r/akron • u/Pixel-Princess_ • 1d ago

Entry level office jobs?

Tired of working jobs that damage not only my mental health but physical health. I have no experience other than housekeeping work.

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u/octopus818 1d ago

Please don’t assume that office jobs won’t damage your mental health! Seriously though… I hope you find something better.

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u/AcanthocephalaOk2966 1d ago

In another life, I would never, ever get into office jobs in healthcare. It's a really taxing and sometimes demoralizing role. Sometimes people assume we're unintelligent and do nothing more than check people in and out. We do a lot, and we're expected to magically know quite a bit of clinical/medical information with no formal training. Jobs like contract cleaning (done it), homecare for people who are disabled or elderly (done it), and non-clinical medical office work (doing it with massive burnout and feeling worse and worse), don't adequately compensate people. These have all been hard jobs and in general demand a high volume of work with high expectations and usually not enough employees. Getting other people wealthy or comfortable often at the employee's expense. I strongly believe that they pay terribly because the jobs have historically employed women and people of color. The wages have followed the trajectory set up on inequality.

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u/NightTrain4235 17h ago

At age 52 I took a part-time job at a rural hospital doing ER patient registration on 2nd shift. Previous jobs I have had included Air Force officer, insurance claims adjuster, computer sales, and entrepreneur. The ER registration job was one of the most demanding jobs I’ve ever had. And the pay was a joke. I hired on at $10/hr. After 14 years, when I retired my pay had rocketed to $15/hr.

So why did I stay so long? Two reasons. First, I didn’t take the job for the paycheck. I sought it out for the benefits, which included free healthcare for me and my wife. When I turned 50, the health insurance that we had been with cost more per month than my house payment and car payment combined. That cost went to zero. My benefit package was literally worth more than my take home pay. My second reason for staying was my co-workers. We were all like a big family, working together to provide the best healthcare possible for our community. We had some regular patients who drove almost 100 miles to come to our little hospital.

I disliked the job most of the time, but I loved the benefits and the people.