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What kind of job...

5K views 67 replies 22 participants last post by  DraftyAiresMum 
#1 ·
So, I find myself looking for a new job.

I currently am the operations manager of a 55-room Days Inn in my hometown. I have been in this position for a year and a half, after the former GM was let go due to MANY issues. I was with the company as a front desk agent for a year before being promoted.

In the last year and a half, I have had more problems with employees than I ever imagined possible. I've also had more stress than I ever imagined possible. The problem is that the owner of the hotel (my direct supervisor/boss) doesn't care. As long as we're making money, he doesn't give two figs.

I took this hotel from barely maintaining a 55-60% occupancy average, to maintaining a steady 80% occupancy average. We went from nights when we barely had ten rooms sold, to being 35 rooms or more every single night. Most weekends, we are 100% sold out. In 2014 (the year before I took over), we barely made $850K. Last year (my first year as manager), we made just over $1M. This year, we are projected to make at least $1.3M.

My biggest issue is that I'm not paid nearly enough (and the owner has no desire to increase my pay) for what I do. I am, for all intents and purposes, the general manager. The owner calls and emails me any time day or night to take care of issues, whether I'm at the hotel or it's my day off. I wasn't even able to enjoy my honeymoon in October because he and my employees were constantly calling and emailing me. If anyone calls in or needs time off, I'm the one to cover because any time there is overtime, I'm the one who gets my butt chewed for it. For all this, I'm salary and make $2400 per month (before taxes...after taxes and my child support are taken out, I make $800 each check).

He also tells me "You're the manager. You take care of it." But, when I try to take care of the situation, he either doesn't back me up or makes it impossible for me to take care of it. He constantly sides with the other employees against me, if they go to him with a complaint that I'm not handling stuff the way they want me to.

I can't handle the stress anymore. On Saturday (with the owner here), I was having severe chest pain. Not one of my employees or the owner gave two figs. If one of my employees was showing the signs I was on Saturday, I would have called someone in to cover their shift and sent them home or to the ER. The stress and constant issues are also effecting my marriage.

Looking for a new job is never fun, but it's really never fun when you don't have a degree, live in a small town, and have really varied and disparate experience. I've worked at a vet's office, worked rental cars, worked at/managed a hotel, worked retail, worked fast food, and done office work. I'm a handful of semesters away from my bachelor's in English (two classes and I could have my associate's in general studies). I am very good with people and have been told that I have a very professional phone persona. I was even told once, when I worked for Goodwill and we had to do announcements every hour, that I had a voice made for radio. To this day, four years after I left Goodwill, if I'm in the store and it's time for an announcement, they will hand me the phone so that I can do the announcement. I am a fast typist (75 WPM+), know how to use pretty much all manner of office equipment, and can figure out computer programs quickly.

So, were you I, what types of jobs would you apply for?
 
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#6 ·
DH and I have been tossing around the idea of just picking up and moving somewhere we've never been. Making a fresh start, as it were. Neither one of us like big cities, though. We both lived in Tucson for a number of years and we just didn't like it at all

How are you with kids?

With a degree in English you could get into teaching....maybe not less stress, but a different kind of stress.
Actually, my original plan (years ago) was to be a high school English teacher. I don't like the politics of teaching, though, and Arizona teachers don't make hardly anything (my mom retired from teaching 4th grade after my senior year in high school making the same amount I make now...she'd been teaching since I was in the 4th grade).
 
#3 ·
Literally everything that sounds remotely like something you want/are able to do. You have a good amount of customer service and retail experience I would look for management positions in those areas. Finding someone to manage a restaurant or a store that is a competent, hard working individual and isn't going to flake out is very hard. If I were in your shoes I would be looking for restaurant management, maybe a different hotel chain, stores. You may even be able to find a good secretary job if you look in the right places. Maybe local government or local businesses.

I would just apply for everything that sounds good to you, go for jobs that you might not think you have the experience for and jobs that you know you do. The not having a degree may hurt you a bit, but just cinch that associates and you'll have something more to put on your resume, I know that isn't helpful right now but long term it will definitely help you.

Best of luck, hopefully you can find something that doesn't make you absolutely miserable and makes you feel better and brings in more money.
 
#8 ·
LOL! Thanks, Tiny. I'm a sometime-writer/aspiring novelist...who never has time to write. :-p Writing doesn't pay the bills, unfortunately.

I had considered going to work for U-Haul as a home-based customer service rep (they call it a "moonlighting" position). The old assistant manager that worked at the hotel when I started is doing that and she's making $2000 a month working 25 hours per week from home. Biggest issue is that I no longer have a computer (my laptop died a few weeks ago) and I don't have internet (we can't afford it right now).
 
#9 ·
I know this is going to sound like an excuse, but we can't take the heat. We both grew up in the high country. It gets over 85F and we're melting. The six years I spent in Tucson (which isn't even as hot as the Phoenix area) were absolutely miserable because of the heat.
 
#14 ·
@Reiningcatsanddogs, when I say I don't like the politics of teaching, it's not the interpersonal/office politics. It's the having what I teach dictated to me that I don't like or want. I know many teachers personally and all of them have said that (and parents who think they're child is special) are the reason they hate teaching.
@Dreamcatcher Arabians, sorry! I'm doing three things at once and my mind still isn't back from this past weekend and all the issues there.
 
#15 ·
You can make a very compelling, data driven case about what you've accomplished as a manager. I don't know how the corporate structure of Days Inn works, but, could you figure out how to get transferred to another hotel in a place you'd like to live? And if not that chain, a different one? I'm not sure that the stress would necessarily go down, but perhaps it would be more tolerable with a more pleasant direct manager.
 
#17 ·
Days Inn is owned by the Wyndham Worldwide Hotel Group. Each Days Inn is a franchise, so is privately owned and operated. There is no transferring directly between hotels, unless they are owned by the same franchisee. The owner of my hotel owns a Super 8 in Monteagle, TN, but I really don't want to continue to work for him. I have known people who worked for years in the hotel business without the insane level of stress I endure from the owner alone. My stress doesn't come from the customers. They're easy, even when they're being unreasonable.

I bet you'd be good at event planning. weddings, corporate affairs. I know that is not something available in your area, but if you did decide to move.

Is you husband interested or willing to move, to seek better employment?

If you want to work in the hotel industry, things that are related to conventions would be a good thing, but you'd have to live in a city where they DO conventions. life here is very expensive, but, it's COOL, and there is A LOT of work here. the economy is booming here.
Like I said, we're tossing around the idea of a fresh start. I hate uncertainty and tend to stress over the details, like "where will we live?" and "how are we going to pay for moving?" and "how will the animals handle the move?"
 
#16 ·
I bet you'd be good at event planning. weddings, corporate affairs. I know that is not something available in your area, but if you did decide to move.

Is you husband interested or willing to move, to seek better employment?

If you want to work in the hotel industry, things that are related to conventions would be a good thing, but you'd have to live in a city where they DO conventions. life here is very expensive, but, it's COOL, and there is A LOT of work here. the economy is booming here.
 
#18 ·
Teaching English to Adults might be a possibility too? I worked for a while for an international language training company that had both online lessons (via skype) and in-person lessons where they match the client with the teacher based on location. Also had group lessons. As far as I know they didnt ask for a degree, just for experience/a study going in that direction (not necessarily finished). Something like that might work for you, at least until you find something else. The great thing about that was the flexible hours. I have no idea about the pay for teachers though (I was a developer). If you would be interested in that pm me and I'll give you their contact information :)
 
#19 ·
Personally I don't know where you should go to work but do think sticking with management would be a good career choice in the long run. Here's the thing, management is always on call 24/7 so if that is a non starter for you then management might not be the way to go after all.

Think I've shared this on here before but this is why I think you should stick to management. I know someone who started out frying at a fast food joint. When they got an associates in business they were promoted to manager and turned the joint around financially. After being moved to a couple more distressed restraunts and turning them around, promotion to regional manager trainer. Lost contact with them but heard viathe grapevine they've really worked their way up in management and making a healthy 6 figure income.
 
#20 ·
I don't mind being on call 24/7 for the staff. They have questions, I have answers. I get it. It's the not being able to get a day off at all and the owner getting pissy when I DO take a day off that's the problem. My husband was in the ER last week with severe chest pain (he's 46 and works construction, so his boss's first thought was a heart attack and immediately took him to the ER). It was my day off and I spent it in the ER from 10am until almost 3pm. My staff was great about not calling me. The owner emailed me four times and then finally called the hotel about something that could have waited until Thursday when I got back to the hotel (this was on a Tuesday). When the assistant manager told him that I was in the ER with my husband, he got all huffy and said "Well, she could at least answer my emails!"

I know people in management and they have all been absolutely appalled that the owner expects me to be at his absolute beck and call all the time.
 
#22 ·
The thing is about management, you can move up and also across (managing a hotel is training for managing conventions, restaurants, stores etc). It is a skill not that many people have and every business needs. Teaching is low paying and the only way to move up is, guess what, into management. Ditto some other things people have suggested.

I would research locations that you and your husband might both enjoy and find good jobs in. City-Data is a good forum for that kind of research. Once you've narrowed it to a few, start looking for jobs in those areas in your field. I wouldn't change fields and relocate at the same time, too stressful.

For me, moving is about climate and culture and job opportunities, probably in that order although they all have to be there. Myself, inexpensive land that grows grass at least part of the time would be on the list.
 
#23 ·
Cost of living is going to be a huge issue for us. Right now, we're living in an area where the cost of living is relatively high compared to the average wage. It's a retirement area, mainly, so the jobs available are either skilled (like healthcare) or completely unskilled (like food service). There is no middle-of-the-road, really. $10/hr is considered a decent wage, but it's not enough to live on. For comparison, my rent is $850 a month on a three-bedroom two-bath manufactured home that is in desperate need of repairs that sits on a fenced acre. It does have its own well, which is rare out where we live, but we have to buy propane. My DH makes $11/hr and wouldn't be able to afford this place on his own. Our rent is on the VERY low end of the spectrum, without getting into the really rundown ghetto places.

I should add that another reason for leaving my current job is the lack of benefits of any kind. No medical, no vision, no dental, no 401K. We do get vacation, but that just started this year. My DH's ER visit is going to be probably $30K+ and, since neither of us have medical through our jobs, we will be paying it off until the end of time.
 
#27 ·
Exactly. I choked when I saw how much the premium was. Hence the reason why I was so reticent to go to the doctor/ER this past Saturday, despite severe chest pains. Of course, it's cheaper for us to go to the ER and put the visit on minimum payments than it is to get health insurance, so... :shrug:
 
#29 ·
Since you have a radio voice have you thought about applying at a radio station?

If you like customer service banking could be a choice. Pay wasn't great but their benefit package was which included paying for college courses. Something to check into, I'm not sure all banks offer that but the 2 different ones I worked at did. At that time you didn't have to make any commitment to them either as far as staying for a certain amount of time so you could work there for a few years to finish your degree and then find another job that paid better. You also meet a lot of contacts when you work in a branch as opposed to the operations center.
 
#30 ·
If you're looking for a country feel with city amenities and jobs, want green grass and cheap hay... why not head this direction? Cost of living is low compared to AZ and CA, it's a city with a small-town feel with a TON of Government contractors (which means lots of higher-end hotels), lots of construction - both housing and large business type structures - and all the service industries that support the above. There's a huge Army base, several quality hospitals (if you want to consider a medical admin type job) and - best of all - hundreds of job openings! :) You'd even have a place to keep Drafty until you got settled in!
 
#31 ·
I was going to suggest the same thing, change!!!

I am one narrow state north....but for sheetrock hanging labor you could have an efficiency appartment in my barn. All of the pieces are there, just some assembly required. Covered arena, trails or fairly quiet roads to ride on....

5 miles to the nearest hotel or manufacturing plant!
 
#32 ·
Drafty, have you considered trying the medical field? My job as a dialysis tech requires no healthcare experience, it is all on the job training, pay is pretty good, and full benefits pkg. If you can handle the sight of blood, and the occasional barfing patient, might be worth checking out. PM if you are interested. (oh and we are everywhere)!
 
#33 ·
I think my parents would die if they had another child move back east. lol My brother moved to Georgia seven years ago and I don't think my parents have ever forgiven him. :lol:

I'm gonna sit down with DH this weekend and have a talk about what we want to do. I know that our landlord is coming by this weekend with a realtor to price the house for sale. Originally they were going to keep renting, but go through a property management company, but I think they have realized that the house needs way too much work to make it actually liveable/rentable for the amount they want, so they've decided to sell as-is.
 
#37 ·
Some of the most lucrative jobs in this country come from the construction industry. Have you thought about going into that and working in the office? My mother works as a timekeeper in the office on a plant job and she makes pretty good money. I myself am out in the field and pull a $1700 check each week (before taxes that is). If you can stand to be in the field, you could probably get a job as a holewatch or firewatch making $15-$20 an hour.
 
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