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Miserable
Workers Part 2 of 3
16 APR 08
Working
in the US is very different from Singapore in many good ways. Even
searching for jobs is different. Firstly, you don’t have to
buy any newspapers. I remember when I was searching for job in Singapore,
money was so tight that I cannot afford to buy Straits Times every
single day even though it cost 60 cents. But thank God for JobsDb.com
and Jobstreet.com. In
the US, the website for you to find a job is called craigslist.org.
This is the leading jobsite, surpassing Monster.com and it works
and its free. Don’t bother applying from Singapore because
you gotta have proper immigration and work permit first. One thing
you’ll notice is that there are a wide variety of jobs.
I came across job ads that require helmet airbrush technicians
to comic artists. Another thing you’ll notice in that they
do not have any racist ads. You can never find something like
“Graphic Designer wanted. White male only.” That sort
of thing can only land the company in serious legal trouble. |
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It says:
“The Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing company, is
an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity, and considers
all persons without regard to race, ancestry, color, religion,
age, sex, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, marital
status, and any other protected status.” |
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After
working as an after-school teacher for some days and a private
Photoshop tutor for a 90 year old man (yup, its true!), I finally
got a job as a Graphic Designer in the Santa Monica area. My pay
was very much the same in Singapore but it was in USD. And since
I was the only designer, I gotta admit that the work was tough.
And on some days, I had to stay after office hours because I had
to meet the printing dateline. And no I was NOT given OT but yet
I was happy because I was given my well-deserved time off.
My
boss also had the courtesy in paying for my meals during this
peak period and he always try to be there and help with the load.
And even if he is not there and I worked well into the night,
he would call me up and to check if I was okay and to thank me
for a job well done. You see, sometimes, it’s not ALL about
the money. We workers just need that basic acknowledgement and
a simple “Thank You” can do wonders.
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Another
thing I would like to share with you is that while I was working
there, my boss was rearranging some furniture and I volunteered
to help. I was about to lift a fairly large object down a staircase
when he stopped me and told me to carry a bunch of light boxes
instead. His reasoning was..
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And
it’s true. The working laws in the US is so tight that
you, the employee, need not carry anything that weighs more
than 25 pounds (unless you work in construction). If you do,
and say you hurt your back, you might receive compensation from
your employer. And all working laws are open for all to see
because it’s pasted in simple English in the office notice
board. I need not tell the employer my religion, age, race,
etc as it is deemed unnecessary in US law. Preety good eh:)
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Lastly,
I would like to share with you the legal lawsuit on EA games (The
popular games publisher). To make the story short, EA games was
practically making its programmers work long hours without pay…
so much so that one day some girl blogged and complain about how
her boyfriend has to work so hard that they barely have time for
each other. That blog entry got so popular that EA games was hauled
to court and made to compensate its workers $14.9 million, to
be divided among former and current EA computer programmers.
http://ea-spouse.livejournal.com/274.html
Erin
Hoffman Rules!
Evil Bunny |
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