Monday, January 20, 2014

Why Shawn Has a Hard Time Finding Work

Recently a commenter told me that if I wanted a job I should apply for a retail job if I wanted to pay for things like art for new book covers. Now I’d love to take a retail job for the interim. But retailers will NOT HIRE ME.

Here’s the deal with Shawn and Retail jobs he’s applied for over the last two years:

I’ve applied at Target four times in 2013.
I’ve applied at Toys R Us three times in 2013.
I’ve applied at CVS four times in 2013.
I’ve applied at PathMark four times in 2013.
I've applied at Fairway three times in 2013. 
I’ve applied at various small businesses several times.

Before that I’ve applied at stores such as Macy’s, Stern’s Barnes & Noble, and the Gap. No one was interested in what I had to offer even with a college degree.

No one in retail hires college graduates. Especially college graduates with entrepreneurial skills like myself. This is why they have elaborate online applications so they can weed people out.

The goal of most retail businesses is to make money. And they want employees they’re guaranteed to make their money back on. Dumb, dysfunctional people spend money faster than intelligent people.

This is why the hood rat or the ghetto dude can get the job over the college graduate like myself. These consumer whores are money in the bank for a retail business.

Sure I’ve got sales experience. I’ve sold thousands of eBooks on the Kindle and Smashwords. I’ve sold paperback books online. I know how to develop a promotional campaign. I have solid customer service skills, skills better than Bonequisha or Jontavious.

But there’s no return on the dollar hiring Shawn.

Your average Hood Rat or ghetto dude will take the hundred and fifty dollars a week in that part-time job they get and spend 99 percent of that money in at that same store they work or other stores in that shopping district, especially if it’s a retail business selling trendy clothes like the Gap. I’ve actually heard of some Gap employees actually running a balance there that has to be paid off.

In places like Target, and Toys R Us employees will use their employee discount to buy everything in the store. Again, sometimes running up a balance at the end of the day on a credit card.

Not to mention items from other retailers in the area such as Air Jordan sneakers, fitted caps, sports jerseys, expensive skinny jeans, Playstation and Xbox games and Cell phones. And when it comes to the ladies, they spend their checks on Korean weaves, and elaborate nails.

Hiring a Hood Rat or a ghetto dude is money in the bank for a retailer, especially a nonblack one. It’s guaranteed they’ll get 99 percent of the money they invest in them BACK plus interest.

Hiring Shawn who owns a publishing business on the side means he’ll spend his money on things like his Lightning Source maintenance contract, hiring artists to design his book covers and save his money and pay for a Verizon Smart Router.  

Not to mention he’ll make an effort to participate in Group economics by supporting OTHER Black-owned businesses in his community and participate in Black-owned trade shows like The Harlem Book Fair, Circle of Sisters and the Black Expo.

Giving Shawn that retail job takes money OUT of a nonblack retail business. And with retail businesses such as Target having a razor thin profit margin, they don’t want to take a LOSS on Shawn.

In addition to the LOSS they’d take on the paychecks on the front end, retailers don’t want to lose more money on the Back end. Why? Because Shawn will last longer than the 90-180 days most of their employees will due to his strong work ethic. Shawn comes in on time and puts in a full day of work. Shawn keeps it professional on the job.

But that’s not the kind of employee they want in retail jobs. The surly hood rat you see at the register with a stank attitude or the sales clerks standing in a circle talking about the basketball game then scatter when a customer approaches are what management wants.

Why? Because they know these people will be GONE once the make enough money for an iPhone or a pair of Air Jordans. And once they’re GONE they can’t COMPETE with them for their jobs.

Now I don’t want these managers’ jobs, I just want to make the cash and go. Shawn understands that most retail and fast food jobs are ENGINEERED to turn over in 90-180 days. Why? Because retail business owners don’t want to pay for Unemployment insurance. Nor do they want employees to COLLECT unemployment Insurance.

Again, that’s another LOSS on their books. Shawn understands the psychological tactics retail managers use to weed out people they don’t like such as cutting hours, changing work duties, asking employees to do tasks like cleaning bathrooms, and the enforcement of harsh disciplinary action and contradictory rules and regulations which lead into Paradox Traps where NOTHING an employee does is RIGHT. The retail workplace is a mind-fuck designed by HR Manginas to frustrate people into quitting.

And when people QUIT a retail job, they don’t qualify for Unemployment. And when they stay on a job past 180 days, the employer has to start paying Unemployment insurance on that employee.

No one in business wants to LOSE money. So they won’t hire me. I’m guaranteed to COST them MONEY.

The same commenter says I could go work in a Restaurant.

Here’s the deal on restaurants here in the Bronx: They’re all Hispanic owned. And with me being a Black man, that means NO CHANCE.

Most restaurants here in The Bronx here only hire Hispanics. And you need to know how to speak Spanish in order to wait tables or work in the kitchens there.

Most Hispanic-owned restaurants here just like the supermarkets here in The Bronx usually pay their employees cash off-the-books. That’s how they maintain their razor thin profit margin.

Sure I can wait tables and stock shelves with the best of the Mexicans and Dominicans. But no one in management wants a big college educated Black man there disrupting that flow of their business with his W-2’s taxes, Unemployment insurance, ObamaCare, and requests for a direct deposit into a bank account.

Now there are McDonald’s, Burger Kings, Wendy’s, and other fast food places like Dunkin Donuts. Hell, we have an Indian-owned Popeye’s and KFC here in The Bronx.

But these foreign-owned franchises don’t hire Black men like myself to work their counters out of fear that the Big Black boogeyman will scare off customers.

 Moreover, they don’t hire college graduates. These business owners fear people like me discussing things like work conditions, minimum wage and health and safety regulations with their employees. And they fear me using that dreaded U-word UNION in their businesses.

Now I’m just a brother who wants to make a buck. The kind of guy who will mind his business take his pay and leave. But to a retail business I’m considered a threat.

And because I’m considered a threat I can’t get hired at any of these minimum wage jobs. It’s the main reason why I’m forced to go into business for myself. If I didn’t work at selling books these last five years I wouldn’t be eating.

In this AmeriKKKan job market over the last 20 years I’ve learned it’s not about degrees. It’s not about experience. It’s not about what you know or whom you know. If you’re a Black man, especially a Black man with a college education and a strong work ethic you aren’t valued appreciated or even wanted.

People like me aren’t bad for business because of our skin color. We’re bad for business because our values don’t allow us to spend money in a way that warrants a return on the dollar to nonblack people. A retailer can make twice as much money off a Coon, a Baby Mama or a Hood Rat than he ever would on an intelligent Black man like Shawn.

7 comments:

  1. I'm the above commenter. On a serious note: Dude, where are you shopping or filling out apps for Target? Get out your hood, the whole world doesn't end at the South Bronx. I live in the Bronx, there are places you avoid working like Bay Plaza,South Bronx (especially that Gate way mall by Yankee stadium), especially 225 st by the 1 train.

    Go to Manhattan or somewhere where the customer base is less ghetto.

    Are you shoveling snow right now? there is money to be made. Sell candy. Nah, but you are too good for that, right?

    You hustle and cobble together a few side jobs and reinvest in your publishing. You are waiting for the tipping point where your books will sell enough to stay publishing. Your way isn't working.

    I think you have great ideas, but sometimes you have to step back and write something more popular to fill up your coffers.

    Take what's popular and add your spin to it. Mystery is popular, erotica is popular, New Adult romance (which purely only is white girl stories, add an ethnic twist) is popular. Do a few short stories and priced them at $2.99.

    I posted up a Google play start up thread link from kbboards before.

    I don't think the covers help, people judge by the look of covers. I think there is interest for fantasy stories, but not enough to make money . . . Yet.

    The only reason I recommend writing other genres because the skill that could make you money in the next 3 months is your writing.

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  2. Dude, It's not about the college. I know cats with degrees from Columbia University and NYU who are having it hard.

    I know cats at Monroe who blow the doors off these so called University punks. When I was woking at STRIVE 13 years ago and the pressure was on these University guys were the FIRST TO QUIT while My Monroe College ass was Hanging in there trying to keep the place from collapsing.
    As I've stated numerous times, Educated DOES NOT MEAN SMART.

    When you apply for a job these days it's all done online. And you can apply for more than one store

    No, I am not too good for selling candy. But if you DO NOT HAVE A PERMIT, The police haul your ass to jail.

    Google play is a piece of shit with the interface from Hell. Most people can't get shit to go Live on there. I've tried to upload several titles on there and their interface is absolute SHIT compared to Amazon and Smashwords. When they streamline their upload process and make it functional I'll add more titles there. But right now it's too much of a PAIN IN THE ASS to work with.

    For all this talk, put your money where your mouth is. Buy a book, put up or shut up.

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  3. I'm not buying anything. You don't know how to run a business. You're only as positive if something is easy and appeals to you. Everything else that you consider bad is holding you back. It's never you!

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  4. There could be two reasons why you were not hired permanently at the retail stores and it had nothing to do with them only wanting to hire the bottom of the barrel type of person you described. The first reason could be because you list your college education on your application, the employer has made an assumption that this is only a stepping stone job for you and you will not be there very long. They feel that as soon as something better comes along, you will jump ship, which you probably would, and why shouldn't you?. Then they have to re-advertise the job, take time and effort to accept hundreds of applications for perhaps a small handful of jobs, but most likely only a couple of jobs. Read and separate the wheat from the fluff, set up interviews, do tax paperwork, order new uniforms if that is applicable, train and assimilate the new employee(s), and what ever else employers do when hiring new staff. It is a a major amount of work, only for that person to leave to greener pastures as soon as they got the chance. And that person should leave if they have prepared themselves for better opportunities. Whereas someone who may not have set their aspirations higher than retail is a sure bet, most likely they will be there for a serious length of time, and in entry level retail jobs, that time is measured in at least a year. Why are they a sure bet?. Because an entry level retail job paying the local minimum wage is mostly the same for every store in that district. If salary varies, it is so small, that at the end of the day you won't even notice it. Basically, if someone is accustomed to working retail jobs, and their application indicates they don't plan to change course anythime soon, they would be hired over the college graduate. The second reason you may have not been hired, is the large gap in your work history. The longer you are unemployed, the more you seem unemployable. I understand you have been operating SJS Direct, and there is nothing wrong with that, however, I think it would have served you better had you filled your day hours with a visible employment and pursued your passion at times when you were not doing tasks that paid the bills. In other words, 8-5 work for employer X, and at night and on weekends, work on your writing and publishing. Finally, take your writing ability, and maybe teach others at the community college level, or at the community centers where sometimes they are looking for new instructors to teach enrichment courses, because these opportunities fit your current skills you have been focusing on.

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  5. You obviously have not read Fast Food Nation. Retail/Fast food is engineered and designed to turn over employees in 90-180 days. No one is allowed to stay there, companies like Target and CVS just don't want to pay the Unemployment insurance.

    For me those kinds of jobs are something I'd love to do just to get the bills paid. If it wasn't for books sales, I'd have no money.

    I was working an 8-5 Job and running SJS DIRECT since 2008. I lost that job in 2008 just as I was getting myself together. I had to go back to running SJS DIRECT full time while I looked for another 8-5 job. I'm still looking for work but can't find any takers even though I bring a lot to the table.

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  6. I stand by what I say, that the longer you remain unemployed, the more you seem unemployable. Because paid employment has not come to you in almost 6 years, now it is time to either develop new skills and education by going back to school or getting a new certification. If that is not an option, then volunteering often turns into paid employment. Volunteering will help you make connections and provide proof of your skills. But make sure the volunteer job is worth your time and theirs, in other words I would advise you to take an opportunity that would advance your career ladder, i.e., volunteering to edit at a struggling upstart newspaper or magazine, or volunteering to illustrate or design the newsletters at a viable nonprofit agency. Why not teach art to kids at the youth center. However, I would not advise you to take a volunteer job just for the sake of filling your time, and one that might be needed for the organization, but will mean absolutely nothing in terms of advancing your career. For example, sorting, washing and displaying donated clothes at a Salvation Army. There is nothing wrong with a win-win volunteer situation, you are donating your time, energy and skills, for free, when you could be doing something else, or volunteering elsewhere. As far as Fast Food Nation goes, it is not all that accurate.

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  7. I did volunteer work for STRIVE back in 2000. While all the employees praised my work, when it was time to discuss my future as a PAID employee the Vice President invited me out to lunch and told me to my face he did not have a place for me in his organization. Then he hired his buddy who had been traveling through Spain for TWO YEARS in the job I was working towards and had more experience in.

    I've done lots of volunteer wrtiting jobs, and been praised for the articles I write. but the sites and the papers go under leaving me with no references.


    Non profit is a dangerously unstable job market. You can bring stuff to the table and they'll go out of business leaving you with NOTHING.

    Since I got burnt several times I do not work for free anymore. If anyone wants Shawn's services, they have to pay for them.

    Right now I've got aKickstarter If I can get 500 people to donate $1 each I can meet my goal https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/794929941/isis-paperback-and-ebook-cover-illustration-projec

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