Welp, I’m jobless.

[Momofboys]

I’ll apologize in advance for the long and winded rant.

So for the past ten years or so I’ve wanted to become a jeweler ever since I took a metalsmith class in college. But It wasn’t until after Covid hit that I was able to actually get into the field. Got an "essentials" certificate from Gemological Institute of America, got a job at a local Kay Jewelers in October 2020. I knew going in that Kay wasn't going to be forever because it's in a mall and there's no on site jeweler to teach me anything. But I worked there for over 2 years to learn as much as I could about the industry. Got a couple more certificates showing I know my stuff.

Back in June a position opened up at a local jewelry store and I jumped on it. During the interview process and the first few weeks my boss (the owner) gave me the impression that I was going to be "taking over" the repairs from the woman currently handling everything. But the problem is that this particular business doesn't actually do their own repairs. She has a contract jeweler take everything once a week back to his shop, fix it, bring it back. Apparently, despite being a goldsmith for over 3 decades and owning her own business for 2, it's "not her job to sit at the bench all day." Okay, I get it. You have a business to run and you don't have time. But hire a bench jeweler to actually work in the store rather than contracting a completely separate business to do it off premises.

So anyway, the first month or so was an adjustment going from a massive corporation to small business, so my sales numbers were very low. I gave myself the benefit of the doubt. But after coming to the realization that I wasn't going to be getting anywhere close to what I wanted (actually doing the repairs myself), my stupid brain pretty much said "Nah, I'm done. Peace out." and shut down. I was making more and bigger mistakes, not passing information along, certainly not selling anything.

I haven't actually been fired from a job in close to a decade (always left because I either found something better/different or moved). I could try going back to Kay, but I really didn't like my manager and there's no career growth with them.

Yesterday I got my ASD "diagnos-ish" from my psych (here's my intro link with the story), today I got fired, and for the past 2 months I've also been dealing with a cancer-riddled dog who as of the end of August only had 2 months to live. I know I'll get through all this nonsense, but for the rest of today and possibly the week I'm going to wallow in self-pity until I figure things out.

 

[Aspychata]

Getting let go is tough. Are u in a -At Will - state. They can basically let you go for anything. WA and FL are at will states.

 

[Momofboys]

Getting let go is tough. Are u in a -At Will - state. They can basically let you go for anything. WA and FL are at will states.

Yeah I'm up in CT and unfortunately we are. Plus it was the end of my 90 day probationary period anyways. I kinda knew it was coming, but I had been hoping to stick it out through Christmas and find something in the spring. This time of year jewelry stores are only looking for sales people.

 

[Tom]

I lost a dog to widespread cancer a month or so back. Very hard. I hope you will heal quickly.

 

[paloftoon]

You could look for a job cleaning a restaurant or stocking shelves for retail or grocery maybe. They can be thankless, but they are generally needed and it's work until you find something else you want more.

 

[Momofboys]

You could look for a job cleaning a restaurant or stocking shelves for retail or grocery maybe. They can be thankless, but they are generally needed and it's work until you find something else you want more.

Which I would have no problem doing, I've worked food service and grocery pretty much since I started working, but It would be about an $8/hour pay cut. And just about any other job out there that pays as much as this one did requires experience, which I only have in jewelry sales.

For right now, though, I'm going to apply for CT unemployment, keep my eyes and ears open for bench apprenticeships and/or training, and just take it one day at a time.

And if something pops up outside of jewelry that doesn't require excessive amounts of talking to people but still pays decently, then I'll go for that, and try to get some schooling in.

 

[Mary Terry]

Can you seek a job with a bench jeweler, such as the one that your former boss used to repair jewelry? You'd probably start out as an apprentice and make little money, but it would be a way to learn more skills.

 

[Momofboys]

Can you seek a job with a bench jeweler, such as the one that your former boss used to repair jewelry? You'd probably start out as an apprentice and make little money, but it would be a way to learn more skills.

That was my thinking, but I actually asked my boss about him and she said he’s “too gruff” to be a good teacher. But my in-laws have a very close family friend who is a jeweler as well. I won’t work for him because I don’t want to potentially ruin long term friendships but maybe he knows someone who’s looking for an apprentice.

 

[Jorg]

Sorry to hear (actually read) your situation. I've been un-emloyed myself for 6 months now after I was fired from a good engineering job I worked for 1 and half year.

It is hard to have a job, I really liked what I did (reviewing motherboard designs for 3rd party companies that were developing products using an specific micro processor) but in my case, the true nightmare started after I was upgraded to a nnew position, the teamwork was not the same and/or friendly as my previous team, the tools/software was a mess and started to make a burned on my physical and mental health. Luckyly I was fired with all my legal benefits, but doing almost nothing for 5 months...it is really hard.

Adding to this, the complexity increases now because as in many parts of the world the US$ is the bussiness currency, many companies where I live make their contracts in it and although it seems ironic or against reason, i dont know, the price of the dolar has decreased a lot in the lasts months, my country's currency is "becoming better" in some way and while it may be great for the everyday consumer is not so good for the companies, therefore some job positions have been canceled. I just got an email from a place I applied saying that while my CV was great, the position was cancelled, and when I was still working last year, something similar happened.