not enjoing working in a LFS

[Teelie]

I liked working at my LFS when I was there. Depends on the boss and fellow employees I think. We got the sick and dead fish but it wasn't too often. I guess I'm more "distanced" about dealing with dead fish and we never had 500 die the time I was there let alone in a single batch.

We also have a lot of UGF's but there were also sump tanks and HOB filters and the way they did water changes was once a month on Mondays. Despite the long time between water changes, the amount of water "lost" with selling fish meant constantly replacing the water so it was almost like mini daily water changes on several tanks. It took a lot of stress off of us to do it that way.

Algae detail did suck though. It's hard to get the stuff and when there are dozens of tanks, you seem to finish the last one only to start over. Worse with saltwater. That red algae is like fire and spreads quick. The worst though was spot algae that took a razor blade to remove.

The customers were the best part of the job though. Laid back, relaxed, no angry, annoying, pushy or rude ones with that extremely rare exception. We even had "platinum" customers who'd come in and drop a grand without blinking. Since we worked on a partial commission basis (had a base pay then extra cut from any sales made), getting one of them as a customer was excellent.

So it's not always a bad experience. It was actually my best job ever, just too bad that I couldn't keep working there.

 

[Naughtygirlrlw]

I believe that if you wake up in the morning dreading going to your job, then you should leave. Life is too short to be unhappy every day. I wish you luck!

 

[IMCL85]

wow thats not very cool I thought being in a LFS could help u learn alot more about fish but taking care of 1000+ fish is a major pain in the butt. Guess I'm not that good yet. GO wolf

 

[Teelie]

I believe that if you wake up in the morning dreading going to your job, then you should leave. Life is too short to be unhappy every day. I wish you luck!

[snapback]855544[/snapback]​

That's true. I've quit the majority of my jobs for that very reason. It might be a good idea to try part time only if you can afford to and see if that helps.

 

[hello kitty]

could u not talk to your boss about all this?

 

[wrs]

at least your problems are at work, and not at home, but I know what you mean about the dying and all the problems

 

[Ben]

I felt the same way Paul,
I HATED working at my one LFS. The boss was a ****head and didnt really care about the fish,he only cared about the money. It also took alot of time away from my fish tanks.
i left last week. and it was the best feeling ever. I now have more time to clean up my tanks, and enjoy them more and i'm waiting for a call from my favorite LFS, since i put in a application.

Don't stay because you don't want your hobby to become a chore.

Good Luck finding another job

DD

 

[mattbeau]

I dont think i could enjoy scrubbing tank after tank. but every job has its's goods and bads. some days i'm solving problems with peoples security equipment making them happy and thankfull, other days im installing equipment in a cieling with 20 yr old insilation everwhere temps reaching close to 115-120.

I actually love my job just dread the bad days . The other thing thats good with a job is good communication, maybe your boss doesnt know your fed up , maybe he thinks your happy just doing what you love, taking care of fish.

If its hard to reach him daily I would say try dropping him a note letting you know you want to be able to talk to him during a non-busy time. and then there is always the fact you have only been working there for 3 months, to many companies you would definatly still be considered a rookie, I've been with mine for a year and a half and I'm still always called the rookie B) (even though i have almost 10 years of experience in my field) and because im the rookie, I'm more prone to getting stuck with the crappy jobs, late hours and what not.

My advice would be

Before you put your arms up in the air and quit at least talk to him and let you know whats getting you down, if nothing happens then go ahead and throw your arms up and quit.

and if you do quit, try to quit on friendly terms for references

 

[Mr Miagi]

That algae scruping, couldnt there be a simpler way of tackilng that? INtroducing certain fish to certain tanks? Etc?

Maybe you should train yourself a bit? That way your boss might notice you putting in more effort than the usual casual employee and is more likely to give you a promotion, change your position on the floor etc!

I think it would be great job, if you could just get passed the things that dont agree with you! hang in champ!

 

[shuhu]

you should probably try getting a job at a different LFS, maybe that one in particular is not the right for you good luck!

 

[julibob]

Hi Wolf,

Didnt know you felt like that, but coming in as regularly as I have for the last 2 years I know exactly what you mean, and I wouldnt want to work like that either. You need a boss who is as dedicated to his staff as his staff are to his business else it is destined to fail. I dont blame you for looking elswhere if you dread going into work in the morning. Let me know how you get on, but I will probably have spoken to you by the time you read this .

Julia

 

[bunjiweb]

Im so glad all our tanks have automatic water changing on them, all we have to do sometimes is do top-ups with RO water etc.

Don't let the job get you down. The way that I look at it is that you are furthering the cause of fish keeping in some minue way. If you can advise someone that keeping a goldfish in a bowl is wrong, and they go on to buy a proper setup for them, then you have helped the life of that 1 fish.

There is a percentage of loss with any business, whatever product you sell. Unfortunately ours is fish. You CANNOT save every fish. You CANNOT stop infections spreading unless you watch that tank very closely throughout the day.

We had a shipment in the other week, got 75 female fighters. They were absolutely fine until 4 or 5 days after they arrived. The first day 18 died, then 41 died the next day, then the day after that they were all gone.

Its impossible to control it sometimes, we were completly baffled as to what had happened, the water parameters were fine and we treated as soon as they started dying off, but sometimes you just cant help it.

So just remember, don't let it get you down because unfortunately its just an aspect of the business. Your job is to try and reduce these kind of things from happening. Your tanks need to be clean to keep the fish happy and the customers happy. Your job is very important!

I'm still loving my job 4 months down the line because I keep myself occupied and make jobs for myself, varying whatever I do all the time, I try not to do the same thing over and over and over, because thats when you do get bored!

So remember, you are making a difference, especially someone so knowledgable as yourself!

Ben

 

[nitro]

I know what it feels like. I worked in LFS for work experince which i was looking forward to.... i ended up cleaning bascially the whole shop and the outside part for the two weeks i was there.

 

[Teelie]

Aaaand people complain about how LFS employees suck. Almost everyone in this thread has complained about how terrible the job was/is when they worked at one (except me) but others still demand competent employees when the true hobbyists seem to burn out so fast.

I wonder how many people who bag on LFS employees would last more than a month at the job themselves before quitting in disgust.

 

[daza]

Sorry to hear it isn't going well Wolf.

A lot of bosses don't seem to see the reality. They come in with a smile on their face thinking all is hunky-dory and their employees are happy as larry and love them for employing them. Bosses like that need to be brought down to earth, not neccessarily rudely, just factually. A good person would even be thankfull that he had been told. Not sure if that applies to your situation though.