Posts Tagged ‘job’

A New Year, a New Job: Resolving to Land Your Dream Job

If you’re working in a job that you may not love, it may be hard to find the motivation to look for something new. Sometimes the feeling that you’re not going anywhere in your current position can hold you back from seeking new opportunities, or maybe the people you work with are why you stay. Whatever your reason, the New Year is a great time to evaluate your current situation and seek out opportunities that will benefit you. Here we’ll explore some tips for resolving to find your dream job:
1.  Take Stock.
Take a step back and really evaluate your current situation. Is there something you could do in your current position to make it bearable for you, like avoid that nasty co-worker as best you can, speak up about what’s making you unhappy, or start a new project with the fun, creative person you’ve been meaning to work with? Keep in mind that finding a new job is not a quick, easy task in most cases, so if your situation is such that you must earn a paycheck, might as well make it quasi-enjoyable.

2.  Evaluate Yourself.
The goal here is to land a job that will make you happy, so it’s best to choose one that fits you. Make a list of your ideal job, and a list of your qualities (ask friends, trusted co-workers, family to help). As you’re job hunting, keep the list beside you so that you only apply to the jobs that fit your requirements.

3.  Review your Benefits.
If it’s a raise you’re after that you’re not getting, take a look at the entire picture. If you receive benefits, make sure you are utilizing them to their full capacity. Check to see if your company does 401K contributions, or if your company-paid medical insurance has a gym membership reimbursement, or maybe it offers free yearly physicals for preventative care. All of these things equal more money for you, even though you may not see it in your paycheck. It’s good to keep this in mind while job hunting, so you can be sure you’re making an equal switch or moving up salary-wise.

4.  Do your research.
As they say, the grass is always greener. Make sure you do plenty of research on the companies you’re applying to. Glassdoor.com has reviews of companies direct from employees that can shed light on company culture. If you know anyone that works at the company, that’s even better. If you’re going to make a switch for the money, be sure that you’re confident it is the right move. The last thing you want to do is make a big salary move for a job that is so terrible that you’re never in a good mood to enjoy your accomplishment.

5.  Stick with it!
Remember that you’re being selective- your dream job may not fall into your lap right away. Keep applying and interviewing, at least it will give you good experience. Think positive and don’t give up!

Have any other tips? Success stories? Leave them in the comments!

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Posted: Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013

The Illest Advice for Dealing with Sick Employees

So today I’ve been struggling to fight off a bad cold, and even though I feel miserable, I figured I should at the very least be somewhat productive and write a blog from home. And since being sick is on my mind, I thought maybe that could be my topic of the day: Being sick in the workplace.

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, I had worked in the restaurant industry for many years. I was a prep cook in high school, a server in college and a bartender after college. In some of the places I’ve worked, if I wasn’t feeling well, they would send me home until I felt better. In others, going home wasn’t an option and I was forced to tough it out. I know that different restaurants have different policies on sick days, and most part-time workers don’t get paid sick time off from work. Especially in the food service industry. Check out the chart below.

 

 

I came to a loose conclusion that if a part-time restaurant employee chooses to go home from being sick, they have obviously weighed their options of making money or not. Most people would like to make money, unless they are so sick that it’s worth it to them to go home. Yet despite this, some employers will not let you off the hook for being sick. Whether it’s a matter of the employee being unable to find someone to cover their shift, attempting to call off too close to the start of a shift, or an employee suddenly falling ill at work, sometimes staying or going home isn’t an option without consequences.

I decided to take a look at the pros and cons of keeping a sick employee at work. And to be clear, I’m not talking about an employee whining about having a sudden “headache” on a Saturday night shift so they can get out of work and party. Unfortunately, there are times when employees try to lie to get out of work (we’ll talk about that later). But in most cases, an employee’s genuine sickness can be obvious to co-workers and managers, too. I did some research on the Occupational Health and Safety website and found that CCH conducted an unscheduled absence survey in 2007. The results stated that 87% of employees that are ill and come to work have short-term sicknesses like the flu or a cold. We all know that those illnesses tend to have pretty visible (and audible) symptoms.

 

To better illustrate what I mean by sick on the job, here’s a personal story from one of my first restaurant gigs. On my way to work I was feeling crummy, but I went in anyway. My managers were not exactly what you’d call sympathetic people, and I knew calling off right before my shift could get me fired (it had happened to others before). Upon starting my 7-hour shift, I began feeling worse and worse. I told my manager that I was feeling like I had the flu and he told me to get back to work. I did. Two hours later, I had to start making quick trips to the staff bathroom to vomit. When I gathered up the courage to tell him that, he acted as if I was lying, and told me to get back to work again. So I did, and eventually finished my shift.

I made it through (barely), but the fact that my job was preparing fresh food, such as salads, made me feel even worse just thinking of who I could have passed my illness onto. Each time I went into the bathroom to be sick I could see my skin had a greenish undertone. I had dark circles under my eyes and I looked terrible. It was visibly obvious to everyone in the kitchen that I was sick, but my boss wasn’t buying it. I don’t know what he had dealt with in the past, but I was certainly not an employee who had missed work more than you could count on one hand, and I had been there for over a year.

 

Years later, while serving at a different establishment, my manager noticed me sniffling and coughing a bit. He told me to go home and come back when I felt better. He said if I still wasn’t well by my next shift, we’d find someone to cover for me; no big deal. And that was that. I went home to recuperate and was back to work two days later.

I always wondered why my manager at the first restaurant refused to let me go home when I was obviously so ill. I think that perhaps he didn’t want to call around to find someone to replace me, but who knows. All I do know is that my germs were undoubtedly spread to the food I was preparing, and to my co-workers, despite my best efforts to cough and sneeze in the crook of my elbow, and by wearing rubber gloves and washing my hands obsessively. But what could I do? I was afraid if I went home that I’d be fired. And I wasn’t alone. The same CCH study also found that 49% of employees that come to work while sick do so because they are worried about getting in trouble if they don’t come in.

So now, without further ado, here’s my pros and cons list for requiring that a sick employee complete their shift:

 

PROS:

CONS:
  • Not having to find someone else to cover the shift, which means no disruption in work flow.
  • Showing your employees that you’re a serious and firm manager.

  • Sometimes an employee will want to stay and work if they need the money, no matter how sick they are. Forcing them to go home might be the safer choice, but it could anger your employee.

  • Not giving in to excuses from employees who frequently try to take time from work.

  • No dealing with sick leave if applicable.
  • It could be a liability for an employer to keep a sick employee at work if the illness turns out to be serious.
  • Germs will spread! If one employee is sick, your entire staff could wind up sick, and you can risk catching it as well.
  • The germs can also spread to the customers. Anyone who is sick should never be allowed to prepare or handle someone else’s food. Would you want to eat your dinner if you know the cook who prepared it had a bad cold?
  • Employees who are ill at work will feel disenchanted and dehumanized when told to suck it up and get back to work. This could result in bad work morale because employees with no sick days have no options when they have fallen ill and are forced to work.
  • A sick employee isn’t in top form and therefore, can’t do their best work. Mistakes are more likely to be made, which could cause more work in the end and frustrate customers.
  • An employee that’s feeling groggy could end up hurting customers or co-workers by making clumsy errors, like spilling coffee, dropping knives or forgetting to clean up a spill.

 

Cold and flu season is upon us. You may have a very structured sickness policy in your workplace, while some restaurants prefer to take things on a case-by-case basis. Do you tend to keep sick employees at work? Maybe seeing this list will make you think twice. I was hard-pressed to come up with decent pros to forcing an ill person to continue working. It seems like to me, and on the websites I researched, that the cons outweigh the pros.

However, what if you suspect that employees are calling in sick for reasons other than sickness? Another CCH survey found that two-thirds of employees who call in sick right before their shift are taking off work for reasons other than illness. So how can you be sure? Maybe have your employee come in. If you can see it for yourself, send them home. Otherwise, they can get to work, but keep a close eye on their behavior to see if the symptoms only appear when you’re around. Or you could always let them stay home and demand a doctor’s note upon their return.

And before you think that employees are generally taking too many sick days, take a look at the chart on the left. Compared to the rest of the world, we in the U.S. tend to push through and continue working, maybe even when we shouldn’t. After all, we’re human and getting sick is a very real thing that happens to even the most hardworking of us. It isn’t likely that people in other countries get sick more often than us, but perhaps that our culture tends to view sick days as a bad thing, as being lazy. When in fact, we need those lazy days in order to get well.

Do you have any points, either pros or cons that you’d like to share? Or any experiences that have helped you form your decisions? Share them with us below! And let WyckWyre.com help you find lots of healthy employees to help out during this winter season.

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Posted: Friday, November 11th, 2011

Are You a Good Tipper?

So I was watching TV the other day, and I came across a program called, “Oprah’s All Stars.” (Don’t judge me; I was just flipping through the channels.) Anyway, the show features advice on various topics from Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz and Suze Orman. What made me pause on this station wasn’t the majesty of Dr. Phil’s rockin’ ‘stache, but rather the topic: Tipping in restaurants.

There was a guest on the show that asked: “I hate the idea of tipping – why should I tip?” He seriously didn’t know why a customer was expected to tip, explaining that servers are just doing their job and they should not receive extra awards for it. The guy had never worked in a restaurant, and apparently no one had ever clued him in. But then I thought – *gasp!* – he isn’t the only one. There a lot of people who have never worked in a restaurant and might not understand why tipping even exists. Or there are even people who have worked in restaurants and somehow the facts have eluded them. Well, never fear, for I am here to inform y’all.

If you have ever worked for tips, whether you were a valet, a server, a bartender, a doorman, a delivery driver, etc., the thought of someone saying that they shouldn’t have to tip you for you doing your job makes you cringe. I spent many years waiting tables and bartending – this particular guest had me yelling at the TV! (Don’t worry, Suze later set him straight by making him work in a restaurant for a day. He learned his lesson.) So I decided then and there that this week I would sit down and clear it all up for everyone.

Here’s the deal: The reason tipping is in place is because the employee is providing a service to you. However, they can do an exceptional job, or really leave you steaming. The tipping system allows you, as the consumer, to decide if the job was done right. Have you ever gotten angry at a customer service representative over the phone for being rude? Or at a fast food worker for keeping you waiting too long? Well those workers aren’t working for tips and get paid no matter what. And although tipping doesn’t eliminate the occasional bad dining-in experience, it helps to provide an incentive for the person serving you to do well.

With the hope of a tip, you are getting seated faster, get your drinks faster, your order more accurate, refills when needed, and hopefully a better experience overall. While it might look like an easy job to wait tables, it really isn’t. It entails hours of standing on your feet, dealing with very difficult people, accuracy, efficiency and a whole lot of organization. And it all has to be done as quickly as possible with a smile on your face no matter what your mood.

Tipped employees know that if they aren’t going above and beyond, they are paid less. And if they are making very low tips, that can be bad news. Do you know how much tipped employees are generally paid an hour? The guest on Oprah’s show assumed that servers were paid the same amount as every other minimum wage non-tipped employee, but that isn’t true most of the time. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Not exactly enough to earn a living on, but tipped employees get way less than that. The federal minimum wage for tipped employees is a mere $2.13 an hour. I’m not kidding! A waitress could work a 10-hour shift and only have about $22 to show for it on her paycheck. And that, my friends, is why tipping is vital. If you stiff someone on their tip or you tip below the expected percentage, not only are you telling them that they did a terrible job, but you also basically had them work for you for next to nothing.

A tip is a chance for you to rate the service you received. But it also has to be relative to your experience. If you come to a restaurant with a party of 20 people and you all want different meals and people change their minds about their order and then everyone wants the check divided 20 ways, that is adding a lot of extra work for the server. That extra work is causing them to take time away from their other tables and responsibilities. Reflect that you acknowledge their extra effort in your tip.

Here’s a quick list of some other tipping situations to keep in mind:

  • More work: Let’s say you check into a hotel with 9 heavy suitcases because you just had to have a complete wardrobe for your trip to L.A. If the bellhop takes all of them upstairs for you, don’t give the same tip as you would if you only had 2 bags.
  • Coupons: Always tip based on the amount of the total before any discounts. Your meal might be free, but the server still had to place the order and deliver it to you. Their tip shouldn’t suffer.
  • Bad weather: There’s a blizzard one night and you’re hungry so you order a pizza because you can’t stand the thought of going outside. Well guess who did have to brave the cold? Your delivery guy. Show you’re grateful for his efforts and adjust the tip accordingly.
  • Messy kids: If you take your child out to eat and they make a mess of the table, either with their food, their drink or an accident, do your best to clean it up, but realize that the server has to finish the job. You should tip higher in these situations. Always.
  • Difficult orders: If you want your steak cooked just so and you send it back several times and then change your mind and order pasta, you just ran your server crazy. More tip!
  • Low budget: Wanna go out to eat, but you only have $20? Don’t order an $18 meal. If you don’t have enough for the meal and a decent tip, you don’t have enough to go out to eat.

So after all of this, how much should you tip anyway? Check out the freakishly long chart below for the numbers.

She's also a great Tipper.

This should be easy to remember: 15-20% minimum unless the service was below reasonable expectations. And you can never tip too much – there’s no such thing. If the service was the best you’ve ever experienced, tipping 25%, 30%, or even higher is a good way to ensure that you receive that same exemplary service next time. You’ll be remembered as a great tipper.

If you can’t do the math in your head, guess, but round up just in case. Make sure the amount seems appropriate. And, it’s never alright to tip less than $2 on a restaurant or delivery bill no matter how cheap the total is. Anything that low isn’t worth your server or driver’s time. (Side note: A delivery charge doesn’t actually go to the driver, so don’t consider that part of your tip!) Most cell phones come with a tip calculator, or they can be downloaded. There are some really great apps that even split up checks for you and help you calculate how much each person in a party should pitch in for the bill and for the tip.

I hope this has opened some eyes out there! Next time you are dining out, pay extra attention to appreciate the service you receive. And make sure you tip in a way that shows that appreciation, or Suze Orman will find you.

For those of you who work for tips, please tell us your stories below – I know you’ve got ‘em! And if there are any other points that I’ve missed about why tipping is important, share them. I know this subject sparks discussion so let us hear what you have to say.

And I definitely don’t want anyone to think that being a tipped employee is a bad thing. I was one for many years because I loved it, and most of the time people know how to tip and they do it right. In fact, you can make pretty good money working for tips. So if taking cash home from work every night seems appealing to you, check out WyckWyre.com to find a place where you can become a tipped employee, too.

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Posted: Tuesday, November 8th, 2011