Leave my job?

[HeartExalted]

At present, I have two jobs:
1. The restaurant job, which I've had for over 6 months now, in which I have to come in when they tell me to, including Saturdays.
2. The data entry job, which I started a few weeks ago, where I can pretty much set my hours and come in when I like (within limits and subject to when I'm scheduled at the other job).

At the first job, the restaurant job, it was a rather sore situation for me. When I first started, it was only for the (rather poor) income -- that, and nothing more -- and that's really the only reason I still do it. At the beginning, it was very stressful for me because I was so new and had no prior restaurant experience. Plus, the fact that they want everything done yesterday and done well was harrowing for me because I tend to experience some brain issues such as delayed reaction time and impaired multitasking. Furthermore, the fact that the owner, shift leaders, etc. were often rather harshly on my case about it ("Come on!" "Hurry up!") was stressful and emotionally difficult.

As time passed, the owner started to notice certain strengths of mine, such as my attention to detail, so he chose me as his official "inventory guy," and I now come in every Saturday morning to do the counting, because I can itemize everything in the store with considerable precision. As an extension of this, I'm also now his person of choice to put away incoming shipments. Plus, I've also stood out among the employees for doing what I'm told without giving attitude. Finally, on one particular station in the store, I've gotten so experienced at it that I can now handle things during the lunch rush and put out my tickets at a fairly rapid pace. As an indicator, I can't even remember the last time someone got on my case about my work speed.

So, over time, it's definitely gotten tolerable. I like the coworkers, and the majority of the the time, I get along well with the people in charge. Thus, if I must remain there, I believe I would be able to do so.

However, there are a number of factors that have me strongly considering giving my two-week notice:

• The lunch rush is still very stressful. Even if I can perform to expectations now, it remains a very unpleasant experience. The powers that be insist upon us taking every order as quickly as possible, no matter if the tickets are coming faster than the employees can fill them. While you're working on one order, 3 more tickets are coming in. If you run out of something and have to quickly restock, you have to dash like a madman to make it happen. (Everyone else has too much work for anyone to do it for you.) Need to pause for (literally) a few seconds to take a breath? Too bad!
• I'm finding staying on my feet all day to be very physically demanding, and leaving me feeling rather crappy at the end of the day.
• As part of my inventory job, I have to count the items in the huge walk in freezer, which is always packed to the gills, meaning that I have to remove EVERYTHING and then replace everything afterwards. Not to mention the fact that boxes are often turned with the labels facing inwards, so I have to remove and rotate those, as well. (Over the past few months, I have experienced ongoing muscle aches. Whether it's related to this job, I cannot say, but I suspect it.)
• I don't get my Saturdays. Even if I get out of there by early evening, I often feel too exhausted to do anything.
• If I want time off for some special occasion, I have to put in a request that may or may not be granted.
• I don't like the way the owners and other people in charge treat some of the other employees. I feel like they often yell at people and penalize them for poor reasons.
• One issue that they harp on people about is their attitude. While that is an understandable and reasonable issue, I feel as if it's sometime used to take employees to task for having, well, natural human feelings.
• I feel like the owner is constantly introducing new rules and restrictions that are very unpleasant. Even if he has legitimate reasons for doing so, it still makes things progressively more difficult.
• I have various personal objections to the parent company and its philosophies.

Neither the owners nor the parent company are necessarily wrong for any of these things. After all, a restaurant exists to serve customers and, in this case, to serve them quickly, and the powers that be have every right to establish speedy work as a requirement of their employees. Tasks have to be done, however unpleasant they may be. Their business works the way it works, the powers that be are entitled to that, and it's up to employees to decide whether they can or cannot live with it.

That said, I also feel like...if I'd prefer not to live with it...and if I have other options...then I'd much rather bow out. At my other job, the newer data entry position, I would have the option to work there full-time, if I left the restaurant. I love this other job:

• My supervisor is very laid back and pleasant to work with -- but still gets the job done. Very easy-going and understanding. (Though I don't slack off. If anything, I'm MORE motivated to do a good job there.)
• No weekends. I can set my own hours. If I want to take some time off for a vacation, I can.
• It pays more per hour than the restaurant.
• It's located on my campus, where I am in school presently for computer science.
• No one is yelling at me, "Come on, enter that data faster!" I can work at a reasonable pace (which, oddly enough, is getting faster).
• When working on one task, I can actually focus on THAT ONE TASK.
• I'm NOT on my feet all day. Most of my work is seated.
• Even when the work is unpleasant, I feel okay about it because I'm working in such a positive environment.
• I feel like there might even be some possibility of advancement for me in this setting.
• It's located near a harbor, so on my breaks, I get to go out and breath the sea air. I actually find the local natural environment rather invigorating.

Really, only a few things stop me from leaving the restaurant:

• Fear that my desire to leave means I'm lazy or afraid of hard work. Fear that doing so would speak ill of my character.
• Concern that something might happen to the data entry job, that it might go bust or something.
• Worried about how it might look if I ever needed a restaurant job in the future. Like, "Oh, clearly he will only stick around until he finds something better!"
• The data entry job does not allow for work on the weekends, so that'd be one possible source of pay loss. (Though I could probably work longer hours at the new job during the week, and maybe I could find less stressful things to do during the weekends that could get me paid.)

Then again, the newly free hours could be applied to other endeavors that could greatly enhance my life: exercise, cleaning, personal development, independent study of computer programming or IT, and so forth. I really feel like it's time to move on. When I was doing a divination to figure out this question, I kept saying in my mind, "Please let it be the Death card, please let it be the Death card." Clearly, leaving is something that a huge part of me strongly wants, and that part of me is practically begging the universe for permission to do so.

Of course, I am very fortunate to be in a position where I can consider this, in the first place. Even that is something to be happy about, knowing that I do have options, and I am very grateful for that. I have a feeling that many of my coworkers would also like to leave -- but cannot at this stage. Gods willing, I hope that all of us there will find our way into the light, whatever that means for us as individuals.

Any thoughts you may have are welcome. Thanks!

[nzmegs]

Wow that's a post and a half (or three!). A bit overwhleming , but I think you are aksing which job is best?

it is worth bearing in mind that very few people do a restuarnat job as a career. it is always a type of filler or something to do when studying. is is poorly paid generally and you rely on tips. So I doubt anyone would expect you to saty that long. besides if you went for another similar job, you can say you left because you had another job to go to. it happens all the time.

However, data entry can be really boring and without challenge. however you seem to have come up with some pretty good reasons for taking the job.

If you can afford to, i would not recommend doing two jobs at once. you will tie yourselkf up in knots and end up doing too much. if one job is more stressful than the other you will quickly come to resent the other job.

In my opinion you should ake the data entry job, keep on the restaurnat job for now, but with an end date. use that time to look for something else you will enjoy more.

[Clint Cora]

Since you are a student, I assume that you won't be doing these types of jobs forever. I think you can't have people decide for you on which job to stick with since you are the one doing these jobs, not us.

However, you can do a detailed comparison list like you did so you see things on paper. But as a former hiring manager in corporate industry, I can tell you that it's important to also analyze not just the money you make in either of these jobs, but also the skills that you get to develop, particularly your people skills.

Your future success after graduation will depend not only on your technical skills, but also on your people skills. You have to analyze your two jobs to see which role allows you to develop the most useful skills that you can use in the future. And think of these not just for the actual tasks like data entry or inventory, but people skills, stress management, interactions with others, organizational skills, etc.

Remember, a moderately stressful environment especially in a team atmosphere, can teach you a lot.

[arlenemariedaniels]

Here are the factors that I think you should consider:
1) Which job makes you happy?
2) Which job pays fairly, taking into account how much work you put in
3) Which do you think will help you into what you want to become 5 years from now?

These are pretty basic, but I hope that they help. They really will matter if you want to succeed. Good luck!

[rodav]

I was stuck in a job I hated for years because of so many fears. It turned out most of my fears were on my mind only. The problem with staying in a job you feel miserable in is that it saps your energy and spirit.

Having gone through such an ordeal, I'd readily say leave the restaurant job. Be were you are happy, you'd be more efficient and achieve more in something you enjoy doing.