PithyWorld Posted November 7, 2011 Posted November 7, 2011 Lately I have been feeling resentment, and anger at my girlfriends job. Technically it doesn't even affect me much, she still finds time to spend with me, and she is able to supress her stress, although I know she is very stressed. I do not enjoy my own job, but I find myself venting about my girlfriends job to other people, and whenever I think of the job I feel a wave of anger wash over me....The reason being is I think this company is taking advantage of my girlfriend, and her colleagues. The company she works for is a relatively new company. They are like the group-on of children's clothing, maternity ware, toys, etc, etc, although they are rapidly expanding into other avenues. Basically.. Vendors pay the website to put their product up, and the website advertises the sells of many products all in one, handy, dandy website. Usually the ads last for two days before a new set comes in, these are called "events". My girlfriend works in the copywriter department of this company, which means she is in charge of writing about the product. Since their is always a slurry of new products being peddled by vendors on the website, there is always a good amount of work to do, actually that is a lie.. there is TOO MUCH work to do. The copy department is understaffed, because the company is trying to do more, with less. It started out that she just stayed maybe an hour late. Then it is went to two, until gradually some days she was working 10:30-11:30 on a paultry 22,000 a year. She is on salary so she gets no overtime, no extra money for staying over the 8 hour workday. This isn't even the worst of it either. When the company got all of it's servers up, and running the employees were able to do some work at home. The company then upped the amount of venders it took, and started cycling the events at a more rapid pace. This meant she would work a full day and still have mountains of work waiting for her when she got home. Sometimes she is up until 3:30 AM when she has to wake up at 8:40 AM to get ready for work. That some nights she's putting in a good 17 hours of work. Lately this has been happening at least 1 time a week, last week it happened 3. To add to this they enacted a policy around 2 months ago. This policy makes it so my girlfriend has to remain on-call 2 weekends out of every month. She can't go out, and has to stay shackled to her computer all day. Usually 'On Call' translates to ---Hey can you edit the all of these copy's? Which means even more work, no overtime, no extra pay, no hourly rate, just the same flat salary. I find the behavior of this company dubious.
Cee Posted November 7, 2011 Posted November 7, 2011 The pay is incredibly low for the time she puts into the company. Her best bet is to put her resume out there and find a better job. I suggest she get out of copywriting for small companies and break into technical writing for larger companies. Writers tend to be underpaid, however, there are more lucrative positions out there. Take it from me; I'm a professional writer, although I do grant writing rather than copywriting. She could try to break into medical writing or financial analysis writing, which pays very well in comparison. Grant writing pays decently and there are a shortage of qualified grant writers. She could become a grant writer with only 3 years experience and the pay is more than double what she gets now. Breaking into grant writing is doable with good effort, but master's level training is probably necessary to be competitive. The hardest thing for writers to do and particularly women is to be assertive and go getters. I don't fault your girlfriend for not wanting to make waves. But raises aren't handed to us on a silver platter. And the people who work the hardest don't necessarily get rewarded with raises. I suggest she network with other writers and find a mentor to teach her the ropes. LinkedIn has plenty of interest groups and they often post jobs. She can also post the best version of her resume on websites. There are a myriad of ways to advance, but she must not put that much time into her job and more time into herself. I feel for your girlfriend and I wish her the best. In today's age, everybody wants writers. But sadly, they pay precious little for them.
daphne Posted November 7, 2011 Posted November 7, 2011 I normally see this kind of situation with someone who has a higher income. It's harder for the person to leave when they're making a lot of money. There's no doubt that she's being exploited. If she has good experience, she needs to put it down in a resumé and get moving. Life is too short to shackle yourself to 2 weekends a month in addition to the ridiculous overtime she's working. I'd rather work at the food court at the mall than do that nonsense.
zengirl Posted November 7, 2011 Posted November 7, 2011 It's an unfair situation. I used to both be an account executive and write copy for an ad agency (our AEs were all copywriters, with writing backgrounds as well, because the ad agency was one that liked saving money by combining positions), and the work was about what you're describing. But I got paid about 2x-3x as much, depending on my product, and I got bonuses and such for various projects. Of course, that was before the economy tanked, and my job tanked with it and I went into education. But she should be able to get at least 2x what she's making if she looks for a new job---it'll take some time in this market, but it's doable, especially if she can do any internet marketing beyond just writing the copy. (That's unclear from the description about her job, but not altogether different from her role there. I would suggest building skills in that direction. Every company needs marketers who can write.)
rightfield Posted November 7, 2011 Posted November 7, 2011 The only way that I would advise remaining in a situation like this is if the company was compensating me with stock options or some other small equity ownership. It might be worth investing all of that time and working for a low salary in order to help the company get off the ground if she could get a small amount of equity and/or profit sharing. Otherwise, I'd be out of there.
Survivor12 Posted November 7, 2011 Posted November 7, 2011 The thing is--how does your gf feel about it???? While it's understandable that you don't want to see your gf being taken advantage of, if she has her own reasons for not wanting to quit, it's up to you to be supportive of HER regardless of how you feel about it. Of course, you are entitled to your opinion and there's nothing wrong with telling her how you feel, but don't pressure her about it.
make me believe Posted November 7, 2011 Posted November 7, 2011 The thing is--how does your gf feel about it???? This is what I'm wondering as well. If your girlfriend doesn't mind the situation & isn't interested in looking for a new job, then there's not much you can do. You can stay & try to support her, or you can leave her because her job is her top priority. I wouldn't want to be with somebody who was career-obsessed or allowed a company to take advantage of them to the point where they are working 17 hour days for $22k a year. But you have to make a decision. You can't stay & allow resentment to take over your relationship. If you want to be with her, then you have to accept this situation as one that SHE IS CHOOSING (unless she's actively looking for another job, or having a meeting with her boss to discuss her ridiculous hours), and figure out a way to deal with it.
Author PithyWorld Posted November 7, 2011 Author Posted November 7, 2011 It's an unfair situation. I used to both be an account executive and write copy for an ad agency (our AEs were all copywriters, with writing backgrounds as well, because the ad agency was one that liked saving money by combining positions), and the work was about what you're describing. But I got paid about 2x-3x as much, depending on my product, and I got bonuses and such for various projects. Of course, that was before the economy tanked, and my job tanked with it and I went into education. But she should be able to get at least 2x what she's making if she looks for a new job---it'll take some time in this market, but it's doable, especially if she can do any internet marketing beyond just writing the copy. (That's unclear from the description about her job, but not altogether different from her role there. I would suggest building skills in that direction. Every company needs marketers who can write.) Her job could be considered "marketing". She makes the product look desirable in these blurbs she writes about the product. The reason she is sticking with this job is because she wants to build experience as a copywriter, but it's coming at a heavy price. This is her first copy job. Her non-work relationships are starting to take a hit. She hardly goes out and see's her friends anymore. She only wants to hang out with me, and when she does she just clings onto me and cuddles. I don't mind just cuddling and watching TV, but it's sad to see her like this.
norajane Posted November 7, 2011 Posted November 7, 2011 The hardest thing for writers to do and particularly women is to be assertive and go getters. I don't fault your girlfriend for not wanting to make waves. But raises aren't handed to us on a silver platter. And the people who work the hardest don't necessarily get rewarded with raises. Many women, especially young women just starting out, have a really hard time asking for raises and benefits. How long has she been there? If it's at least 6 months, gf needs to tell her managers she will burn out if she doesn't get an assistant. And that she needs to be paid overtime or get a raise. Tell her to keep a log of how much time she is putting in at the office and at home, and how many weekends she is called. She could also do some research and determine how much people in her field are getting paid as a starting salary and what benefits those people also get. She can use that info to show them why she refuses to be taken advantage of like that. Slave labor isn't the way to get ahead.
Author PithyWorld Posted November 8, 2011 Author Posted November 8, 2011 Many women, especially young women just starting out, have a really hard time asking for raises and benefits. How long has she been there? If it's at least 6 months, gf needs to tell her managers she will burn out if she doesn't get an assistant. And that she needs to be paid overtime or get a raise. Tell her to keep a log of how much time she is putting in at the office and at home, and how many weekends she is called. She could also do some research and determine how much people in her field are getting paid as a starting salary and what benefits those people also get. She can use that info to show them why she refuses to be taken advantage of like that. Slave labor isn't the way to get ahead. Assistant? That is not how this company works. She has been working there for 7 months and not one mention of a raise. Everything is done independantlly then reviewed by editors. The company is understaffed and refusing to hire new workers.
norajane Posted November 8, 2011 Posted November 8, 2011 The company is understaffed and refusing to hire new workers. Then there is nothing she can do except stick it out for as long as she thinks she needs to for the experience, and then start looking for another job. And there is nothing YOU can do or should do, either. She isn't asking you to fix the problem. She isn't complaining about it. I understand that you are upset for her and wish better for her. But she is trying to establish herself as a writer, she has a job that can help her do that, and she feels she needs to do this for her career. Sometimes, you have to suck it up for a while until you can move on to something better. Writing is not an easy field. Are you upset for yourself, too? Is that why you feel so much anger? Are you angry that her job is creating very little time for you to be with her the way you want? Do you feel neglected? Are you angry with her for appearing to put this job first instead of you? If that is what is driving all this anger you feel, please have patience while she tries to get her career off the ground. It won't always be this way.
Art_Critic Posted November 8, 2011 Posted November 8, 2011 Are you really sure she is only making 22k a year ? The reason I ask is that writing online copy will get about 44k a year in the mid range.. Is her schooling and skillset in copy writing ? She could peddle her skills at Elance . com or the like if she is wanting to do work for hire. and is she not happy ?
dasein Posted November 8, 2011 Posted November 8, 2011 All I have to say is, "get used to it." The days of making a fair salary for a 40 hour week in the U.S. are GONE. Increasingly, companies are leveraging labor to such an extent that what looks like a job when you walk in the door is actually a trap, once you are in, the subtle and not so subtle pressure to work 50-60 hours a week for crap pay starts immediately. The winners of the next phase of the U.S. workplace for ordinary people are those who develop a universal skillset, and through diligent networking sell that as a subcontractor to their network. For most average people, the days of a good, honest job are OVER.
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