Join the new world

So there is no concern about conflict of interest let me begin by saying I don't know my boss personally, and he certainly didn't know I was going to post this.

Since I got here a few days ago I've read several horror stories about people taking jobs for the minimum wage, and still being there at the end of their first week, more or less starving to death. I'm writing this to let you know THERE ARE GOOD EMPLOYERS out there! Yes you are locked into your work schedule for 3 days, but if you are not seeing any growth in your salary in that time, I would strongly encourage you to intelligently hunt for a new job.

I had the good fortune to hire on with California Share Farms my first day here. Yes I have actively worked to increase my wellness so I was of more value to my employer, but in these four days, I have been given, without asking for it, two very nice raises. My skill is only up to 1.75, and my wellness up to 58, but my boss saw fit to increase my salary already to the point I can almost cover the cost of Q2 food.

* What did I mean by "intelligently hunt for a new job"? Research the Job Market to find employment in your sector. Unless for some reason you are terribly unhappy with the sector you originally chose I wouldn't change that now because in three days you have probably built up something around 1.5 skill. Sectors would be the Gathering, Building, or Producing categories. No reason to throw that away. After you click on your sector, select the level of skill you have now, probably 1 - 1.99. Now take a look at the companies on that list.

* Some will have a statement like "+80 wellness" in their name. You can pass on those for now because you probably aren't that healthy yet. The first company on the list will be the one with the highest starting salary. At this point in your career be SURE you are picking a Q1 company (one star) because if you go higher than that to a Q2 company you will not be able to keep up with the wellness drain it costs you every day.

* So why not just sign up for the company that has the highest starting salary? It may not be the best for you long run. Before you sell your working soul again, look deeper this time. How many resources do they have in stock? If it's zero, they may be on their way out. Or they might only be waiting for a new shipment and it's not a big deal. But you should know where their inventory is none the less.

* Look at their string of employees. How many past that mark of "Max Productivity" have they hired? If they are way above that mark and still bringing on new workers, they may not be paying attention to business and layoffs might be right around the corner.

* Now click on the "Show All Employees" button. How many of your potential new Water Cooler Gossip buddies have worked in the past couple of days? If you don't see a VERY high percentage that worked yesterday or today I would take that as a bad sign.

* Ok you've narrowed your employment quest down to the two or three companies you think look the most interesting. Now is when you need to take a little time and do your deep research. Pick two or three employees from that list that are the closest to your same level, and write them a short PM. Ask them a couple of simple questions - do they think it's a good company to work for, and are they seeing regular and reasonable salary increases as they grow personally. My hunch is you will be pleasantly surprised how many folks will quickly answer your questions because most people want to be helpful.

Within 24 hours you will have more information than most do when they hire out their precious labor, and can make a far better decision about who you want to work with. Of course there is some danger one position may close, but another will always open up. And if you get a positive response or two back right away from current employees maybe you want to jump in and get the position you're most interested in.

One last piece of advice I've seen in many other employment posts. Once you get a job, stay with it as long as you can. From what I can tell most employers truly value a solid dedicated long term employee and will reward you accordingly the longer you work for them. I hope everyone finds as great a job as I did with California Share Farms. Super good luck out there.

If you found this article worthwhile and feel like voting for it, I would deeply appreciate that. Future articles will cover other tips for getting along better in your eWorld, so I hope you may choose to subscribe as well. I'll do my best to keep you informed.

--Dania
Citizenship is a tough occupation which obliges the citizen to make their own informed opinion and stand by it. ---Martha Gellhorn

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