UPDATE 10/10: The post below refers to a MySpace profile which has been made private in the last 24 hours. When I found the profile by accident using Google it was public. Following Julz’ comments (below) I have slightly modified the original post.
Julz is 17 and works at a Nextra newsagency somewhere in Brisbane. She dislikes her job as she has told the world through her MySpace blog:
so everyone knows how much i disslike my job at nextra right?
well…..
i’m QUITTINGG!!!!! wooooottttt
and have a new job at David Jones in the city – young contemp womens fashion
n e way enough with the smileys…ok one more…
so come visit me at nextra, i’ll only be there like 2 weeks more, and get your free gum while you still can!!
Julz is entitled to her view. What concerns me is that she seems intent on taking out her dislike for her job on her employer – or am I misunderstanding the line about free gum? I’d like to know what Julz has said to her employer about the job and how her employer responded. Have they made an effort to make the job more enjoyable while continuing to serve the needs of the business? How would David Jones’ management feel if they read Julz’ comments – would they still give her a job?
Blogging provides Julz and millions like her a place to publish her feelings and opinions. She, like her My Space friends, needs to understand the consequences. For example, I’d expect that human resources departments will trawl through My Space and other public places for what is not submitted in resumes. This blog entry would knock Julz out of contention.
There are jobs in this world which are not great, especially if you’re 17 and just starting your working life. The best way to make those jobs bearable and even enjoyable is to work with your boss. Maybe there is not one else to do the crap tasks. So be it. Maybe discussion will lead to compromise and a more enjoyable job. Bitching about it at My Space and quitting for a job at David Jones does not fix a problem Julz is likely to take with her.
I am all for employees venting publicly – as long as they have taken the matter as far as they can within the business in pursuit of a fair resolution.
PS. I’m not spending hours trawling My Space for what people working with me think. Julz’ blog came up via a Google blog search for newsagency references.
I am just stunned that a 17-year-old can change jobs so easily!
She will find the fashion customers just as difficult to endure as she finds the constant stream of counter complaints at the newsagents.
At 17 she does not yet know that ALL jobs are a drag – if they weren’t a drag, the employer would not have to PAY the employee. Duh.
I hope she isn’t really giving away the stock belonging to her employer!.
Oh dear. I wonder how she got the job at David Jones? Surely she couldn’t have filled out an application form, or they would have realised that her writing skills are atrocious.
This is evidence of what I worry about in my store. It is not fair to say their is a Julz employee in every small business, but I have had to suggest that 2 Julz’s find other employment in the last 2 years. My customers were kind enough to enlighten me on what my Julz’s were up to when I was else where.
Cigarettes given to friends, drinks etc.
I really do appreciate and reward good employees, you do if you have ever had a Julz’s.
i want this taken down IMEDIATELY – you have no right to use my blog thankyou very much; you don’t know my situation, thus it is NOT your place to comment. THANKYOU!
AND i’m a highly valued employee at my work thankyou very much! the “free gum” comment it because i SHOUT my friends gum when they come in, i BUY it from my employer so don’t dare judge me when u have nooo idea who i am and what situation i am in; for the person who commented on my writting skills – its MYSPACE and i’m 17; lay off a little and get a life!!
once more; take this down IMEDIATELY or i will report you – you have no right to use this for a public forum!
Personally naming someone without letting them know (a kid no less), no matter the reason, is a seriously shitty thing to do. You could have made the same point without personally naming an individual, and even if you decided to use her name you didn’t have to link to her MySpace (which contains other information about her).
I don’t know Julz, but she doesn’t seem like anything other than a normal teenager who would rather be doing other stuff than standing in a newsagent all afternoon. You may feel differently about working in your newsagency, but you’re a grown adult who owns a business, you have far more reason to enjoy the job than she does. I’ll bet her pay is crap, she gets rude customers to deal with all day, and probably doesn’t get a lot of appreciation from her boss.
Naming and shaming her was poor form.
and one more thing; just because this unauthorised publication of my PRIVATE blog has outraged me so much tonight; i never said in my blog that i HATE my current job, i stated that i disslike it – once more i put forward that if you claim to be providing information for the quoted “Australia’s 4,600 newsagents” you should REALLY be more accurate in what evidently very little research you do. If i were one of your readers, i wouldn’t believe a word of what you write or post.
Oh, and in the interests of full disclosure, I was the one who tipped Julz off to this blog just so she had the right of reply.
Julz’ comments are in the public domain, searchable by Google. Read the MuSpace sfaety tips for their advice on this. She needs to understand that she is responsible for what she publishes as am I. While she can put a ‘spin’ on the chewing gum giveaway to friends now, such was not obvious in her post.
To Brad for tipping Julz off – that’s cool. Everyone has the right of reply. On her pay, a 17 year old working in my newsagency gets paid $11.44 an hour. On Sundays that doubles.
Julz – if you’re concerned about people reading your feelings then change your blog.
your posting is immature – at least admit that you may have misinterpreted my blog; i wouldn’t give away FREE gum to my friends at the cost of the employer however of course can see how you may have interpreted what i wrote as such, BUT of course the blog was meant for FRIENDS of mine not nosey strangers with nothing better to do so understandably you have completely misinterpreted it and thus made me sound horrid on a public forum. what a low call and irresponsible reporter. i wouldn’t trust you with information if i were a newsagency owner.
and furthermore, that pay rate of $11.44 an hour is not a set rate for privately owned newsagencies, i get approximately $7 and hour and $9 on sundays. – once again, your ‘facts’ and research…and incorrect…says something, no?
Julz, The rate of pay I have quoted is the award rate. Some newsagents I know of pay more. Your blog, until a few hours ago, was public and searchable by Google and other search engines. If it was meant for your friends it ought to have been private all along. Your comments provide an insight which is valuable to employers like myself.
mark
OUCH…….
yes, and insight which would be far more valuable had you done your research. I get paid $7 an hour, regardless of what you believe you know; your ‘facts’ are incorrect. I cannot be bothered furthering this immature rivalry, i know what i meant in my blog and if you insist on believing otherwise, that is your choice and bad journalistic skills. the greatest personality flaw is to judge before knowing.
Julz, If I were you I’d check that you ar paid what is your entitlement. As for the rest of your comment … good luck with your projects. Mark