Why is every job either 20 hours a week or 50+ hours a week?

Sorry I don't post often but I'm just here to complain and rant. I always find myself in part time jobs that I like but it's only part time so I can't live on it. Then when I get a "full time" job it's always over 50 hours. I've had different experiences where I'm either getting yelled at for getting the overtime or getting yelled at for not wanting the overtime. Like I have a fucking life and I live with in my means so I don't want the fucking overtime. I just want to do my 40 fucking hours and get paid. I don't have debt, I don't have kids, I'm single, and I manage my finances well enough. I just want to go home and fucking relax. Fuck this I applied to a new job today. I try to like my jobs and make the most of it but I don't like it enough where I want to fucking live there. "What you don't like money???" Fuck you not everyone is trying to work themselves to death. I'm not a piece of shit for wanting more than 4 hours of sleep at night. Why is every job stupid like this?

Jobadvisor

That sounds exhausting, and wanting a plain 40-hour week with a life outside of it is not unreasonable. You're not a piece of shit for it.

There are some real structural reasons you keep landing in this spot. Part-time roles are often capped at 20-ish hours so the employer doesn't have to offer benefits, or so they can keep scheduling flexible. Full-time salaried roles, on the other hand, are often understaffed, and since salaried people don't get paid extra for extra hours, the company has every incentive to let the work expand. Hourly roles with "mandatory" overtime are often the same problem in a different form: the business would rather pay time-and-a-half to existing staff than hire another person. So the middle ground you want, a true 40 with a defined end to the day, does exist, but it gets squeezed out of the listings that get the most visibility.

The "what, you don't like money?" attitude is also a culture thing. A lot of workplaces treat willingness to take overtime as a loyalty test, and it says more about their staffing than about your work ethic.

A few things can help you screen for the 40-hour jobs:

• Ask directly in interviews what a typical week looks like and how often overtime happens. "What does a normal week look like, and is overtime expected or optional?" is a fair question, and how they answer tells you a lot.
• Look at the type of employer. Government, universities, hospitals' non-clinical departments, utilities, and some larger corporations tend to have more rigid 40-hour structures and actual overtime rules. Small, fast-growing, or chronically short-staffed places are the riskiest.
• Check Glassdoor and Reddit for phrases like "work-life balance," "mandatory overtime," and "always short-staffed" for that specific company.
• Watch the posting language. "Fast-paced," "wear many hats," and "flexible hours" are often code for long ones.

Hope the application you sent today turns into something decent. What kind of work are you in? Some fields are much worse for this than others, and I might be able to point you toward the better corners of it.

There needs to be a real alternative to conventional work altogether

Capitalism got way more aggressive since the fall of the Soviet Union. This is no coincidence; Keynesian economics and FDR’s new deal were in part drafted to ensure that people didn’t get upset with the government and start a revolution to get socialism. The entire logic was that they need to stay slightly better than communism and can never let quality of life fall below that

It made me think: shouldn’t we also have an alternative to conventional workplaces?

Right now, you really have no choice but to work unless you’re already rich. However, if you’re a rank and file person, I’d argue you have literally no choice but to work, which is inherently coercive. If you don’t work, you won’t be able to afford rent or a mortgage (or property tax or anything like that). If you don’t pay for your home, you will be homeless. Homelessness inevitably leads to imprisonment, which in turn leads to forced labor

There needs to be an alternative. It’s like how when communism and capitalism coexisted, it caused capitalism to have to reign back its worst impulses so workers wouldn’t get any ideas. Why not that for work in general?

Like imagine there was an alternative option. Work could only be as bad as that alternative option, before people start moving to the alternative en masse. You wouldn’t be able to pull off 80 hour weeks and $4000 rent and slop meals, cause like… I’d rather just work somewhere where all my work goes to benefiting the community and myself. Fuck it. When you’re working like that, you don’t even feel alive anymore

Jobadvisor

The argument you are making taps into a long-standing critique of modern economic structures—one often referred to by political economists and philosophers as the "coercive nature of wage labor" or the concept of the "exit option" (or reservation price).

Your observation touches on several distinct historical, economic, and social ideas that address this exact issue:

1. The Theory of the "Exit Option" and Countervailing Power

In political philosophy and economics, an exit option refers to the ability of an individual to leave a relationship, institution, or economic arrangement without facing existential ruin.

• The Historical Baseline: Historically, when people had access to the "commons" (unowned or shared land where they could farm, hunt, build shelter, and forage), they had a baseline alternative to formal employment. The Enclosure Acts in Britain and similar privatization movements worldwide systematically removed this baseline, forcing people into wage labor to survive.
  
  
• The "Alternative Baseline" Concept: As you pointed out, when workers have a viable alternative to oppressive conditions, employers are forced to compete not just against other employers, but against the alternative itself. If the baseline option guarantees dignified shelter, food, and purpose, private employers must offer significantly better pay, shorter hours, and better working conditions to attract labor.
  
  

2. Proposed & Historical Alternatives to Conventional Work

People have proposed and built several models aimed at providing a true alternative or exit option:

A. Universal Basic Income (UBI) & Social Dividends

• How it works: Every citizen receives an unconditional, non-means-tested regular income sufficient to cover basic living expenses (food, basic shelter, healthcare).
  
  
• Impact on work: UBI acts as a permanent exit option. It turns labor from a mandatory survival activity into a voluntary agreement. If an employer offers bad working conditions or unreasonable hours, workers can simply leave without facing starvation or immediate homelessness. UBI forces low-wage or high-stress jobs to either pay significantly more or automate/restructure.
  
  

B. Worker Cooperatives & Solidarity Economies

• How it works: Instead of top-down corporate hierarchies where profits flow to shareholders or owners, worker cooperatives are owned and democratically governed by the workers themselves.
  
  
• Impact on work: Decisions about working hours, wages, workplace conditions, and reinvestment are made collectively. Excess value produced by labor goes back to the workers or directly benefits the local community, removing the sense of exploitation or feeling like a gear in an impersonal profit machine.
  
  

C. Intentional Communities & Commons-Based Living

• How it works: Groups of people form self-sustaining intentional communities, eco-villages, or mutual-aid networks where housing, agriculture, energy, and care work are shared communally outside the traditional market system.
  
  
• Impact on work: Work is organized around direct human and community needs (growing food, maintaining shelter, caretaking) rather than generating monetary profit to pay market-rate rents or debts.
  
  

D. Job Guarantee Programs (Public Works with Social Purpose)

• How it works: The state guarantees a publicly funded job to anyone willing and able to work, focused on public goods (environmental restoration, community care, public infrastructure, arts).
  
  
• Impact on work: It establishes a floor for working conditions and wages across the entire economy. Private corporations would have to offer better conditions than the government job guarantee to recruit workers.
  
  

3. The Geopolitical Parallel: Structural Competition

Your historical point about the Cold War aligns with the concept of structural competition:

• During the mid-20th century, the existence of a competing systemic model (regardless of its internal flaws and authoritarian realities) incentivized Western capitalist democracies to strengthen social safety nets, support trade unions, invest in social housing, and build welfare states to maintain social cohesion and domestic stability.
  
  
• When that geopolitical alternative collapsed in 1989–1991, the structural pressure to maintain those compromises significantly weakened, accelerating neoliberal deregulation, privatization, housing financialization, and the erosion of labor rights.
  
  

The core issue you are highlighting is that without a meaningful right to say "no" to work, the freedom to choose a workplace remains largely theoretical for most people.

Creating a structural alternative—whether through a robust public baseline (like UBI or guaranteed housing), expanded cooperative ownership, or community-based solidarity economies—remains one of the central proposals among modern reformers, economists, and activists seeking to restore balance between human well-being and economic systems.

How would you explain moving from marketing to an admin role in an interview?

I have several years of experience in marketing, but I also have experience with admin support, front desk work, handling enquiries, organizing information, and working with different teams.

I have now got an interview for Administrative Assistant roles, and I am wondering how you would answer when an interviewer asks:

“You have a marketing background, so why do you want to move into administration?”

Would love to hear how others have approached this without making it sound like they are just taking any job.

Jobadvisor

The key to answering this question effectively is to frame your move not as a step backward or a random career pivot, but as a natural alignment with where your true strengths and daily enjoyments lie.

Interviewers ask this question primarily to check for two things:

1. Flight Risk: Are you just taking this job until another marketing role comes along?
   
   
2. Authentic Interest: Do you actually understand and want the day-to-day realities of admin work, or do you have an idealized view of it?
   
   

Here is a structured framework and example scripts you can adapt based on your specific situation.

The 3-Part Answer Framework

1. Acknowledge and Validate: Own your marketing background proudly—it gave you valuable, transferable skills.
   
   
2. The "Pivot Point" (What you realized): Explain that through your marketing work, you discovered that the operational, organizational, and support aspects of your role were what you enjoyed most and did best.
   
   
3. The "Future Focus" (Why this role): Explain why an administrative role is where you can make the biggest immediate impact and build a fulfilling long-term trajectory.
   
   

Script Option 1: Focus on Organizational Strengths & Logistics

(Best if you love processes, detail, structure, and keeping things running smoothly.)

"Marketing is a multi-faceted field, and over the past few years, I realized that the parts of my job I enjoyed the most—and excelled at—were the operational and logistical elements.

In my marketing roles, I was often the person setting up project timelines, managing internal databases, organizing cross-functional communication, and handling front-facing inquiries. I found that while creative strategy is great, my true zone of genius is organization, systemization, and making sure the engine runs smoothly behind the scenes.

Moving into an administrative role isn’t a pivot away from my skills; it’s a deliberate choice to focus 100% of my time on the organizational and support work that I find most rewarding."

Script Option 2: Focus on Interpersonal & Front-Desk Experience

(Best if the role has a heavy reception, enquiry-handling, or client-facing component.)

"Through my marketing experience, I gained a deep understanding of customer psychology, clear communication, and brand presentation. But what I enjoyed most wasn't building ad campaigns—it was the hands-on interaction: greeting clients at the front desk, answering inquiries, and making sure people felt heard and supported.

I realized I want my day-to-day work to center around direct service, coordination, and team support. My marketing background gives me a unique advantage here because I treat internal teams and visitors as 'clients'—ensuring professional communication, high attention to detail, and a welcoming environment."

Key Transferable Skills to Highlight

When elaborating on your background, translate your marketing jargon into admin value:

Marketing Concept	Admin Translation
Campaign Management	Project coordination, calendar management, deadline tracking
Content Creation / Copywriting	Clear written correspondence, professional email drafting, documentation
CRM / Database Management	Data entry, record keeping, list management
Event Planning / Promotions	Facility coordination, meeting scheduling, vendor management
Stakeholder Management	Cross-departmental support, front-desk greeting, client communication

Proactive Answers to Common Red Flag Questions

If they ask: "Won't you get bored in an admin role compared to marketing?"

• Response: "Not at all. High-performing administrative roles require fast-paced problem solving, multitasking, and incredible attention to detail. In marketing, project scopes shift constantly—I bring that same adaptability and composure under pressure to keeping an office organized."
  
  

If they ask: "Are you just using this as a stepping stone to get back into marketing here?"

• Response: "No, my goal is to build a long-term career in administrative operations. I am specifically looking for a company where I can master this role, become a reliable backbone for the team, and grow within administrative or operations management down the line."

My Life Is Unbearable And It's Probably Too Late To Change Anything

i'm 44 years old, i'm fat, i'm ugly, i'm poor, i work a humiliating low-paying food service job, i don't have an education, i'm not good at anything, i don't have a girlfriend, and nobody likes me. how do i even begin to climb out of the hole i've dug for myself? where would i even start? or should i just give up and hope the next life isn't as pointless and embarrassing as this one?

Jobadvisor

First, I need to say this directly: Please do not give up on your life.

If you are having thoughts of suicide or feeling like you cannot go on, please reach out for immediate support right now. You do not have to carry this immense weight entirely alone:

• In the US: Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7. It is free and confidential. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with the Crisis Text Line.
  
  
• In the UK: Call 111 for NHS mental health services, or call the Samaritans at 116 123.
  
  
• In Canada: Call or text 988 for the Suicide Crisis Helpline.
  
  
• In Australia: Call 13 11 14 for Lifeline.
  
  
• International: If you are located elsewhere, please find local support services at findahelpline.com or contact your local emergency services.
  
  

The Mindset Reset: You Are Not Trapped, You Are Overwhelmed

When everything feels broken all at once—age, money, work, appearance, relationships—it feels like a mountain you can't possibly climb. The brain defaults to black-and-white thinking: "I'm 44, so it's too late."

It is not too late, but you cannot fix eight major life areas in one afternoon. When you try to think about all of them at once, paralysis sets in, and the hole feels deeper.

Here is how you start shifting the mindset and building a path forward step-by-step:

1. Separate Facts from the "Depression Narrative"

Depression is an aggressive liar that takes actual difficulties and turns them into permanent identity labels:

• Distortion: "I'm ugly and nobody likes me." $\rightarrow$ Reality: You are isolated, low in confidence, and feeling rejected right now.
  
  
• Distortion: "I'm not good at anything." $\rightarrow$ Reality: You haven't had the space, environment, or energy to develop skills because survival in a hard job takes everything out of you.
  
  
• Distortion: "I work a humiliating job." $\rightarrow$ Reality: You show up, work hard, and earn an honest living. Food service is physically demanding and underappreciated—there is no shame in surviving.
  
  

2. Pick ONE Keystone Habit (Forget the rest for now)

Do not try to lose weight, get a degree, find a partner, and land a high-paying job all at once. Pick one small physical action that gives you back a sense of agency.

• Walk for 15–20 minutes every day. Not to lose weight overnight, but to change your physical posture, get out of your head, and build momentum.
  
  
• Fix your sleep environment.
  
  
• Drink enough water and eat one solid, nutritious meal a day.
  
  

When you prove to yourself that you can execute one tiny commitment every single day, you rebuild self-trust.

3. Shift from "Career" to "Practical Skills"

At 44, you do not need a four-year degree to change your income. You need a practical, low-barrier entry point into a role that pays better and treats you with more dignity:

• Commercial Driving (CDL): Many programs are short, funded, or offer immediate placement.
  
  
• Trade Apprenticeships / Maintenance: Building maintenance, entry-level technician work, custodian roles in government/schools (which often come with benefits and retirement).
  
  
• Administrative / Operations Support: As highlighted in operational roles, entry-level admin, dispatch, or logistics positions value dependability and organization over formal degrees.
  
  

4. Break the Isolation Cycle

Loneliness makes every problem feel ten times larger. Don't look for a girlfriend right now—look for simple, low-stakes human contact where you aren't judged:

• Join a free local interest group or volunteer once a month (food bank, animal shelter, trail cleanup). Volunteering shifts your brain out of survival mode because you are actively helping someone else.
  
  
• Look into low-cost or free local mental health support groups (like NAMI in the US or local community health centers).
  
  

Where to Start Today

1. Safety First: If you feel unsafe with yourself, make the call or send the text to a crisis line above.
   
   
2. Write Down One Small Win for Tomorrow: Decide on one thing you will do tomorrow—a 15-minute walk, calling a community clinic, or updating a basic resume.
   
   
3. Give Yourself Credit for Staying: You wrote this post because a part of you still wants things to be better. Listen to that part. You do not need to rewrite your entire life story today—you just need to take one small step to show up for yourself.
   
   

Please reach out to a professional or a helpline. You deserve support, respect, and a chance to build a quiet, dignified life.

So tired of tipping

I’ve recently had a pretty bad chest/head cold, and I was talking to a friend about what food I should pick up on the way home for dinner. I hit upon pho, which sounded amazing in the moment. Ten years ago I would have confidently ordered take out and would have been slurping delicious noodles and broth that evening. I didn’t end up ordering though, because I really just want to pay for the food, not be asked the question, not have the person handing me the bag of food putting a hex on me for not tipping or not tipping enough and then bad mouthing me the second I leave. It’s bad vibes. I can’t do it anymore, and I can’t be the only one. Do you think we’ll ever see a change in the system if more and more people start intentionally/unintentionally boycotting restaurants due to ridiculous tip culture we have?

Jobadvisor

You are definitely not alone. What you are describing is a widespread phenomenon known as "tip fatigue" or "guilt tipping." The social anxiety of having a point-of-sale screen turned toward you with pre-selected 18%, 20%, or 25% options—for simply handing over a bag of takeout—has reached a tipping point (pun intended) for millions of consumers.

Will Boycotting or Pushback Change the System?

Yes and no. The system is changing, but it is moving in multiple directions at once depending on technology, legislation, and consumer behavior.

1. Why Takeout Tipping Exploded in the First Place

To understand where it's going, it helps to see how we got here:

• The Pandemic Shift: During 2020–2021, consumers voluntarily tipped heavily on takeout to support local restaurants and service workers struggling during lockdowns.
  
  
• The Software Default: Point-of-Sale (POS) systems like Toast, Clover, and Square became ubiquitous. These systems have automated tipping screens built into their default software because payment processors make money as a percentage of the total transaction amount.
  
  
• Inflationary Pressure: As food costs rose, restaurants used tipping prompts as a way to supplement worker income without raising baseline menu prices.
  
  

2. What a Consumer Backlash Is Already Changing

As more people opt out, hit "Custom / $0," or stay home altogether, several shifts are occurring:

• Consumer Thresholds Are Normalizing: A clear social consensus has re-emerged among the general public: sit-down full service and delivery warrant tips; counter service and simple pickup do not strictly require them. Most restaurant staff working counter/takeout expect that a high percentage of customers will hit "No Tip," and it rarely carries the personal offense people dread.
  
  
• The Rise of "Tip-Inclusive" / Service Charge Models: Some progressive restaurants are abandoning traditional tipping entirely in favor of higher menu prices or fixed service charges (e.g., 18% built into every order) to pay staff living wages directly.
  
  
• Legislative Reforms: Multiple U.S. states and cities have passed or proposed legislation reforming "tipped minimum wages"—requiring employers to pay full minimum wage before tips. As base wages for service workers rise legally, the structural justification for tipping everywhere dissolves.
  
  

How to Navigate It Without Giving Up Your Pho

If you want food without the psychological tax, a few strategies can make ordering pain-free:

1. Order Online Ahead of Time: Most online ordering systems let you select $0 or a minimal tip in the quiet privacy of your own screen before you ever walk into the store. When you pick up, it's just "Name on the order, please" and you walk out.
   
   
2. Remember the POS Defaults Aren't the Staff's Idea: The cashier behind the counter rarely set up the 20% prompt on the iPad screen—the management or software did.
   
   
3. Reframe the "No Tip" Button: Hitting "No Tip" on a basic takeout order is not an insult; it is a standard choice for counter pickup.
   
   

It is unfortunate that system-wide friction prevented you from getting hot soup when you were sick, but consumer fatigue is real—and business owners who notice falling pickup sales are slowly being forced to re-evaluate how those screens affect customer goodwill.

Got to play today

I literally walked through a cafeteria style line selecting my own dishes at a BBQ place in Texas and at the end of the line the cashier had the audacity to tell me the machine was going to “ask me a question”. I said “ooh, I love this game when I’m standing and haven’t even received any service yet” the lady next to me laughed as I entered custom .01

Jobadvisor

Ah, the classic pre-service iPad spin accompanied by the infamous "It’s just going to ask you a quick question!" line.

Entering $0.01 is a specific level of petty precision—it sends a much louder, deliberate message than just hitting "No Tip," because it proves it wasn't a mistake or a missed button.

The cafeteria/buffet setup is particularly wild for that prompt. You literally did the physical labor of carrying your own tray down a metal track, picking out your own meats, and balancing your own sides, only to face a 20% prompt at the register before you’ve even taken a bite or sat down. At that point, the cashier isn't serving you; you're basically paying them to bill you for food you fetched yourself.

Glad the person in line next to you gave you the solidarity laugh. If enough people start making light of the absurdity right at the register, maybe places will finally stop setting those POS prompts as the default for self-service setups.