10 years since the Chandelier Factory
When I have interviewed for roles in ecommerce, some people see a company that is known for its crystals on my resume and get really excited. I wasn't running ads, I wasn't running their store.
Fun fact: The difference between low quality and high quality crystal? The amount of LEAD used in the process.
I was in the factory. Powder Coating and putting metallics on the parts, everything was made to order. All the fabrication was done in-house. It wasn't a glamorous job, but this job got me really focused on attention to detail and standing up for improving processes. The problem is nobody really took me seriously. I was just a "finishing operator". A lot of coworkers there weren't really wanting to optimize the work flow to bump output.
Coming home covered in Powder coat at midnight Monday–Friday. Pretty dirty job, but also really rewarding when things went well. HOT industrial ovens, really large and heavy awkward metal pieces coming out of a 400 degree oven. (don't burn yourself, HR wouldn't like that). Summers were HOT. working with the ovens.
Now, after a year of working there, I tried moving up. Factory Maintenance, figured my electrical engineering degree would help me land the role. Nope. I tried a few months later after the person hired over me got fired. Nope. Ok, nobody believes in me here. (More on that below)
This place did not offer paternity leave either, it would have been PTO. I had 2.5 days of PTO left in the bank when my oldest was born. We were discharged on a monday, I was back to work Tuesday afternoon. Managers were SHOCKED I didn't take time.
"How could you leave your wife at home recovering from an emergency C-section with the new baby?!" - manager
"Do I get the Paid day off? No? I'm working then." - me.
I ended up getting those 2.5 PTO days when I left a few months later.
One of the last jobs we were doing while I was there, was building light fixtures for a huge hotel in Dubai. They got a custom color, and everything! It was a lacquer base, that was supposed to be golden, but looked a bit more like pee yellow. The hardest part of these, the finish was very time sensitive, so any hold up or issue would cause the parts to get stripped and you'd have to try again.
I became the only person who could powder coat them correctly without getting parts rejected. It's pretty cool to know a physical thing that I had a part in creating is in some hotel I can't afford to stay the night in.
Some of the other weird things about this job, I had people follow me home from work, for political differences. Also co-workers who were way too comfortable with slurs and hate speech. During the exit interview I brought that up, it got shrugged off by HR.
My last shift was Election Night 2016, 10 years ago this week. I had a job lined up starting the following Monday as a hospital janitor. We were good.
Hearing back from them permalink
A few years ago when I was between jobs, I got a message on LinkedIn from HR. Saying they noticed I had an engineering degree (Note: I had my degree when I was working there).
This was tempting I had been a couple months between roles, chomping at the bit to get some work. I'd be making 3d drawings in SolidWorks! I'd be working in the design/drafting department of engineering, I'd have a desk upstairs, not on the factory floor.
The Issues permalink
- the pay was the same as I was making in the Emergency Room doing patient registration.
- We are a one car family.
- 8-5: The hours aren't really the issue but 1 car family when I have been used to working from home would have been a HUGE change.
I was worried about taking on this opportunity, because it felt like a massive setback in my journey to get into tech. I also look back in the age of AI wondering if this job is even a job anymore. I'm sure it is but the skills needed are probably very different.
Having options for where your career goes is always better than being stuck in a situation that doesn't provide the things a job should.
There are days where I miss the routine and problem solving/time management of getting all the carts sorted and timed to be able to maximize the run time of the oven.
I am thankful I turned down the opportunity of going back, not because I didn't think I could do it or thrive in the position. But I'd have a lot less time to be a dad, 'cause it's time away from home, and also I would have less time to make professional connections on the internet(I see you!).
Looking back at the jobs I've had, has given me tons of perspective on how I got to where I am today. Standing on my own work, setting a bar high for myself and team. Standing up to terrible behavior.
A lot of people would say if a job comes into your lap when you need a job, take it. But I bet on myself and a few months later landed where I am today.