I'm frustrated and I'm going to vent...even though I'm new.

[LanternWaste]

Less than ten posts here so maybe I don't have a leg to stand on, but here I go...

I am going to vent. Just a bit, but enough to (hopefully) get rid of some of this frustration I've been feeling. If I tried this in front of my pals, I'd just get the response, "Stop whining and accept 'personal responsibility' for your actions. (Buncha militant Freepers who, on a good day, smell like Budweiser, pot and faux-Polo). May get that here, too- but at least here I imagine that no one thinks persoonal responibility is limited to only one political party...

On Jan. 31 of this year, I went in to work. A day like any other I poured myself a cup of coffee, sat down at my desk and began to typeset the day's work. Yes. I'm a typesetter. No grandeloquent description puffing up what I do- I simply typeset print advertising, the kind you see in your local newspaper or the yellow pages. But it's been a pretty good job and the money's been good enough to allow me to add to a bit here and a bit there to my savings account.

Anyway, an hour into my normal routine, I get called into the production manager's office. Seems one of my ad's was shipped to the client wrong. "Well'", I said, "that's why we have a proofing dept. AND a final proffing dept. Every typesetter makes mistakes, it's part of the job and I think we both know my production:mistake ratio is among the best in the office, so why the sudden consternation?"

Jeff (the production manager) told me that the son of the company's owner, who was also Vice-President In Charge Of Looking Busy And Productive was involved in getting dressed down by the client. "I don't know how or why he was on the phone with the client, that's what our Client-Rep Dept. does. But he was. And he's fired the proofer and the final proofer involved...."

"That's a crappy deal, Jeff. Is this something new? We've never fired proofers for this before...a reprimand, sure, but isn't this a bit...extreme?"

"Well, we have to let you go, too."

"What?"

"The owner's son specifically told me to fire everyone involved in this"

"You mean all the proofers, the typesetter (me), the printing and shippng dept.?"

"Each hand that touched the product is gone. Thanks for your work and I hope you all the best in your future."

Never been reprimanded. Absolutely nothing negative in my file. Never came in late. Days missed were always cleared ahead of time. Never make waves. Listen to jazz and classical on my headphones. Even volunteered to work the first three drafts of the company's Protocol & Policy Handbook on my time during my lunch hour.

In so many words, I'm a supervisor's wet dream! (It actually comes down to this- it's a waste of time to get involved in politics or clicks when you're a typesetter...it's like being the Secretary of Agriculture, eighteenth in line of succesion, laying awake at night, hoping the perfect storm hits and he's promoted to President...Gads, I love watching West Wing- a tidbit or two always seems to stay with me until I can find a way to fit it into a conversation....lol)

Stunned. Left the office, decided to come back the next Mon to clean out my desk. Got back to my place and made a call to a lawyer. "Tough luck, kiddo. This is Texas. Unless you were fired based on racial or sexual discrimination, you're out of luck. The 'Right to Work' laws are really just a nice name for a 'Righ to Fire' law."

Called the unemployment office to get that ball rolling and that's where I've been since the last day of January. I've dropped of many resume's and in all but one case have been told, "Your' qualifications are outstanding and you give great interview, but we've decided to hire from within. Thanks you for your intrest....". Hey, I can understand hiring from within- in this economy, it's a hidden perk.

Last week finally got a call. Please come in and take our typesetting test. If everything works out, you'll be working by Monday! Yay! Came in a gave another round of outstanding interview protocol and then went to take the test. Sat down in front of the monitor and....I froze.

It's been over six months since I've had the opportunity to touch Quark (the standard typesetting program...at least in my neck of the woods). Couldn't remember my short cut keys. Couldn't remember to how to open up tool-bars (except through the 'File' menu', which is a dead giveaway for lack-of-experience). Felt fortunate to remember how to adjust kerning or open a document. Felt lucky just to remember the short cut to make a bullet....

Didn't get the position because of that and I KNOW this program....inside and out!

Of course, on the way home, the appropriate synapses started talking to each other again and at that precise moment I could have wowed them with my quickness and versatility on the program, but of course it was too damn late.

Dammit! Quark is a HIGH dollar (to me, anyway) program that I simply cannot afford right now. And the longer I'm not touching it, the more I can forget. So I'm about to deny my own convictions and find a pirated copy so I can keep myself accustomed to it. And I HATE that I'm going to that. I can justify it over and over again in a lot of valid-sounding ways, but I know that it's stealing and it's just one more thing I'm going to have to answer for in the end.

And I'm getting frustrated, depressed and a bit frightened that it's taking so long to get another position. I don't feel that accepting unemployement is any indictment against my work ethic, but everytime I deposit the check, I can't help but feel a little bit less...productive. I really, really hate this...but it's where I am. I even lost it the other day and began cursing at one of my pals who took the company's side ( a Republican but that's no excuse), and if you knew me, you wouldn't associate cursing, or even unkind words to the things I usually say. But I'm slowly starting to lose it!

O-kay. I'm done venting. I don't know if it made me feel any better, but at least I've said I few things I've really been wanting to for a while and, like I tell my pal's these days, "...at least you have a job to complain about..."

...The jazz station I'm listening to just stared playing "Malaguena" covered by the UNT One O'Clock Lab Band....hard for me not to get a smile on my face or keep my toes from tapping, so I must be feeling better. :)

[FlashHarry]

1. Wow. What a shitty deal.

You might want to start boning up on Adobe InDesign. We're thinking of replacing Quark with it, and I know a lot of other shops are too.

Hang in there.

[molly]

2. My twin is an ace on tests - I freeze

your story really hit home. My best suggestion is to call the place of your interview and be honest, tell them you froze and then tell them that you will work 1 week for free. If they like you, they can hire you - if not - what do you have to lose?

[thom1102]

9. That is really a great idea!

What have you got to lose?

:shrug:

[radwriter0555]

16. I SECOND That idea... what have you got to lose by calling to

get another chance?

GO FOR IT!

[DoveTurnedHawk]

17. GREAT Idea

I've seen variants of this idea before, and it has always impressed me. DO NOT GIVE UP. Employers respect people with a "go-getter" attitude, and you have absolutely nothing to lose. Just be honest, and make sure you emphasize how you really do know Quark inside-and-out.

Even if they turn you down, at least you'll know you gave it your best shot!

DTH

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. There's nothing I can say to make you feel any better about your

present situation. It just sucks. My mother-in-law, a darn good graphic designer, just lost her job as an art director in March. Now she puts in long hours at a well known retail store, because she can't get anything better. It just plain sucks. My thoughts are with you. Keep us updated on your hunt for a job.

[SoCalDem]

4. Welcome to DU.. and yes.. THIS is the place to vent

amd network.. That really sucks to have no recourse, and it sounds like you have some nepotism going on at your former workplace.. They were probably "looking for a coonvenient excuse" to downsize..:(

Are you unencumbered enough to move?? That might be an opportunity to find a job..

Maybe you can freelance?? Make up some samples at home and hit the streets to some local small businesses??

Anyway.. we are happy to have you here and even if we cannot solve your job problem, maybe we can all help you feel better :):) and even laugh a little :)

[Melsky]

5. That sucks!

Is there any way you can do some volunteer work that would let you work with this program? That way you could keep your skills up and also get a job reference.

Good luck!

[thom1102]

6. okay, first of all,

Welcome to DU!!!
:toast:
Secondly, it is a real shame what happened to you, and that you haven't any protection or recourse (one of the benefits of having a union job is there are often protection built into the contracts).

Third, as far as pirating Quark, anti pirating rules are to prevent someone from making money off of someone elses work. The reason Quark is so expensive is because, theoretically, anyone who uses it is going to use it to make money. If you were going to us it merely for training purposes and not doing business on the side, then, in effect, you would still be upholding the SPIRIT of the law, even if you are violating the LETTER of the law. This may be just a rationalization, but, hey, desperate times and all.

Good luck finding a new job!

[demnan]

7. You will find sympathy here

There are a lot of unemployeed people on this site. And everyone, I mean everyone on this planet has been fired at one time or another. If they tell you otherwise, they are lying.

My advice to you is to get the program and practive every day. Have you checked out student sites? Sometimes there are special rates for students. Or perhaps you can get a second hand version somewhere. Do you have access to the Internet? If not try one of those coffee shops and Goggle around for the software and see what kind of deal you can get.

Good luck to you! Hope you're back on your feet real soon!

On edit: of course you have a computer I meant Internet access.

[thom1102]

10. Never fired

Not once. I wouldn't have a problem admitting it if I had. (neither has my partner either, come to think of it.)

[LanternWaste]

8. Thanks, Guys!

Jesus! More positive and encouraging responses frm complete strangers than I've gotten in six months from friends...I knew there's a reason why I really dig DU! :)

[anti_shrub]

11. I would suggest asking another lawyer

My girlfriend went thru a similar experience, one of the assistant managers at her old job got fired for no other reason except having a personality conflict with the big boss. It was known that my girlfriend was/is friends with this person and the boss proceeded to do everything in her power to make life difficult. It finally came to a head when she ended up taking her off the schedule for calling off work, since she was told to be there at the asscrack of dawn when the job that had to be done was moved to the evening.

If you have no record of being reprimanded, you probably have more of a case than you think, but who knows how things work in Texas.

[molly]

14. Hate to rain on your parade, but I've known 3 people

that this has happened to - 2 of them went thru the expense of going to see an attorney. The one had a PERFECT review not 6 months prior. Her attorney told her that they were not required to give a reason for termination - that simple - right to hire - right to fire.

on edit - 2 were in Delaware and 1 was in NY

[boilerbabe]

12. Oh, You Poor Hunny!

I feel your pain and wish I could help you get a new job, but I don't know a Quark from a Dork to tell you truthfully! With your skills, do get the software or whatever you need to keep in touch with it all, because like they say, "use it or lose it". and also don't over punctuate your casual writings, because typsetting is all about proper English, just in case the proofers don't catch it..(I used to proof ads for a major department store before the tech age) Advice No.1: Use an apostrophe only when describing ownership, as in Fred's horse...or at the end of a plural ownership...Avoid using it in the delineation of a time era, such as the 70s...
No.2: Avoid any negative previous job references (this is as tough as it gets!!) when applying for your next one. It is almost impossible to avoid the real reason why you left (or were told to leave) your last job, but do the avoidance principle as best you can, especially if you are going into the same field (I once lost a job in the oil refinery industry due to personal reasons and found I was blackballed from the field entirely, no matter what my personal references or job performance was)
No.3; If the previous is the case (they spread info, no matter how illegal it is to do so...) then you may want to just say screw it and try something new...time to start over..
No.4: In many states, you can get State-approved job training. Maybe you might want to take a course that will get you job-ready before your unemployment runs out. (I took a machinist's course in 1993, also a graphic design course/advertising course in 1986)
No.5: You may not wind up doing anything even remotely related to what you wanted to do when you grew up. Oh well...I certainly didn't expect to be working in a paper mill running a boiler, so don't worry, do what you have to do and I wish you the best of luck!!
XXXOOO
the Boilerbabe

[MadHound]

13. Sorry to hear about your troubles

And a big Welcom to DU. Don't worry about venting, we all do it around here, newbies and oldies, its part of what DU is for.

From the sounds of it, you might want to check with another lawyer about your situation. I know its a bit late in the game, but you never know. Besides, a second opinion is always good to have.

I understand about the freezing part, I've done that myself. As to pirating Quark, are you a student(or can you play one on TV)? If so there are lots of places that offer software at deep discounts for educational purposes. Now is the time to check them out for with the start of the schoolyear right around the corner. If you have a friend who is a student, use them instead.

Also have you thought about doing a little free lance work on the side? If you can use Quark, and do typesetting then you can transcribe also. This works great in a college town, just put up flyers around and soon the business will start coming in. If your skill sets extend to more than typesetting, you could also go into free lance graphic arts. I've had several people who started with the flyer route and built up to a serious business.

I hope things work out for you(they generally do). Next time before a test try some calming meditation. Or your favorite shot;-)

[Interrobang]

15. Steal this Quark

Get yourself a copy of Quark by hook or by crook. If/when you start making money from it in sufficient quantities that you can afford to buy it for yourself, *then* buy it. You can't afford to lose your skills (and do take the poster's advice about boning up on InDesign, and you might also want to consider FrameMaker as well, if you haven't already), and if you also can't afford to buy the thing (and I *know* how expensive high-end software is, I have a computer packed with it here at work), then Quark isn't losing a sale from you. Besides which, they won't go after you, 99.99999999% positive, because you're a probable-to certain future customer, even if they did find out.

Good luck!

[trof]

18. from another typesetter

Welcome to DU
:hi:
and that sux.
I actually did set type for one semester in a college journalism course in the early 60s.
Real metal type out of wooden racks. I enjoyed it, kind of like a combo crossword and jigsaw puzzle.
Later I worked at a newspaper where they used the old Ludlow Linotype machines casting hot metal.
Jeez I'm a geezer.
Good luck, Lantern.

[LuLu550]

19. Sorry

Sorry about your job problems. That's why unions were invented.
And as one newbie to another, this place is a great place to rant.
LuLu :hi: