7-31-10 Saturday (The Job)

On Wednesday, I attended a career fair for “an un-named car care facility”. In the Carolinas they have “an un-named car care facility” that do many different types of repairs and maintenance. As “an un-named car care facility” member, you would receive a 2 year 24,000 mile warranty on repairs while non-members get a 1 year 12,000 mile warranty. Members receive discounts, etc. Most “an un-named car care facility” are large facilities that have other departments on site such as travel, insurance, member services and the like. I’m not linking to any “an un-named car care facility” sites via the blog just to prevent “an un-named car care facility” from reading about their newest employee.

With all that said, Friday late afternoon I received a call asking if I was interested in a position. When can I start? I replied anytime. How about tomorrow morning (Saturday)? I was stunned but agreed. Talk of pay, hours and such would be discussed on site. Just go there between 8 and 9 and see what “we’re” all about. Where’s the location? Rockhill, SC. We discovered that it would be a long drive (50 minutes each way) to/from for me so he mentions that they’ll work to find me a more suitable location in the future. If this was anyone else but a large corporation like “an un-named car care facility”, I’d be leery but I decided to “see what it’s all about.”

I arrived and found that this location was an old quick-lube shop. Not very nice looking. I thought, “awwww crap.” I ventured in anyway. Aside from the shop, the inside is just a room with some customer waiting chairs, coffee service, a counter where we all work from, and a restroom down the hall. No office. No breakroom. Nada. I will adapt. Tomorrow I’m going to buy a lunch-sized cooler. Many of the employees seem to walk next door to a McDonald’s. Ugh. I gotta do better than that. I’ll get unsweet tea and maybe a salad from time to time but I’m better off bringing my own food.

Saturday are apparently one of “an un-named car care facility”’s busiest days of the week. I met with my original interviewer who is a Group Manager. He and another Group Manager who was also at this store oversee many stores like a district manager of sorts. Both Group Managers were on hand to help out. Turns out the guy who I’d be replacing was terminated. A service writer on hand had just started in June, and the facility manager was on a rotating quarterly 4 day weekend. It was certainly an interesting day. Somehow I never ate anything all day. We were just too busy. I think what made us “busier” is that I’m learning a computer system, the “an un-named car care facility” mentality, the employees, etc. which slows us down. The managers were “cleaning up” the previous guys paperwork mess when they could.

It wasn’t until later in the day that I was able to discuss pay, and some other stuff with the Group Manager. I found out what I needed to know for now but still have more to find out.

Oh, so the staff. The shop consists of several technicians ranging in skill levels from oil changers (lube tech) to master techs. Inside is a Service Writer. Working the counter along side him would be me, a Sales Manager and a Facility Manager. In simple terms Sales Managers and Facility Managers are Service Writers who have more responsibilities and therefore are compensated higher. This is no desk job. This is a working management position.

I don’t know what my day off will be. I only know that everyone works on Fridays and Saturdays, their busiest days. Everyone gets Sunday off plus a day during the week.

I’m excited, I’m bummed. I’m a roller coaster of emotion. I’m filled with negativity but I’m going to work on turning this all into something positive. I’m excited about returning to work for another day on Monday. Confusing, I know. Maybe I thrive on fixing chaos? We’ll see. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.