with you, you can't let some of these companies treat you in such a way it isn't right.

If you live to work I think you are on a quicker path to reach the top though, I've met some very very ambitious folk in my time and they didn't get to where they are by not jumping through hoops (so to speak!).

I also think that (work to live, live to work...) saying allows some people to take benefits route. The amount of people on here (especially graduates) who will not consider certain jobs that are available because they consider themselves over qualified, which may be the case but in a recession you have to take what you can get and keep you eye on the market for other 'suitable' positions to come up.

seven-day-weekend

You cannot force either manager to give you more hours, all you can do is ask. If there are no more hours available and you don't want to leave, then see if you can get something somewhere else doing a twilight shift until you go travelling.

(I would not be at all surprised to find you worked in a well-known cheap clothes shop!).