Work Confusion

LegacyUser

Ok, this might not seem like a huge problem to some people but it's weighing on my shoulders. Due to college and going on Erasmus and things like that I have basically changed my jobs every 4 months for the past 2 years.

I recently changed jobs again (out of choice this time!) and vowed to keep the job until I finished college next summer. I changed job as I wanted more flexible hours and the option to take a weekend off now and again. I am relatively content in the job I have now - I work on a deli - but things that were promised haven't happened. I was promised full time hours for the summer months but I'm only getting one extra day a week. I was promised every 3rd/4th weekend off and I haven't gotten one since I started 3 months ago and I was offered flexible hours. When I started the hours were flexible but then I took a small promotion within the deli so I only ever worked the same hours which meant 6am starts on both Saturday and Sunday. As a result I haven't been out to the pub in about 10 weeks. Not the end of the World but my social life is gone. The work is surprisingly stressful so coming in even slightly tired or hungover just adds to it. Over the weekend gone I relinquished this promotion and now am only being given the really late shift on Saturday and the early shift on Sunday so I still have no social life. On the other hand I enjoy the work, the pay is brilliant and when they're in a good mood, the staff are friendly.

Knowing I was a bit unhappy in the job, my Mum has now offered me a new job working with the same company as her. I would be guaranteed 30 hours a week at 8c more an hour, and would finish at 2 every day, while my current job can't guarantee that many hours at all. I would also be off Sundays which means I could actually have a social life. The job is mine, I just have to say I'll take it but I'm reluctant for some reason. I don't want to change job AGAIN - my CV is now 5 pages long and I'm only 20 for God's sake. Finishing at 2 means I'll still be able to go off and do things with my boyfriend and I won't be coming home exhausted every day. As it is I go to bed the minute I finish work every afternoon. I'll also be able to enjoy my summer holidays somewhat. I've supported myself 100% through college so haven't had a proper summer holiday since before I was in secondary school. The con's far out way the pro's but I'll feel bad leaving the job I have now after less than 3 months and I don't want to add more space to my CV! The job with my Mum will also keep me on when I go to college.

I know this sounds trivial and in my heart I know I'm being stupid but I am still reluctant to take this new job. Do you think I should take it or just stick where I am for the time being?

Giblet

Change jobs if you need to, don't worry about the CV, you only really need 2 references, they wouldn't check any more than that (a 5 page CV would probably be thrown out if it was full of unrelated jobs).

Drift

Change jobs and enjoy the summer. You don't have to include every part time job you've had on your cv. You're in college at the moment so there isn't even any time gap left on your cv. Just say you got the job with your mothers company for the summer. Any perspective employer will just assume you were studying for the last 3 months and didn't have time for a job.

By the sounds of things these jobs are too minor to be worrying about in the context of your cv if you're doing a college course. If you want you can even leave them all off the cv and say your parents supported you throughout college. Although it would probably be best to say you had a job each summer during college.

Go and enjoy your summer.

echosound

Jeez, just take the new job. sounds like it suits you a lot better than where you are now - has the hours to suit, and you can keep it on when you're back at college.

As for the CV - are you seriously putting down every single job you've ever done, even if they've only been for a few months? Cut out the jobs that are not really relevant- I have plenty of past jobs I don't bother with on my cv that are not relevant to what I'm applying for, or that I only stayed in for 6 months or so. If you keep every single job you've ever held on your cv, by the time you hit 40 or 50, it will be a full-length novel.

I can tell you unless you're going for a very high-flying job (such as a hospital consultant or scientist or CEO of a large company or an aceademic post etc where they need to check your track record in detail, with lists of papers you may have published etc) if your CV is more than 2, or at most 3 pages long, it will get thrown straight in the bin after a quick rifle through the pages and they see they have to wade through reams of stuff.

Take the new job and enjoy your life. Strike the last job off your CV, do you really need to include 3 months of deli experience unless you're going for another deli job, especially as you have plenty of other jobs you have done? Cherry pick the jobs you list on your cv, as you're at college prospective employers are really not going to be expecting you to have held a long-term full time position, and will expect that there may be gaps in employment while you concentrate on exams etc.

LegacyUser

The reason I'm reluctant to change is that I don't want to get into a habit of quitting every time a job gets tough. My Dad is like that and now, at 65, he is still changing jobs every 6 months or so. I don't just leave jobs on a whim though. I just can't seem to find one I like. That's no excuse for leaving all the time though. At the same time I don't see think a part-time job is worth loads of stress, especially when I'm going in to my final year of college.

I don't include every job I've ever had on my CV but I don't like how many jobs I've had in a general sense.

scoot on

Agree with what everyone else has said. You're in college. Future employers won't be looking for you to have worked the whole time through college. Drop the place you're working in at the moment off your CV. No big deal.

RedXIV

No brainer lass, you don't need the hassle and this new job has everything you want. People change jobs all the time. Thats life. If the company were going through a rough patch, they'd think nothing of cutting short staff, usually the newest.

You know what you want, go for it