(no subject)

[wolffyluna]

I have been offered a position in the lab at a [Redacted] Factory. (It’s not a flour mill, but it makes a basic food ingredient at the level of basicness of flour.) Shifts are 8 hours (though four days a week?), but overtime is Very Much a thing, especially because of COVID. (You are there until all the [food] is processed, and if that takes twice as long because another town’s [food] plant had to shut down, it takes twice as long and you’re their till 10pm.)

I’m thinking about whether to take it, and would like some advice.

Some pros and cons:

Pro:

• A bird in the hand is twice in the bush. This job is available to me now, and definitely.
• Money can be exchanged for goods and services

• like moving interstate for mining jobs, or visiting the US when pandemics are less... pandemic-y

• Will mean I don’t have a weird long resume gap
• The earliest I can get a mining job is April (because that’s the earliest I can get my provisional license), and that would be a 7 month gap
• The best position to get a job is from within another job

 

Cons:

• They would like me there for at least a year (and honestly longer but… that’s a them problem, not a me problem). This would significantly delay me getting another mining job
  • The mining industry is fickle, and while right now it is fairly easy to get an entry level geologist job, that may not be true in a years’ time
  • Also I would have to explain why I was working at a [food] factory for a year
• 7 am start with a Approximately 1 hour and 15 minute commute :)
• Moving closer is not that practical. The [food] company is in an expensive suburb surrounded by expensive suburbs
• The person who suggested me for this job does Not Say Good Things about this job
• But then again, who does say universally good things about their job?

Advice/ questions socratic and otherwise/etc would be very welcome, I have to call the person offering the job tomorrow and areislkadfhkdlsa;hfdslj;

 

Comments

[brin_bellway]

I think you let slip the ingredient in the third bullet point from the end.

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*I* would immediately rule out anything that required me to leave the house at 5:45 AM, but I'm not sure what your sleep schedule is like.

Are fast-food and/or retail places in your area as desperate for workers as they are in much of Canada and the United States? Most of your pros would apply to any job with a low barrier to entry, while most of your cons are specific to this job.

[wolffyluna]

Thanks for that catch!

In Australia there's definitely a worker shortage, but it's kind of a different shape, at least in my area? More "We don't have international students to hire, but equally, we don't have international students buying things, so..." A potential advantage of this job over eg retail is the pay. While objectively it's probably not any harder, it ""requires"" a degree and the hourly rate is a bit better.

[brin_bellway]

>>A potential advantage of this job over eg retail is the pay. While objectively it's probably not any harder, it ""requires"" a degree and the hourly rate is a bit better.

It's hard to give firmer advice on that without more detail on both the situation and your values, but I *have* heard that it tends to be more important than people expect to minimise commute length. Especially if you're commuting by car, which to a suburb you probably are: driving 2.5 hours a day will consume a lot of fuel and wear out your car a lot faster, and can therefore be quite expensive even if you don't value the time at all.

[wolffyluna]

I am commuting by bus (the license I am in the process of getting and can't get til April is my driver's licence). By car it would be a saner 20-30 minutes each way.

[contrarianarchon]

You *do* get paid for the overtime at overtime rates?

(Edit: Apparently I missed this until after the deadline so please ignore if appropriate)

[chocochipbiscuit]

1 hour and 15 minutes EACH WAY? Or one way?

Also...the exact amount they're paying may be worth it, depending on your financials, but if it's going to cut an hour and 15 minutes out of your life just one way, you might want to consider factoring that into your hourly pay rate. Even if it's a good hourly pay, is it still good once you take into account the extra time that you're going to work?

Plus if you're driving, that's extra fuel and wear on your car. If you're taking public transport, and you end up doing overtime, would you be able to get transport back home after the shift ends?

eta: realized I commented after the deadline, sorry! I hope you reached a satisfactory resolution!