When I had a part time job and was desperate for full time employment I went around asking all the people that I delivered sandwiches to how they got their jobs.
When so many of the answers from the people my age were "Luck" or "I knew someone" I felt a lot less guilty about taking a job from someone who only offered it to me based on familiarity.
okay but, I think what should be understood is that's how people have always gotten good jobs, rarely do people start their careers because of their own merits (except for certain fields like science, but doubly so for less practical fields like acting)
Even in science you often need to know someone to get into a company. It also tends to be much easier to know someone in the department if you want to go the graduate degree route, since you have to pick out your own advisors and convince them you're worth advising!
Yeah but I was asking around for literally any job not just the good ones. The young people got lucky after applying to millions of online job ads, meanwhile all the older people said "Oh I walked into the building and asked" or "I saw a job wanted poster" or something like that. The contrast was bizarre, almost cartoonish. I mean it was a small sample but still.
I've seen Jane's situation, so I know now she's not offering Eve a job just because she's a friend. She has positions to fill, and Eve's a known quantity ("I think you'd be great" is an understatement if anything; Eve's basically a dream employee) who's recently out of a job sitting opposite to her. Helping a friend out is just a bonus at that point. If Eve knew that, she wouldn't have to feel so guilty about this.
And Eve has experience working in coffee! She's a member of the Barista Guild or whatever. (Well, ex-member or member in formerly bad standing). It's not as though she's unqualified.
But I get it. And I wonder if Eve's declining for other reasons. Maybe Eve doesn't want to keep mopping floors and smelling like food. Maybe she wants to move "up" the corporate ladder like Mar, or run her own business like Hannah. Maybe she wants to be a writer, or go back to school.
Most likely she doesn't know what she wants career-wise. She's always seemed OK with being complacent about her Olly job, and hated it when people tried to call her out on that complacency (i.e. Park). And now she's forced to think about it.
I don't see this as her necessarily declining, or even really feeling guilty, so much as being shocked that it can, in some occasional situations, be that simple. Networking is a huge part of finding jobs these days, and I've definitely been in the position of feeling trapped in a bad job by the fear of difficulty finding another one, only to be snapped up by another opportunity once I freed myself of the bad situation. Also Jane knows her work history well enough by now.
Isn't it insidious how reasonable Eve's stance feels? Impersonality and 'merit' are so ingrained in our conception of career/employment, justified by an illusory sense of 'fairness' (I guess we just assume that someone has to be unhappy and we should agree to make it a gamble who that will be?).
Of course once you start working somewhere you work with people, and it's just as important that you get along with them as it is that you're 'good at your job' (as if those are mutually exclusive things).
Hahaha! where i live, the only way to get a job is by someone you know. It even has a word for that; "pala". It's very rare if you get a job not by this way, and if you do, usually you can get fired all to give the position to someone the boss knows.
Eve, darling, I know you've had this job since… out of college? I think? And that's just kind of how everyone gets jobs now. You have to live with that reality.
…that being said, working at a coffeeshop is a super fun job, especially an independently run one. As long as the stress doesn't kill you.
Why is this comic always relevant to what is going on in my own life? It's terrifying.
I lost my job at the same moment as Eve, broke up at the same moments as the characters as well, HELL even the "seeing marek with new girlfriend" comic was posted on the day that happened to me MEREDITH WHAT IS THIS SORCERY
All I'm asking now. Make everyone happy and employed so that I can be, too.
I feel no shame on admitting I burst out laughing at the last panel.
The only jobs I have ever worked are ones I was given by people who personally knew me, or heard about me from their friends. Resume drops never gave me anything but rejections and failed interviews.
I dunno man…I would not think Eve would want to go back to a retail environment. That doesn't feel 'forward' to me, it feels like new job, same general industry.
nooo. No matter how cool Jane is, this is basically the same kind of dead end job she just got out of.
When this comic started being a barista in the big city might have represented a kind of whimsical existence for a 20 something finding herself, but with 2017 rents and eve being (I presume) in her 30's…. that's more just dire poverty.
I thought the same too at first, but Jane's shop is also a place being passed down to the next generation. There's a lot of room for growth and development, which is a far cry from Olly's which felt like it was frozen in time, dragging Eve along with it. With Eve's Barista Guild chops, it actually feels like a really fitting next step.
I'm kinda seeing it this way, too. Plus if she gets a job that doesn't, like, suck the marrow out of her bones, she might have the energy for some kind of freelance in her offtime. Freelance writing? Does she even want that anymore? Maybe she will again.
I got my first job out of college because I knew somebody, and it was a damn good thing because my AA in Communication Arts Technology didn't include a class called "Five Years' Experience."
She has a solid history of steady loyalty to a (horrible) employer, so clearly she's unlikely to be a job hopper. She's already a member of the Guild, so Jane doesn't have to worry about that. She knows how to work the register. She lives with the people who make their pastries, so she'll be intimately familiar with them, in terms of ingredients and allergens.
To my knowledge, we've never seen any instances of her being chronically late to work, skipping shifts, calling out sick when she's not to get out of shifts, fighting with coworkers, stealing or showing up drunk or stoned.
We HAVE seen her willing to skate off of a roof into a vat of questionable substances, wear a santa suit and hand out fliers, and singlehandedly keep the store going when Olly laid off the rest of the staff. When Olly made a boneheaded business decision, his first act was always to turn to Eve, expecting her to be able to think or hustle their way out of it.
I would take Eve over 85% of the coworkers and subordinates I had when I worked retail.
45 thoughts on “#1004 – walk that back”
Christina
Eve, this is exactly how that works!
Alex
When I had a part time job and was desperate for full time employment I went around asking all the people that I delivered sandwiches to how they got their jobs.
When so many of the answers from the people my age were "Luck" or "I knew someone" I felt a lot less guilty about taking a job from someone who only offered it to me based on familiarity.
The job market is brutal, take what you can get.
Panda-s1
okay but, I think what should be understood is that's how people have always gotten good jobs, rarely do people start their careers because of their own merits (except for certain fields like science, but doubly so for less practical fields like acting)
Sara
Even in science you often need to know someone to get into a company. It also tends to be much easier to know someone in the department if you want to go the graduate degree route, since you have to pick out your own advisors and convince them you're worth advising!
Alex
Yeah but I was asking around for literally any job not just the good ones. The young people got lucky after applying to millions of online job ads, meanwhile all the older people said "Oh I walked into the building and asked" or "I saw a job wanted poster" or something like that. The contrast was bizarre, almost cartoonish. I mean it was a small sample but still.
Arianod
YES YOU CAN. Go Eve!
cloudy
bless u eve. innocent child
Ilene
Growing up, having fun, all in a swirl of colour. It's just beautiful. It is very nice to see characters act like human beings, and not just ideals.
Kbode
It's called "Networking"
lbmeeker
how is op always so relevant to my life situations. 100% of the time. best comic
Elle
Things have to be difficult eve. You're not allowed to not struggle. Ya gotta do things the hard way
Guest
But what about y'know… housing bubble… and the republicans… and… the g train?
wykstrad
One out of three ain't bad.
Kay
I wonder if Marigold's escape will coincide with Hanna's return to the fray, leading to Discourse.
Bok
I've seen Jane's situation, so I know now she's not offering Eve a job just because she's a friend. She has positions to fill, and Eve's a known quantity ("I think you'd be great" is an understatement if anything; Eve's basically a dream employee) who's recently out of a job sitting opposite to her. Helping a friend out is just a bonus at that point. If Eve knew that, she wouldn't have to feel so guilty about this.
sthetic
And Eve has experience working in coffee! She's a member of the Barista Guild or whatever. (Well, ex-member or member in formerly bad standing). It's not as though she's unqualified.
But I get it. And I wonder if Eve's declining for other reasons. Maybe Eve doesn't want to keep mopping floors and smelling like food. Maybe she wants to move "up" the corporate ladder like Mar, or run her own business like Hannah. Maybe she wants to be a writer, or go back to school.
Most likely she doesn't know what she wants career-wise. She's always seemed OK with being complacent about her Olly job, and hated it when people tried to call her out on that complacency (i.e. Park). And now she's forced to think about it.
Margaret Hogg
I don't see this as her necessarily declining, or even really feeling guilty, so much as being shocked that it can, in some occasional situations, be that simple. Networking is a huge part of finding jobs these days, and I've definitely been in the position of feeling trapped in a bad job by the fear of difficulty finding another one, only to be snapped up by another opportunity once I freed myself of the bad situation. Also Jane knows her work history well enough by now.
Jill
I really hope that Mar's going to talk to Hanna.
notlegato
oh, never let morals and ideals get in the way of practical gain… at least when it's something like this.
blackunicorn
Did Jane inherit Mike's hat along with the coffee shop?
Kelly
Good catch! She's holding it in this final panel as Mike is being put on board the ambulance:
http://www.octopuspie.com/2017-01-27/980-981-that…
Gwen
I love the implication that she just went, "Welp, this goes on top of my head now, I guess."
Copycat
*Pumps fist*
NEVER GIVE UP!
Robert
Isn't it insidious how reasonable Eve's stance feels? Impersonality and 'merit' are so ingrained in our conception of career/employment, justified by an illusory sense of 'fairness' (I guess we just assume that someone has to be unhappy and we should agree to make it a gamble who that will be?).
Of course once you start working somewhere you work with people, and it's just as important that you get along with them as it is that you're 'good at your job' (as if those are mutually exclusive things).
Drea
Hahaha! where i live, the only way to get a job is by someone you know. It even has a word for that; "pala". It's very rare if you get a job not by this way, and if you do, usually you can get fired all to give the position to someone the boss knows.
wykstrad
Ah, that first moment in your life where the system works for you.
Smooti
Eve, darling, I know you've had this job since… out of college? I think? And that's just kind of how everyone gets jobs now. You have to live with that reality.
…that being said, working at a coffeeshop is a super fun job, especially an independently run one. As long as the stress doesn't kill you.
heywhosyourdaddy
Why is this comic always relevant to what is going on in my own life? It's terrifying.
I lost my job at the same moment as Eve, broke up at the same moments as the characters as well, HELL even the "seeing marek with new girlfriend" comic was posted on the day that happened to me MEREDITH WHAT IS THIS SORCERY
All I'm asking now. Make everyone happy and employed so that I can be, too.
Spiritoftherain
I feel no shame on admitting I burst out laughing at the last panel.
The only jobs I have ever worked are ones I was given by people who personally knew me, or heard about me from their friends. Resume drops never gave me anything but rejections and failed interviews.
channamasala
I dunno man…I would not think Eve would want to go back to a retail environment. That doesn't feel 'forward' to me, it feels like new job, same general industry.
ghoststory
her work environment would likely be 600% better though, under Jane. doesn't eve like live in new york? gotta pay rent!
Brendan
nooo. No matter how cool Jane is, this is basically the same kind of dead end job she just got out of.
When this comic started being a barista in the big city might have represented a kind of whimsical existence for a 20 something finding herself, but with 2017 rents and eve being (I presume) in her 30's…. that's more just dire poverty.
peakpointmatrix
I thought the same too at first, but Jane's shop is also a place being passed down to the next generation. There's a lot of room for growth and development, which is a far cry from Olly's which felt like it was frozen in time, dragging Eve along with it. With Eve's Barista Guild chops, it actually feels like a really fitting next step.
Yammy
I'm kinda seeing it this way, too. Plus if she gets a job that doesn't, like, suck the marrow out of her bones, she might have the energy for some kind of freelance in her offtime. Freelance writing? Does she even want that anymore? Maybe she will again.
leahgcl
this sounds like a cover letter for Eve
Jim
I disagree. It's Jane's shop, not Eve's. Best Eve can hope for is an assistant manager gig, which is what she seemed to have at Olly's.
Paul1963
I got my first job out of college because I knew somebody, and it was a damn good thing because my AA in Communication Arts Technology didn't include a class called "Five Years' Experience."
Robert
I don't think I'd hire Eve.
Kerry Walker
I'm curious. Why not?
She has a solid history of steady loyalty to a (horrible) employer, so clearly she's unlikely to be a job hopper. She's already a member of the Guild, so Jane doesn't have to worry about that. She knows how to work the register. She lives with the people who make their pastries, so she'll be intimately familiar with them, in terms of ingredients and allergens.
To my knowledge, we've never seen any instances of her being chronically late to work, skipping shifts, calling out sick when she's not to get out of shifts, fighting with coworkers, stealing or showing up drunk or stoned.
We HAVE seen her willing to skate off of a roof into a vat of questionable substances, wear a santa suit and hand out fliers, and singlehandedly keep the store going when Olly laid off the rest of the staff. When Olly made a boneheaded business decision, his first act was always to turn to Eve, expecting her to be able to think or hustle their way out of it.
I would take Eve over 85% of the coworkers and subordinates I had when I worked retail.
ghoststory
why not?
Brittany
Eve talked about going back to school at one point…What did she go to school for? What was her dream?
Marvin Choi
Writing. I think creative writing, specifically.
Brittany
I had a feeling it was something like that! Thanks 🙂
Kelly
She's already turned down the Mobby's offer of financial assistance, she better take that job!
Chez
Is eve flirting with the ladies.