[96SEChick]

I work for Enterprise RentaCar. I have for 1.5 years now. I graduated college May '01 w/ a degree in Computer Graphics. When I started college in '94, that field was BOOMING in Tulsa. I knew I could do well financially and emotionally enjoy the hell out of it. I wound up taking the 7-year-plan to college, and was sooo lucky to find a job starting the week after graduation in the field--not doing the computer work, but proofing before it went to press (it was a decal/sticker design company). Of course, I quit m current job w/ no notice (told the boss he could go fock himself 'cause he was a total jerkoff). The problem was: I was hired during the busy season, and w/in 2 months, the large jobs (like Sony and Pennzoil and Mobil 1) were being finished and they started cutting hours. I was only getting paid $9/hr w/ no overtime to begin with. I had just bought my car a few months before, had school loans to pay, and my rent/bills. I was barely scraping by--borrowing sometimes up to $200/month from my bf.

There were no graphics jobs available at this time!! The only ones that were open, required 5 years or more ON THE JOB experience!! What the hell! I had a decent portfolio at the time, so I submitted resumes & CD's, but I never got a single phone call back because I didn't have the required years of experience. So, it was either get a job not related to my degree, or sell my car. Selling the car was NOT an option!!

So, Chris worked for ERAC, and said they were hiring. I got hired immediately with my previous sales and customer service experience. The pay is only like $8.71/hr, but we work over 50 hrs/week, so the overtime rocks! I still need more money/month, but I'm still slimming down on some misc expenses. My car repairs have taken a decent chunk out of whatever extra I've had from paychecks, so that's why I haven't modded the car yet. Hopefully, I'll find a better paying job w/in my degree, or get promoted & make $400/month more than I am right now.

The economy sucks ass!!!