I have had the weirdest last few months employment wise. From the top in a nutshell: Got laid off, took a year off, went back to school, then decided to get back into the workforce.
I started working for Bass Pro Shops (which I still work for) as a receiving clerk. I actually really love this job! No customer interaction, I walk through the store to the time clock, I go back to receiving and I do not see the store again until I clock out and leave for the day. This is perfect for me! I am very focused and I hate being interrupted by customers. Direct customer service is not my thing. However, futuristically this job has no progression for me. The only way to progress is to relocate (and that sure as heck isn't going to happen) or if my boss quit because his position is the only position I would want and I still don't even know if I would want it. So even though I loved the job, I had to start looking for something a little more promising.
I found a job at the hospital as an inventory clerk part time. It is SO hard to get into the hospital. So the fact that I got in was AMAZING. Everyone was asking what I did to get the job because they were trying to get their foot in the door etc etc etc. Well, turns out I hate the job! It wasn't "inventory" it was more like picking, packing, and stocking. NOT what I applied for. Job was falsely advertised. Also, we did this on a receiving dock that we had to share with housekeeping so we were working next to dirty linen baskets AND we also worked next to the morgue. This is just not me! So after 3 weeks, I put in my 2 weeks (meanwhile I am still swinging Bass Pro). I put my 2 weeks in contingent on 2 factors: 1) I thought I had a VERY promising chance at another job and 2) I was going to do taxes part time temporarily at night for a tax company that offered training. Well, those two options both fell through. The other company decided to go with another candidate and then when I went to sign up for the tax training, all the slots were filled! So now at this time I am only working 15 hours at Bass Pro.
They knew I was at the hospital, but I did not want to tell them about my personal life job wise of everything that was going on because I knew I was going to keep looking for employment else where so I kept quiet and kept everything as it was.
I am going to redirect the story for a minute, I need IVF to have babies, but it is VERY expensive! There are only 15 states that have insurance mandates on IVF and unfortunately, Florida is not one of them. However, I found out that there is a loophole that says, if you work for a company that is headquartered in a mandated state they will pay for your IVF no matter what state you reside in! So I got to work and did some research.
I haves pages chocked full of my research on companies that meet this criteria: headquartered in mandated states and also within driving distance. So, I applied to tons of them! Low and behold, one of them calls me back for an interview asks if I can be there in 2 hours and I agreed. The manager pretty much hires me on the spot. He said his receiving clerk is retiring in June and he would love for me to take on that roll, but I would have to cashier until then, but he would start me at a higher rate for that position and it would be a good way to learn the store. Well hey, I have a promise of a position I want and a promise of my IVF being payed for so I told him I could sacrifice some stuff to get where I needed to go and he said great and that I was hired.
Side note: Still working at Bass Pro, but this time I told them only becuase I had to drop my 15 hours to 6-8 hours a week. My boss said that he would help me stay because I was great part of the team blah blah blah so we agreed on Fridays because that is his busiest day. I had also dropped off my resume at the county sheriff's dept for an arrests records clerk that same day of the interview.
It happened so fast that I had no time to research anything further. I started working and I was excited that there was FINALLY a light at the end of the tunnel. But then one day I started thinking, "what if." What if the insurance won't cover it and I am wrong (because there are exclusions). Naaaaah. I already did the research, there's no way! But I kept having that nagging "what if" in the back of my head. So I called the insurance company and the girl said no it wasn't covered,, but could not tell me why and honestly, she sounded like an idiot. The next day the county called me back and asked if I would come in and take a test, it was procedure before they called for interviews. So I did. The women told me that some tests were time and some weren't, but the prompts would tell me. She did not tell me, however, that the whole test as a whole was timed, I only had an hour to complete it. So I took my sweet time making sure I did everything correct, followed directions, and double checked my answers. An hour went by then she entered the room and told me she had to stop me because she had more people waiting. Well that posed a problem because I was not finished with the last two tests so I was going to get a 0. She said she had no idea how that would be handled, but I wasn't the first one unable to finish...Ummmm HUH? Like seriously. ugh. I was so ticked off. So I chopped that up to be a bust!
Then I decided to call the insurance company again. The next girl told me that there was no way to get the insurance coverage information without my employers group ID and account #. I said okay, thanks and hung up. This STILL made no sense to me, but I wasn't in the mood to deal with it. So I waited until the next day and I called again. This time I finally got someone competent. He told me that the insurance in fact would not pay because there is two types of insurance, self-funded and fully funded. Self funded means that even though the company uses that insurance, they pay the bill. Fully funded means the insurance company pays the bill and fully funded are the only ones that apply for the mandate. Well This company is self funded and self funded companies are apart of the exclusions from the IVF mandate. Which means they get to decided what they will and will not pay for since they are fronting the bill. And they opt not to pay for IVF. So now I hate cashiering and there is no reason for me to be working there. But, I am still at a loss. I don't want to go back AGAIN to Bass Pro and say, I know it's only been a week and a half, but that turned out to be a bust. So I just decide to not make any rash decisions and I'll just keep working until I sort it out.
The next day I get a call from a company that found my resume on a job board and wants me to come in for interview for a warehouse manager position. If I NEVER did that research, I would have flat out said "no thanks." Thank the Lord I did the research when I did. This is GREAT news. So I schedule an interview for a few days later. The interview seemed to go decent, but there were so many things I left out that I should have said and I didn't. These people have such poker faces that I had no idea what was going through their heads. I am normally pretty good at perceiving if I am going to get hired or not and I had not a clue. But they said the typical "Okay well, we will call you in a few days and tell you either way." That's not normally a good sign. Usually if you hear that cliche statement, you can chop it up to be a bust. The next day no phone call. So now I I really figured it was a bust. The next day I had the worst day at work, so bad that I wanted to walk out in the middle of shift, but because the GM has been so good to me, out of respect I didn't. I took my lunch break and I literally just felt like crying. I hated this job, I was only sacrificing for IVF and now I feel completely stuck and lost and had the rug ripped out from under me. This job I interviewed for was a bust, the sheriffs office was a bust and I was back to square one, possibly even one or two steps behind it.
Then on my lunch break I noticed I did not have a missed called, but I did have a new voice-mail. So I checked it and it was HR calling to make me an offer to become their warehouse manager! I have never been so excited in my entire life. I went in the two days later, on Valentines Day, and signed the offer letter and everything was official. And still out of respect (even though I didn't want to) I gave this company that I have only worked for for two weeks my two weeks.
This new job is a small local business that has a small warehouse that has recently contracted with an entrepreneur who created a direct sales business that does cataloged jewelry parties in the style of Pamper Chef, PartyLite, and Mary Kay and such. Not only is this women an entrepreneur, but she has a doctorate in theology and is a motivational speaker! I am so happy to have the opportunity to have my own team, my own warehouse, to work with such a great company who is contracted with an amazing women of business and of God. Even at my lowest point I kept my integrity and did what was right and what I needed to do to keep moving forward even though I felt like I was going in reverse and I really feel that I was blessed for it! This is not my "dream" job per se, but it is my chance to finally prove myself and show my skills. To finally not be used and abused for pennies for these companies that really do not care about me or the fact that I bust my ever living behind for them. This is a smaller company, but from what I can tell they really care about their employees and they have a wonderful HR team. I cannot wait to embarked on this new journey and grow with this company. The company is not new, but this particular operation is and I am excited being brought on board as they are working out the bugs. I have two weeks until I start officially and I have a meeting next week to go over the essentials. All my experience in the last six months really have equipped me with what I needed to be in a leadership roll after working from home for two and half years and not working at all the last year. Feeling so blessed, excited, and anxious!
What about Bass Pro? They have a program called the PACE program. In a nutshell, you have to work at least one day every three months or agree to come in at least once in three phone calls from your boss to stay on payroll and still receive your discount. Sooooo, I'm going to do that! I still like it there, I can't let it go completely just yet! =]
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