Six years in retail. Should I have done more?

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Ok so here is the situation.

As some of you on here already know I have been working at a grocery store since July of 2007 while attending college part time. I graduated in April of 2013 with a bachelor of Arts focusing on history. After I graduated I immediately began the process of enrolling myself in a program offered by the Goodwill to train people with disabilities clerical skills so I could obtain an office job with either the city or state government and eventually move on to the Department of Immigration and Homeland Security.


In between the time I was first diagnosed up until now I was working at that grocery store an average of 32 hours a week while going to school half time. The first two to four years on the job I was a happy camper with it. I was proud of my work and it showed. I would simply show up, do my job and go home. I managed to successfully navigate my way through three different departments. At the same time I was studying on average I'd say two to three hours a day. Being undiagnosed for 26 years really hurt the formative years of my childhood, mainly in the form of my academic career. My mother who was also undiagnosed was not able to provide the proper type of home environment in order for me to succeed academically. Once I moved away from my mother I was able to graduate on time from high school with a 2.5 GPA. After the diagnosis I managed to finish college with a 2.874 GPA. Had I been diagnosed earlier, according to one of my school counselors at the DSO I would have graduated with a 3.2 or 3.3.


It was around my fourth year of college that I started to realize I wanted to do other things with my life professionally than move up the ladder at a grocery store. I discovered where my academic strengths lie, I found out what I wanted to do mainly by keeping my nose buried in my studies, joining different academic clubs and not getting distracted by other things.

Meanwhile I had reached a plateau with the grocery store that I felt comfortable with and made the decision that I just wanted to maintain until I move on to the next step. That was the mistake. Slowly but surely I started hating what I was doing on the job more and more. I took no interest in reading any manuals that the store provided that would enable to take a supervisor position if I needed to.

The other reason why I did not move up the ladder was because I was not getting enough desperately needed social time with other people that I wanted. I did not and still do not have ANY desire to socialize with my coworkers on a personal basis. I have nothing and will never have anything in common with the majority of them. I was not getting any sex either not because of my disability but because the women who showed interest in me I had no interest in them.

Eventually my performance and attitude were so poor that I had to be put on night crew one month after I graduated. I am stable now but I still HATE WHERE I WORK.

As I get ready to take the next step and hopefully start to receive training courtesy of the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation and Kroger I ask myself this: Should I have done more to move up the ladder at the job I was in? Should I have actually read through the employee handbook instead of just tossing it in a corner? Would a s**t hot NT have done better in my position? I don't know.

what happened, happened. no use second guessing yourself. you have a new plan. best to focus on that.

No. I know exactly what you're talking about, but achievement is a hollow victory with that much misery. Sounds like you're on a much better path, and I'd guess more chances for advancement too.

Less is more.

You should by all means make the best of the job you have now until you can find something better because as we all know, nothing is guaranteed. Sometimes we end up at jobs much longer then we thought we would. I find your story a bit relatable because I also worked at a supermarket and it was for over 7 years. I first got the job from the time I was a 17 years old in high school until the time I quit last year at age 24. While the job provided me with work experience, I focused so much on college that I didn't make much of myself at the job I was working at. I did the same minimal work for very little money. Of course it ended up being a very bad company to work for and barely anyone got pay raises or promotions (that's a whole other story) but nevertheless instead of me leaving the place years earlier to find a better job (which I really should have) I stuck with the same job that paid me $ 8.25 an hour the last five years which meant my work potential went no where.

I got my Bachelor's Degree now in English (which is a degree of uncertainty) but right now, I still live with my parents(all because I didn't take the initiative to find a better job ) and I just recently got a new part-time job that pays me 15 an hour with the potential to be a full-time union job in the future. It's not what I would have envisioned myself doing and it has nothing to do with my field, but its a decent job to fall back on.

I think the lesson here is just because we are in college, it doesn't mean we should stick to a job we hate doing and perhaps a job that we didn't try hard enough to advance in. If I got my new job years ago, I probably would be living on my own so me staying at my low paying job for seven years set me back a few years and it was all because I kept telling myself the job was just temporary and school was the most important. That is the wrong mentality. School is important but so is whatever job you are doing in the meantime. So I would say to anyone who works at a job that gives them any chance for advancement, take it. Especially if you stay at the same company all those years. Don't make the same mistake I did. Just because you are promoted, it doesn't mean you have to stay there but it will help you with future jobs to have management experience on your resume.

I did advance. I'm to a point with it now where it is paying my bills and I don't have to live with my parents. If all else fails I'll move up the ladder in it. But my situation looks as if I will no longer need it.