Company Rank: Not Available

Average length of employment : 0 years

Average salary of employees: $12,000

	05|
Were your performance expectations clearly communicated?		0.0
Were you recognized for meeting or exceeding expectations?		0.0
Did you feel like your personal contribution was important?		0.0
Was your career path clearly outlined and discussed?		0.0

	03|
I would recommend this as a place of employment.		0.0
I believe in the purpose of this organization.		0.0
I would work for this organization again.		0.0
I feel employees are fairly compensated.		0.0

Climbers who worked at United States Postal Service had these interests:

Books
Birds of Nebraska Field Guide	This book greatly helps in ideentifying mysterious birds I find while walking on trails and in the neighborhood.
Websites
Internet Movie Database http://www.imdb.com	It's an online encyclopedia of movie and television. While it's not flawless, it answers most mysteries.
Box Office Mojo http://www.boxofficemojo.com/	This webpage keep track of the sales of theatrical movies.
Anime News Network Anime Encyclopedia http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php	It's a helpful resource when tracking down information involving Japanese animation.

Climbers' Joblogs at United States Postal Service:

Third Week at New Job, Oriental Trading Company

After a long job search of nearly two full years, I was finally hired at the Oriental Trading Company a few weeks ago in Omaha, Nebraska. I and the other new employees went through an orientation time for the first few days. Not only did this give us some 'bonding' time with others who were starting out, we also saw various areas of the plant to determine which job we would have and see an in-depth explanation for what each job entails.

We were able to choose from five jobs and put down our preferences. Obviously, not everyone would receive their first choice, since this also depended upon the number of open slots in an area. The vast majority of my classmates wanted the Inductor job, whereas I put that one down as my last choice. I felt confined in the Inductor area and I couldn't wait to get out of that elevated work space.

My first choice was picking, which was what I received as a final job position. Based upon my previous work experiences, I knew that I preferred a job where I could move around and one that relied upon speed.

A group of us from orientation became friends, and by coincidence, we were all assigned as pickers (although not all of them had that as their first choice). We try to gather during first break, since all the pickers have the same time for that break.

Sadly, one of those friends will be leaving, because the balance between the job and his college work is a bit too great on him at the moment. I wish him well and we'll obviously miss him. He also feels a bit discouraged that he's not improving quickly enough.

I knew going into this choice that there would be a learning curve toward the job, since it involves listening to a computer and relaying commands while grabbing objects. I haven't seen my statistics from this week, but I can tell I did well on Monday. Sadly, the past two days I've been using a machine with a bad cord, so I don't expect those results to be as great as Monday. Still, that's why this time is a learning experience.

I think I've grown confident with the headset system and the process of setting up my carts, although the computer still doesn't always understand certain numbers clearly. Granted, it doesn't sound as if the computer is perfect with anyone, even people who have been on the job for a long time.

Today, I accidentally left my blue Pilot pen at home, so I had to use my back-up black pen (which isn't as dependable). I'm sure that from now on, I won't take that blue pen for granted. I guess that's something else to add to my mental checklist to make certain that it's in my supplies.

In any case, the supervisors are friendly and generally accessible. This is a great place in Omaha, Nebraska to work and I'd recommend it to others.

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Ten Percent Lay Off

I just started this job four weeks ago, but already the company will lay off ten percent of the work force. From what the supervisors announced on Thursday near the end of work, management hired for an assumed workload of 200,000 orders per week, when it's actually been 150,000 orders per week.

The layoffs will come for people who have too many attendance points against them as well as those who are slower on the job. At the end of work on Monday, we'll find out the names of those targeted. They might be asked back if the number of orders increases again.

I was finally starting to improve my speed, but I don't think I'm a match for most of the regulars. Normally, I'd be pretty optimistic, but this doesn't look to be a good sign. I'd estimate that there are probably around 100 pickers, so that would mean roughly 10 of us will be axed.

It was only yesterday that my first-ever health insurance card came in the mail. I would hate to have it only last for one paycheck.

In any case, I'll find out after work.

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Not Layed Off in November, but ended in December

I survived the job cuts in early November and I improved my speed at picking. I even reached the point where I received some extra money through the XP bonus program (I figured out that I can "talk over" the Jenifer program when she makes a mistake in understanding my words or numbers.). However, I wasn't chosen as one of the employees to remain with the company after my seasonal 45-day period ended on December 13th.

I'm not bitter about anything and I don't regret my time here. Oriental Trading Company is still a wonderful place to work and I'm glad I had the opportunity to work for the company.

Oriental Trading Company retained two of my friends who were hired at the same time I started. I even gave both of my e-mail addresses to them, but my luck at keeping communications with former coworkers rarely ever seems to succeed. Neither of them has used the e-mail addresses to send any type of communication. That would be my major regret from the work experience.

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