Stuck In the Belly of The Beast – Part Time Jobs

By a show of mouse clicks, how many of us genuinely dislike our part time jobs? Better yet, allow me to rephrase that . . . how many of us genuinely hate our part time jobs? How many of us cringe at the thought of having to wake up early in the morning and go to work? How many of us hate the inner-office politics flowing from Jack’s office, or Suzy’s big mouth bringing you a daily dosage of ‘work drama’ when all you’re trying to do is photocopy a document. How about Tiffany, who confides in a box of Timbits, while questioning you on why she’s overweight. How about your manager who gives you a fake smile when you attempt to hint towards a promotion, and then dismisses you with a ‘Well, you’re a great employee and when the position opens up, you’ll be the first one I call. ‘Knowing very well that the call is as likely to come as a raise, you shrug your shoulders and troop down to your cubicle.

We all have different reasons on why we put up with such circumstances and continue to work in such environments. For example, students have “no choice” but to put up with the verbal abuse of frustrated supervisors. Telling themselves “only two more weeks until school,” they put up with the harsh treatment for pennies. Working long hours trying to fill in for full-timers, they never seem to get the respect they deserve. They are either shunned because they are young, or overlooked because they come and go like pop singles on the billboard. To them, work is exactly that, work. It is neither fun, beneficial, nor challenging. In the end the only thing that they extract from the experience is – frustration.

Another example is the growing middle class composed primarily of immigrants who have to work to put food on the table. They too work ridiculous hours, and put up with a lot of things because the financial well being of their family members is far too important than self-pride. This category of people is the hardest to challenge, due to the fact that they are at a financial and social disadvantage, which is a subject for another time . . . and possibly another blog.

My question is this, if you are a student who is at a stalemate with his or her place of employment, why not take the path less traveled? How about tapping into the mysterious world of entrepreneurship? How about unleashing your full potential and becoming your own boss? Yeah, yeah, I hear the critics now . . . ‘not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur’ or ‘it’ll get better when you finish school.’

Right.

Entrepreneurship is the expression of ones creativity, and ones willingness to be his or her own boss. It is putting ones idea into action, and profiting from it. Let’s be honest, when is the last time an entrepreneurship class was taught at any level in school? The reason why most believe entrepreneurship (and business in general) is for a distinct few is because they’ve been programmed to think so. Without sounding like a Napoleon Hill seminar – you can learn to be anything you want.

If on the other hand, you like the safe route of a mediocre paycheque every two weeks followed by a trip to a pharmacy for a bottle of Advil, then stay where you are in life. You are probably the same type who thinks it’ll get better when you finish school; only to be disappointed when the redundancy of full time employment in a corporate setting is not a fast paced action scene from CSI.

Remember, entrepreneurship does not fit into the social makeup of most educational institutions. Prove the world wrong and liberate yourself – become your own boss, and break free from the belly of the beast.

Written By: T.I.M Staff