The Good
Milka Mili
Position: Executive assistant and designer liaison for the Fashion Design Council of Canada
What do you do? Milka and her fellow employees plan the annual Toronto Fashion Week from start to finish. “We plan the entire event, make sure the designers are ready to show.”
The Perks: “I get to go to all the parties,” notes Mili, who has thrown down with the likes of Vince Carter, actor Mekhi Pfifer and designers Dan and Dean Caten, not to mention attending parties thrown by Lenny Kravitz and rap mogul Russell Simmons. Not that she’s fazed by celebrity. “You’re not there just because [celebrities] are there. They don’t really care,” notes Mili, adding “I haven’t encountered a rude celebrity.
Other Perks: Trips to Vancouver and New York City for New York Fashion Week.
Any Drawbacks? No vacation. “It’s hard to leave it,” says Mili, who puts in long hours. But hey, when you’re partying with Vince Carter, who wouldn’t put in a little overtime?
Christine Nicolau
Position: Assistant to a clinical dental photographer and lecturer.
What do you? Christine helps her boss teach dentists how to use digital photography and software. “It’s kinda cool. Everyone ends up loving you at the end.”
The Perks: Amazing trips. Nicolau has gotten free rides to Hawaii, Australia and Nashville for dental conferences and seminars, and the next year will hopefully see her hit Sweden and Italy as well. Not to mention the free dinners provided on the dentists’ tabs at upscale restaurants.
Other Perks: As a filmmaker and animator, Nicolau also gets to see the hottest new camera gear. “We see the cameras as they come in,” she raves.
Steve Lambke
Position: Guitarist, The Constantines
What do you do? Besides rock Toronto like no other? “There’s banking to do,” notes Lambke. Also, you can’t just play a couple of chords on stage and call it a night. The band has to talk to promoters, sell merchandise, get paid, get fed, and most importantly, “make sure your van works.”
The Perks: “People are often really kind to you in a way they wouldn’t be otherwise, if you just drove into town. You get to see the nice side of people.”
Other Perks: Mad travel. As a touring act, the Constantines have gone from Newfoundland to California. “The club we played in San Diego was right on the beach, so we got to swim in the ocean. And there was a roller coaster behind it.”
Drawbacks? “Being away from home can be a drag…and being poor all the time.”
The Bad
Max Reid
The worst job I ever had was working for this credit card telemarketing company. We’d sit in a call center in Brampton all day, calling up poor people in the States to sell them a Visa or Mastercard. I was on straight commission, $25 a sale, though I rarely made a dime. But nobody there seemed to make any money either. Cold calling people who had been previously rejected for credit cards and getting them to tell you their bank info can be a tough sell. The boss, a fat recovering alcoholic who “been in sales his whole God damn life” used to give me and the ladies (all my co-workers were middle-aged housewives) pep talks that were very sub-standard Glengarry Glen Ross sales shtick. One day he called all of us into his office and said “Look, I know it’s tough going right now, so I thought I’d cheer you all up with a few cartoons I like.” He then proceeds to show us these totally smutty comic strips of stuff like a Bulldog grabbing his own huge erection and growling “Here Pussy, Pussy” or of an old man with his testicles hanging out of his shorts. Strangely, all the women laughed their asses off at the comics. I had always been taught that if your manager calls you into his office to show you pictures of cartoon animals’ cum shots it’s sexual harassment. Guess not.
Sometimes we’d be on the phones and he’d run into the office with hot new leads claiming they were gold and quickly hand them out. When we would get a sale, we’d have to put a check mark on the board next to our name, ring a little bell, and he’d give us a high-five. Once he brought in this woman from “head office” who was meant to make like 500 bucks a shift, and was going to show us how it was done. She was this brown chick with super long fingernails and teased hair and loved to chew gum. She made a ridiculous amount of sales, but in retrospect she was probably just talking to a dial tone. See, because the next time I went to work, the office was shut down and had police tape barring entry. A police letter posted on the main door said something about investigation for fraud and wanting information on the whereabouts of my boss. Crappy job, but it makes for a good story I guess.
Kyle Hollingdrake
Position: Temp at a kitty litter factory, night shift, no less
“It was a real high point in my life,” deadpans Hollingdrake. “You’re dead-lifting these bags from knee-height…it was pretty fucking miserable.”
If anything, at least the experience gave Holingdrake a fascinating look into the world of kitty litter. “There’s only actually five or six different kinds: Perfumed, non-perfumed, clumping, non-clumping, perfumed and clumping…There’s hundreds of brands, but it’s the same shit in every bag.” Working in a constant semi-toxic cloud didn’t help either. “Every time a new batch came through a cloud of perfumed clay dust would go from one end of the factory to the other. It’ll give you a blinding headache.”
But job security had to be good, right? “The entire place was temps. Some people had been temps for three years,” he scowls.
Hollingdrake, now a tattoo artist, does at least credit the job with one thing: “It scared me straight. I thought I knew the world until that.”
Mark McLean
Position: SARS screener
“There was a lot of abuse,” says McLean, “people were pissed off all the time.” Along with helping people fill out questionnaires and check that they actually had to be in the hospital, McLean also worked the visitor’s desk. “Sometimes [patients] would change rooms and you’d have to track them down.”
Naturally, McLean had to wear goggles and a facemask, and even spent time sanitizing people’s hands as they left. “No one was very receptive,” he notes.
“I had to get up at five in the morning. The shifts were 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. or 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Both shifts were kinda sucky.”
Not exactly a fulfilling experience, then? “It was money. That’s the way it is.”
The Sketchy
University. The beginnings of independence. That period in your life when you leave the nice, cozy, comforts of home to venture out into the ” real world”. To be shaped and trained into a ” mature, responsible” adult.
Naturally, reality decides to burst your dream bubble and our friend panic slowly creeps in. You then realize that in order to survive though the school year, you’re going to need to make some money, fast, which requires you to search for a part-time job.
You’ve spotted an ad which promises you that you can make a lot of money and require no experience. This is great. Problem solved, right?
You call the number placed in the ad and the person on the other line signs you up for an interview/training session at the company’s head office. You sit through a lecture given by the company’s most motivational speaker, only to discover that in order to make what was promised in the ad, you had to pay “A” and complete “B” to get “C,” resulting in a waste of your time.
This scenario and many others occur all the time. We are “razzled, dazzled” into the belief that you can make a lot of money at one time with out any risks involved; when we know that there are not always any guarantees.
Therefore in order to avoid falling into the promises that are presented in jobs ads, you should make you’re self aware of ways to avoid such traps. Recently, the Varsity talked to Monica Aggarwal of the Youth Job Action Centre, who shared some tips on how students can become more aware when searching though job ads.
If a job or agency requires you to pay a fee for administrative purposes, that’s clear indication that something isn’t right. No agency or company should ask for a fee. Agencies are organizations created to recruit individuals for specific job positions that their clients require in order to fulfill the clients’ needs.
- Does the ad give you any details or only a vague description about the type of work or skills required? How will you know if you have the vital skills for the position if a description isn’t listed in the ad?
Be cautious if an ad requests a certain gender or asks for personal information. At no time should you give out your personal information such as your social insurance number. This violates privacy laws that are in place.
Do some background research to find out more about the company, no matter what the job is. Knowing about the company’s history can help ensure you that the company is reprievable.
Finally, find out more about the wage structure. Is there commission involved? If there is commission, is the wage based only on commission? Is there a basic wage rate? Do you receive vacation pay? Etc.
You need to keep in mind that you’re not alone. There are a number of resources offered to you as a student to aid you in your job search. The Campus Career Centre located at 214 College Street offers a number of workshops and services to assist student on finding part time jobs on and off campus. You can go in person or visit their web site at www.careers.utoronto.ca.
The Internet is another great resource. Campus Work link is an internet-based job posting site offered on Workopolis (http://campus.workopolis.com). To find out more information Campus Work link and to obtain a list of other Internet based job Web sites ask a counselor at the campus career centre.
Other useful tools are checking out the local newspapers or local youth employment centres such as the Youth Job Action Centres (www.YouthJobActionCentre.org) or the YMCA Youth Employment Centre www.ymcatoronto.org/service).
