To put it all another way, in the interview and tour process of application the hiring manager tries to DISCOURAGE you from taking the job. They point out ALL of the crappy, bad things about it – comprising of the entire interview and tour lecture, and then they say “I’m going for a 5 minute break, during this time anybody who wants to LEAVE can do so, and should do so – we’re not going to look”. For the rest naive enough to stick around by the time the H/R manager gets back after hearing the horrors of the job (and after a joke of “so did we lose any?”), then begins the actual interview process… they’ll get your information, send you packing back home and give you a call IF you’re invited back for the Orientation and hiring process.
Basically, if you DON’T HAVE TO work at UPS and you KNOW you’re going to hate it by what the H/R manager says in that lecture (which the job is actually much, much worse than they even dare to say and for piss poor money to start out with, and not only that you’ve got to pay nearly $500 a year JUST to work there in the first place), then it’s not the right job for you and you SHOULDN’T try to work here. UPS is a cutthroat company… they SAY they want one thing from you, when they really want another; the “unspoken rules”.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m one of the crazy ones who actually LIKES the grueling work and being pushed to my limits physically, intellectually and emotionally (you’re going to take a LOT of crap from management if you do work for UPS – deserved or not, and it IS really emotionally draining especially when you’re about to drop dead of fatigue every moment). However, if I had a choice for a different job – any other job, I would go there FIRST. But because I don’t, and UPS is the only work I’ve been able to get on and off during Peak, and because of that I have top priority over street hires, it’s my only option and I have to do it whether I like it or not (which fortunately for me, I do).
So really, the only way you’re going to get a real taste for what the job is and if you’ll like it or not, is to actually go and try it out - go and be a Seasonal PKG Caper (Driver Helper or Package Handler) and test it out for yourself. Most people quit the very first day, some last a week, others last a month and the rest (less than half of the original group) manage it through to the end. What you experience during Peak is pretty much what it will be like for you until you build up some seniority and “move up the latter” after a few or many YEARS of working your body down every single day and so if you can’t handle Peak, you can’t handle UPS – period. Then you’ll have your answer, with the experience to back that choice up.
And what I said, about most people not making it during Peak, is true – but there’s also another side, when you’re doing the work permanently… a lot of people put in a few years and get rundown and fed up and give it all up (the chance of reaching the cushy places) by quitting too soon. So unless you want to waste a few years and break your body down for nothing do yourself a favor and make sure this is the kind of job and environment you really want to be in every work week of your life for the next 30 odd years by actually trying it out at Peak for a couple months.
To address your specific questions:
I have been waiting for TWO YEARS to be hired “inside” UPS, as a real employee after having gone through TWO “UPS Hell weeks” (i.e. Peak Seasons). I’ve only just found ONE opening in ONE center within a 50 mile radius, and the ONLY reason I will be hired is BECAUSE I put in those two Peaks with top numbers and have sterling recommendations by both drivers and managers. If you’re trying to get in off of the street, it is VERY difficult right now and even if you DID get hired, you can and likely will be laid off at any time when the economy takes a dump (and it WILL be taking another dump when massive inflation kicks in thanks to Obama’s out of control spending and generating of debt.
The beginning pay (in CA) is $8.50 an hour, and you can expect anywhere from 1 to 4 hours of work – 6 if you get lucky. You’ll only make around $170 a week. $30 - $40 deducted for taxes, $19 sucked out every month for Union, whatever gas is, and what you’re looking at to be left with is anywhere from $25 to $70 (if you have other living expenses ). They call it “peanut butter and jelly” money – and it’s true. On top of this, you have to pay almost $500 a year (which is sucked out of your first checks) for Union membership fees – and this is MANDATORY and in ADDITION to the $19 every month for the same. You WILL NOT be being paid decently at all, when it’s all said and done (but it gets marginally better the more time you put in – you will make $10 an hour after the first year).
The work is had, dirty and FAST and mostly unsafe because in order to meet management’s highly unrealistic and humanly impossible expectations, you have to pretty much break every single “safety” rule to get the job done within the time limits. You are expected to get a package from point A to point B in 5 seconds or less, with 2 seconds to make a decision on where that package goes – you’re expected to clear out or to full up THREE feeder trailers full of packages per shift. That’s about 50,000 packages a week (10,000 per shift) – and that’s just part time (100,000 packages a week, or 2,000 packages a shift for full time).
As they say, this job isn’t for everybody – but somebody’s got to do it.
