$0 salary and no equity (you’re supposed to be compensated in experience) - The experience is worth more than the market salary would pay for the work.
In many cases it leads to preferential social treatment and occasionally the
social connections you make on the job will turn out very valuable later.
no benefits other than vacation and sick time: no insurance, for example - However, depending on the quality of the employer, you may get access to
people and facilities of considerable value.
no possibility of promotion or raise, ever - It's more like the opposite: strong likelihood of automatic promotion regardless of merit.
no job description: just do what you’re told - Not unlike a startup, where your job description is meaningless. You do what needs to be done.
micromanaging boss asks about project status every hour - That depends on the boss and how well you've accomplished past projects.
strict hours, starting at 8:30AM sharp - True but you often leave early.
if you’re late even a few minutes, your boss send you to her boss. rigid workweek, but then you’re expected to work from home a ton. open-desk seating, not even a cube, with a hard chair
- Those things vary considerably between employers.
the work is boring and demeaning, like adding digits and copying text - That's not true. Often the employer will expect you to demonstrate your
creativity. Furthermore much of the boring work can be done in groups and you often get plenty of breaks where you're free to use your time as you wish.
all your useless work gets thrown away - As it should be. The useful stuff will be saved. Depending on your employer
and family situation you may get rewarded for good work in ways that far exceed
the market value.
if you want to use a computer, you can buy one or just scribble on paper - Again not so. In fact many employers provide computers even in situations
when they may not be necessary for the work.
no supplies room, either - That depends on the employer.
my daughter can’t drive, so commute was complicated - Generally speaking these kinds of employers are often close to home and many provide transportation. Also carpooling is frequent in this line of work.
can’t even put the job on your resume until you work there for a decade - This is backwards: it's good to put on your resume along with specific accomplishments up until you've been there for a decade at which time it's value is reduced.
Generally speaking these kinds of employers are often close to home - not true. People take the distance of these employers into account when choosing where to live, instead of the other way around. You'll find the relatives of employees may be dragged around easily by the whims of the employer's industry (and their government Boards.)
1. So do many other "cv jobs", but they don't take more then a decade to do it.
2. Like in any other job.
3. True. But automatic promotion doesn't make one proud.
4. Here it's the biggest difference. As an entrepreneur you're training in being able to know what needs to be done. This teaches you the opposite: everything is equally important just because you're told so
5. Not really. In any other job you have at least a few hours of independence. Not in this one.
6. True
7. Not really, at least not he open-desk seating part.
8. Ha ha. Creativity... really.
9. All work = useless work. No work is ever used except for evaluation purposes. Ever. Ever. God, i'm depressed already.
10. Could be, haven't been employed in the field for a while.
11. true
12. true
13. Most people have exactly the same in their resume, so its real value is nil.
I'd like to elaborate a bit on the creativity part. Most school is a lot like an assembly line - the cheapest way to teach thousands of children necessary things. This is not bad, time and money constraints are real. But in this framework you can't afford to encourage true creativity, simply because to be creative you need: 1. a "space" in which to be creative and 2. not to be evaluated by classic means. School environment provides neither.
I'll grant that many schools (and workplaces) are run by people who take that attitude towards creativity and I think the general lack of parental involvement is the biggest cause. I know one teacher who quit the profession when not a single parent cared about attending her second grade class conference.
However there are some good schools out there that do value creativity. It's unfortunate that parents can't or won't insist there be more of them.
no benefits other than vacation and sick time: no insurance, for example - However, depending on the quality of the employer, you may get access to people and facilities of considerable value.
no possibility of promotion or raise, ever - It's more like the opposite: strong likelihood of automatic promotion regardless of merit.
no job description: just do what you’re told - Not unlike a startup, where your job description is meaningless. You do what needs to be done.
micromanaging boss asks about project status every hour - That depends on the boss and how well you've accomplished past projects.
strict hours, starting at 8:30AM sharp - True but you often leave early.
if you’re late even a few minutes, your boss send you to her boss. rigid workweek, but then you’re expected to work from home a ton. open-desk seating, not even a cube, with a hard chair - Those things vary considerably between employers.
the work is boring and demeaning, like adding digits and copying text - That's not true. Often the employer will expect you to demonstrate your creativity. Furthermore much of the boring work can be done in groups and you often get plenty of breaks where you're free to use your time as you wish.
all your useless work gets thrown away - As it should be. The useful stuff will be saved. Depending on your employer and family situation you may get rewarded for good work in ways that far exceed the market value.
if you want to use a computer, you can buy one or just scribble on paper - Again not so. In fact many employers provide computers even in situations when they may not be necessary for the work.
no supplies room, either - That depends on the employer.
my daughter can’t drive, so commute was complicated - Generally speaking these kinds of employers are often close to home and many provide transportation. Also carpooling is frequent in this line of work.
can’t even put the job on your resume until you work there for a decade - This is backwards: it's good to put on your resume along with specific accomplishments up until you've been there for a decade at which time it's value is reduced.