How "easy" is a minimum wage job ?

Hi, for someone who has worked up from a minimum wage jobs in food/service/retail to making my way up to management I wold like to recommend that you apply for not just minimum wage jobs but also other jobs in retail that don't require a college degree but still pay well.

I always thought a good job for eg. Anything that has paid benefits and vacation requires a degree but it is not true. From personal experience as a hiring manager for 2 different retail industries I can assure you that there are jobs like that out there that would not only give you a better experience but also train you and help you find career path that don't require a college degree.

Some examples of these jobs are gym membership sales, call center, wireless sales, food service industry etc. All these jobs will give pay well.

To answer your question the job is that yes most jobs in this category are labor intensive ,but not all. The ones that are not labor intensive are more often draining as you are dealing with customers directly and they will be chellenging, but in the end help you develop skills to deal with different people, and develope communications skills and customer skills.

Hi Tiffanie!

This is a tough question to ask because it will vary by industry/job. In my personal experience, my days spent in retail were way more exhausting, but in a very different way. For me, I learned customer service skills that I don't think I would've gained to such a degree in the positions I have had since. In retail, you work with so many people with varying personalities, needs, wants, and levels of kindness. This of course is only from my perspective and personal experience in retail. I do know in working with recruiters on a regular basis that they value individuals with backgrounds in retail, restaurants, etc. just because of the fast-paced, hard nature of the work.

In terms of similarities, pretty much no matter what you do you'll end up working and communicating with people. That communication could be customer/client facing, or it could be internally with teams or your direct supervisor. The ability to interact with people of differing perspectives, motivation levels, etc. is an amazing skill to have, and one that can come from many different places.

Differences are harder to pinpoint because they'll be so dependent on industry and job title, however, in professional positions many times you are pulling from very different sets of knowledge, constantly being challenged to grow as both an individual and in the position/company. This is different from some more minimum-wage jobs, for instance in retail the skills and knowledge you use change minimally over time. Customer service and cashiering are the main functions, so you have less opportunity to use varying knowledge sets. Again, this is heavily dependent on what you're doing specifically.

Hope this helps!

Hi Tiffanie!

All jobs are real world jobs.

I used to work in human resources and participated in creation of job descriptions and job rating for salary purposes. There is a specific set of logical tried and true processes for arriving at the pay for a job. Many aspects of the job are taken into consideration.

This site will give you somewhat of an idea of the process involved:
http://www.bizfilings.com/toolkit/sbg/office-hr/managing-the-workplace/how-to-determine-employee-pay.aspx

One reason that some jobs may seem more difficult or uninteresting to you is that it does not fit with you career agenda. However, sometimes we have to depend on a lower level job, because we to not have the skills, abilities, experience, and education to attain a higher paying one. That is why we might want to study for some skill, vocation, occupation, or career through which we might not only earn more money, but also experience more of a satisfaction for a job well done because it relates to our career area and our passion.

I hope that this helps. Please keep me posted. I would like to follow your progress.

Hi Tiffanie! I'm not sure those jobs are easy versus just easy to get.

Tiffanie. Most low paying jobs are low skill, more physical labor intensive, more standing, doing extras like keeping bathrooms clean, sweeping inside and or outside, may be washing tables, counters and other flunky jobs as they appear. I don't think easy is a word that applies to low paying jobs. Maybe energy draining, exhaustive and life sucking better describes low paying jobs. The more specific value (skills, experience, job history, references and eagerness) you bring to a job, career or position usually the compensation is higher. I have worked in plywood mills, bowling alleys, clerical work, retail jobs and many other odd summer work jobs. Easy for me is using my creative mind, doing things my way, dancing on lily pads of uncertainty and energizing and impacting individuals lives by opening them up to consider awesome and exciting new life options and possibilities they may have never considered before. And I love being able to do that! That to me it what easy looks like!