I think you really sell us all short on this point. UPS drivers for instance have a huge benifit in that as they deliver each day to other businesses they have a chance to see how others live and work. They have a chance to field the hundreds of questions they get from people looking for a chance to work at UPS and they have a chance to compare their employment to others. From my experience that assessment would be we work harder than most, compensated much better and overall the job is better than most we see. That exposure to other employement opportunities could also give that driver the chance to jump to a better job if he thought it was out there. You rarely see that happen.
I have to jump in on this one. I think with driver and other "non skilled" (I know there is
skill involved, but hear me out for a second) jobs, then UPS is a great place to be.
The original poster is correct in stating most people work there way up from part time
and get a degree and then stay at UPS and get rolled right into management positions.
This breeds a certain type of culture, which is very stagnant and suspicious about
the "outside" and consider degrees or the guy who got a certification 'a threat.'
The statement made about not being recognized for certifications proves my point.
UPS does not care about industry standard methodologies at all. If you are in an IT
position, just to and interview at another job and see how much you don't know.
You may be very good or even great at your job with UPS, but at another company you
would be an idiot, because that eXcel spreadsheet you call a project plan wouldn't cut
it and those made up processes would not fly with other industries actually embracing
and training their people for industry standard methodologies like ITIL, Six Sigma, LEAN,
etc. I work in a department which actually participates in a local IT community meeting
(I'm going to leave out names and actualities obviously for safety reasons) and all the
other people we meet during these conferences have been sent to training classes, had
certifications paid for, etc. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we cannot even use the
methodologies names to avoid political 'fallout.'
Now, you're thinking, OK, if it's so great at these other companies, then go work there.
Well, here comes the damnation: Most of these people with 10 times the qualifications
I have, make 10 grand less! THAT is why so many people with "skilled" jobs at UPS are
miserable, because they are trapped and each day making a decision to sell their soul,
basically. Meanwhile, the other half who don't bother to get certified or continue their
education or participate in any industry user groups / forums go right along happily
and probably even get promoted, further agitating the person who got a certification
or went back to school.
It can be maddening, trust me. I always liken the UPS experience to that movie
with Tom Cruise, The Firm. You literally have to be willing to pack up and haul out
and take a pay cut to try and find a rewarding job to build your skill set. I just had a good
friend actually do this. He went back to school, finished up a masters degree and guess
what UPS did? Nothing, and even moved him to a spot he didn't want as if to say, so
you thought you'd move up, we'll show you. He went to another company in town, took
a 10K pay cut to do it, but guess what? Within the first six months they had paid for
him to become certified in multiple industry products, actually
sponsored him to host a local user forum when he asked to do it, etc. Now, here he is,
like I said before, with MORE skills and MORE industry exposure, making 10K less.
IMHO, this is why you have so many people who have "been quitting" UPS for 20 years.
