When I first met Yaya (pseudonym), she was helping people line up to buy milk tea in front of Shenzhen Super Wenheyou's tea Yanyuese. After queuing up to enter Wen Heyou, it took nearly two hours to grab the number at the entrance of Chayanyuese store on the hour and wait for the number to be called. The difference is that she made an extra 185 yuan in two hours (a total of 185 yuan for the number robbing, queuing and door-to-door errands), and I drank it after getting the Orchid latte. Now, I couldn't help but complain, "Isn't this similar to the taste of Tea Baidao?".

Within these two hours, Yaya and I started chatting with each other because the waiting time was too long. Finally, we left WeChat and became friends. It turns out that Yaya is 26 years old. After graduating from college, she went to work in Shenzhen. She used to work in human resources in a small company. After she lost her job due to the impact of the epidemic last year, she could not find a satisfactory job. She started a part-time job and experienced being cheated. Money, being sexually harassed, Yaya accidentally heard in the part-time group that running takeaways and running errands can earn more than 10,000 a month. In addition to running takeaways and running errands, Yaya occasionally pays attention to other part-time jobs in the part-time group. Every month, Yaya relies on odd jobs to make ends meet. Today, let's hear her story.

Image source: Mirror CCTV picture produced

The unbearable workload is driving me crazy

Zheng Dian: Yaya, can you briefly introduce yourself?

Yaya: I am 26 years old this year, and my hometown is Dongguan. In 2016, after graduating from college, I shared a lease with my then boyfriend in Guangzhou and worked part-time. Later, I broke up with my boyfriend. That is, in 2018, I was unwilling to return to my hometown. People go to Shenzhen to work hard, and rent a room for more than 700 yuan a month in the peasant house in Shuiwei Village. Since last year, I have been making money in the form of part-time work. Currently, I am doing some part-time jobs such as running errands and delivering food.

Zheng Dian: Did you have a stable full-time job before taking part-time jobs?

Yaya: After I graduated, I actually worked in the personnel department for several years. I used to work as an assistant in the personnel department of an e-commerce company, mainly managing employees within the company. My job content is to use the company's human resource management system to handle employees' vacation, attendance, time off, personal information, etc., and to adjust the organizational structure.

Zheng Dian: Why did you want to be a personnel assistant at that time?

Yaya: This kind of position is easier for me, a college graduate, to get into and get started with. One is that the threshold is low, and the other is that most of the company's personnel departments recruited girls. At that time, their recruitment advertisements stated that girls are preferred, because they thought that girls might be more patient to manage these employee miscellaneous cases, and boys would not. Want to do this kind of thing that deals with employee relations. At that time, when I was applying for a job, I was actually casting a wide net. It was quite embarrassing because of the high degree of education. In the end, only the personnel department of the e-commerce company asked me, and I kept doing it.

Zheng Dian: Compared with the current errand business, was the previous job in the office much easier?

Yaya: It wasn't easy either. During that time, I was under a lot of mental pressure, and I was also very depressed. The personnel department is a functional department in the company and is not profitable. It can be said that it has a much lower status than the performance department (design, marketing, operation, etc.).

At that time, the two companies I worked for did not pay much attention to the logistics department such as personnel, and the personnel arrangement was also very unreasonable. The personnel department was very short of personnel, but the workload was heavy. On the surface, it was enough to operate the system, but in fact everything Gotta do it. For example, the interviews that the recruitment department should manage, and sometimes our personnel department will receive them, as well as going to the social security bureau to issue a certificate (during the epidemic, the company can receive subsidies when recruiting fresh students). And there are only two people in our department, one is the supervisor and the other is me as an assistant. The supervisor often leaves things to me to do alone.

Sometimes when I finished my get off work and wanted to leave work, she would stop me and push me to work overtime with her. My workload has become very large, I may do two or three people's work alone, but the income is not high.

Zheng Dian: Will the previous company be more secure? In the end, what made you finally decide to start a part-time job?

Yaya: In fact, the main reason is that the workload is too large, the income is too low, and the relationship with the supervisor is not good, so my mental state is very poor, and it also casts a shadow on this full-time job. I used to have five insurances and one housing fund in my previous job. In fact, it would be much more secure than it is now, but I was really stressed, and this job was driving me crazy .

When I was working, the company was going to be transformed, all the contracts of the employees were re-signed, the personnel structure was also being reorganized, and the workload of the personnel department was rapidly increasing, which may also be the reason why they were willing to accept me. But even after I came in, the personnel department was still in a state of lack of staff, the company still despised the personnel department, and the supervisor always pushed me a lot of work, I was really overwhelmed and had nowhere to complain, and the whole company didn't care about me A small "personnel assistant".

On the other hand, our company does not count overtime pay and does not implement late deductions (use this to compensate for overtime). This is convenient for other employees, and I suffer as a personnel assistant. I have to send all employees the dates with abnormal attendance one by one every month, and ask them to make up their cards. After they make up, they have to take screenshots for me before I can write them off, but The employees feel that attendance is my responsibility, not my heart.

I do all the chores and hard work, the income is not high, and it is thankless. Later, the management of the company may have noticed that I had a great opinion about the job, and they "dissuaded me" after recruiting new people, but I was relieved.

After leaving this company, I had tried to find other full-time jobs, but during the epidemic, the market was not good. Most of the functional positions I applied for used one employee as two people. This way, I saved costs . At that time, my mental state was really bad, and I didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes, so I started to find another way out and try part-time jobs.

Being cheated of money, being sexually harassed, you must keep your eyes open in the gig market

Zheng Dian: After you quit your official job, was your first part-time job running errands for you?

Yaya: I started doing errands and food delivery at the end of last year. After I quit my job in the first half of last year, I took a month off, while constantly looking for part-time opportunities on QQ groups, part-time websites and various apps. At the beginning, I really took a lot of forks and detours. You can't imagine how sinister society is. There are a lot of information on the Internet about recruiting part-time jobs that are fake and deceptive. After I was cheated of money and sexually harassed, I learned a lesson and learned how to keep my eyes open when looking for a job. I worked part-time as a supermarket salesman, a welcome cartoon character (wearing a hood and uniform), a waiter in a dessert shop, etc., and then I started Doing errands and delivering food on and off.

Zheng Dian: Can you tell us how you were deceived in the process of looking for a part-time job?

Yaya: After I submitted my resume on a certain website, I received a call from a model company "HR", saying that I had seen my photos and thought I was pretty good, because I am taller and my facial features are relatively straight, that is, my skin is relatively good. black. She asked me to go to the company for an interview and promised me a salary of 250 an hour. I was moved.

After I went to this modeling agency, she asked me to pay another thousand yuan for a "training fee" to participate in a two-week training course. After that, I could often take up modeling and etiquette work. 250 an hour is just the basic salary, they provide the job, I can choose to take it or not. At that time, I saw that many girls also participated in this course, and I thought that I would not lose money to learn something if I paid, not to mention that this company will introduce me to many part-time opportunities in the future, and I can easily earn these back. money.

Unexpectedly, after participating in the training, the staff of this company have not provided me with part-time opportunities due to the special circumstances during the epidemic, few companies hold celebrations and recruit less etiquette and models. Time to arrange my past."

Zheng Dian: Then, did this company still provide you with part-time opportunities?

Yaya: This is the experience of being sexually harassed that I will talk about next. After about a month, I was doing other part-time jobs at that time. I sold shampoo in the supermarket, and occasionally I pretended to be a cartoon character at some events to attract customers. By the way, pretending to be a cartoon character makes more money than selling shampoo. The shampoo was originally supposed to be a good base salary + commission, but the commission was not given to me.

In short, when I was doing these part-time jobs, the model company that had been silent for a long time suddenly called me again, saying that my job opportunity was coming, the boss wanted to take me to a meal, and I was introduced to a director as a group performer, and the salary would be paid. very high. After I got the call, I quit my two part-time jobs, playing cartoon characters and selling shampoo.

Unexpectedly, at this dinner, I was presented to the director by the owner of the model company as a "tribute". At that time, there were the director and the crew who participated in the dinner. After the meal, the crew asked me to sign a contract, saying that they would arrange a role for me. At that time, I didn’t know whether the director and the crew were real or not, so I didn’t agree so quickly. , said to reconsider. At night, the director sent me a text message with a sexual suggestion, saying that there was a character who was missing someone, which was more in line with my appearance and temperament. With high wages, there may be opportunities to develop in this industry in the future. This should be the "unspoken rule". At this time, I began to suspect that this so-called model company may be looking for working girls as tributes. Of course, this is just my guess. I don’t know if the owner of the model company really has this purpose or simply introduces job opportunities. I didn't know the "director" would make such a move.

Zheng Dian: Did you call the police?

Yaya: No. Fortunately, this time I didn't have the greed to sign the contract, and I didn't suffer any physical injuries in the end. Because I ignored the director and the crew, they didn't come to me again. In fact, I still don't know whether this director and this crew are fake or not, and I also think that people shouldn't spend a lot of time setting up a dinner party for me. But if I did get sexually assaulted, I would call the police. This incident can be regarded as a wake-up call for me to be more vigilant in finding part-time jobs in the future.

Zheng Dian: After going through so much, do you think women are popular in the gig market? Is it easy to find a job?

Yaya: There are some specific positions that tend to recruit girls, but there are many additional conditions . I've found that many employers also like to hire female short-time workers because women sometimes bring them more benefits. For example, I have worked in a dessert shop and a clothing store. When these two shops hired part-time jobs, they directly wrote on the job advertisement that they wanted to recruit young women with good looks, aged 18-28. I think they are trying to recruit such girls to attract customers, but there is no advantage in that appearance, and older women are excluded. Even if some positions give priority to recruiting girls, there are also age conditions, and there are quite a lot of work content.

What impresses me deeply is that the job I applied for at the dessert shop was actually a waiter. I was only responsible for serving dishes, passing dishes, writing orders, and collecting bills at the front desk. But when there were not enough staff, the boss asked me to help in the kitchen and make drinks. , setting dishes, etc. At the same time, I have to be busy in the kitchen and receive customers. I have to take care of both sides, but the wages have not increased.

Zheng Dian: It seems that part-time work is also very tiring. Have you ever thought about giving up and returning to a full-time job?

Yaya: I didn't even think about it. But there are still advantages to part-time work. For me, who can't find a satisfactory full-time job at this stage, at least I can stop doing it if I want to, and I can still hope for the next job. Find a good part-time job, arrange your time reasonably, and your income may be higher than a full-time job.

Like I used to be a personnel assistant, the salary is low, and I have to do everything as a cow and a horse, and I have to be angry with my colleagues and supervisors, so I may be very tired and hard to work part-time, but the money arrives on the same day, I don’t need to be like me In the past, in order to wait until the beginning of next month, I had to take a lot of work that I shouldn’t have done in order to get the salary, and sometimes the boss might still owe the salary. It’s just that you really need to keep your eyes open for part-time jobs, don’t take all jobs, or you will be deceived like I was before.

And after I broke up with my ex-boyfriend, my old family said several times that they planned to arrange blind dates for me. I also considered that after I got married, I might have to take care of children and take care of my in-laws, so I guess I will continue to work odd jobs. Bar. In short, I chose this path, not only by accident, but also by considering the future factors.

Running errands and receiving "crowdsourcing orders" are both a lonely road

Zheng Dian: Then why did you run errands and deliver food?

Yaya: One day, I saw a group of friends in the part-time group saying that running errands and delivering food is good, and it’s not a problem to work hard and earn more than 10,000 a month. I checked the Internet again, and found that there are also news reports that the monthly income of the takeaway is over 10,000. In addition, you can do "crowdsourcing" for takeaway. "Crowdsourcing" means that you can do it without following a team, and you can take orders in the system yourself, and special delivery means that the team will always send orders to you, no matter what orders you have to take. .

The reason why I choose "crowdsourcing" is because I am a novice, I am not familiar with the delivery route, and I am afraid of delaying the delivery time. Meal routes, “crowdsourcing” can also make a lot of money, and I can do errands while doing “crowdsourcing” because I choose which orders I take.

Zheng Dian: Is the income from crowdsourcing in line with your expectations?

Yaya: Doing "crowdsourcing" means running more and earning more, but for newbies, the penalty is really high. And if you want to earn more than 10,000 a month, you must receive at least 1,000 orders without being fined. When I first started, I was not familiar with the road. I had to look for the navigation on my mobile phone while delivering meals. Many new riders who work outside are also like this, and the system will set a time for you. This time specifies when you will deliver. It's too late. If the customer wants to complain, then I will be very nervous and not used to this fast pace.

The most orders are at lunch time. It is reasonable to say that riders are the most profitable at this time, but I just got started. Although I can grab a lot of orders at meal time, I often grab more by accident. If the delivery route is too far away If you are far away, or you are not familiar with it, you will be in a hurry.

There are also some emergencies, such as the business is too slow to get the card, the navigation route needs to detour when the road is being repaired, and when waiting for a red light or something, it often times out, and the delivery is illegal, and customers will often call to ask questions. When a customer with a bad temper does not listen to the explanation, he complains directly. The platform will punish and deduct money, or directly restrict me from taking orders.

I think because the platform is a system, it may not take into account that various unexpected accidents will cause the rider to arrive at a slower rate, and it does not give a breathing space. But complaining is useless, if you don't do it, others will grab the order and you won't make any money. I didn't make any money at first.

Zheng Dian: Then you continued to do this job because you got used to it gradually?

Yaya: Yes, after I became familiar with the delivery route and the order-taking process, I gradually avoided some risks. I gradually discovered that choosing an order is like doing a part-time job. If I accept all orders and refuse any job, it is actually a useless consumption for myself, and my salary may be deducted instead, and I can’t make much money.

Now I just avoid some orders that take a long time to wait, such as cakes and desserts, which are easy to crash and lose money on the road; and some orders with very remote and dangerous routes. I will grab the drink order, and the others will grab the order I know well, or I will do it together with the errand, so that I can earn more.

Zheng Dian: What is the difference between running errands and receiving crowdsourcing? Are the incomes the same?

Yaya: errands are divided into platform and private. The platform will deduct the middle price, and settle the money for you according to the specific requirements of the customer. The income is relatively small, and the average order is about ten yuan. Personally, I publish errands on Xianyu, and some regular customers will leave me to find me on a fixed phone, so that I will not be deducted by the platform for the middle price difference.

But the platform will be a little safer, at least the customer will not run the order and refuse to pay. I have met a private person who is still a regular customer. Once I was asked to pay more than 400 yuan in advance. I did it out of trust, because there was no problem with taking his order before. But he regretted it halfway through, didn't want to pay, and didn't answer the phone after he came to the door. I still asked the security guard downstairs for help. The security guard was very angry when he heard it, and went to knock on the door with me to get the money back.

So if I take a personal order later, I will ask the customer to pay me first through Xianyu, and let him confirm it after I deliver it to the door, so that there is some guarantee. Some orders for errand runners have high bids, so I will do errand errands exclusively, and then take out crowdsourcing in my spare time. For example, I am very willing to do errand business such as buying tea Yanyuese on behalf of me.

There was a little girl who bought Tea Yanyuese for two rounds and couldn't get the number. Now the weather is hot and she doesn't want to queue up, so she bid 185 to let me queue up to send text and friends, grab the number, and buy the orchid latte on my behalf. After running errands to the door, I only bought two cups, a total of 185 yuan. According to her own experience, she expected that it would take three or four hours before she was willing to spend 185 for two cups of milk tea of 16 yuan, because the time cost was taken into account, but fortunately, I was lucky, the first time I grabbed the number It took only two hours for the whole process and the delivery of food to her. I spent more than an hour queuing in Wenheyou with the air conditioner blowing. I am very willing to take this kind of work, but it is not often.

Zheng Dian: Thank you very much for sharing so much. The last question is, have you been prejudiced and discriminated against in this industry? Is there anything you want to say to girls who want to work part-time in the future?

Yaya: Of course there will be prejudice. Customers often ask me, "Why does a girl also come out to deliver food?" I also encounter male customers who stare at me when the door is opened, and pick up slowly on purpose. , the kind that looked from head to toe, I was stared at very uncomfortable, put the meal aside and hurried away.

But there is also a very heart-warming thing, that is, some regular customers may see me working hard, think that it is not easy for me to be a girl, and give me more hard work. Sometimes I get a "card order" for the meal, and some well-meaning business owners will feel sorry and give me a free snack or a full meal. All these things make me feel that although society has a very difficult and dark side, there are also good people . They have given me a lot of encouragement and made me have the courage to continue doing these jobs.

I also want to say to other girls who want to do part-time jobs, from my personal experience, whether it's a boy or a girl, taking "crowdsourcing" or running errands is a lonely road. I am very happy if I earn more, but if there is an accident, no one will help me. The platform is not responsible for me, and I can only be responsible for myself. Therefore, first of all, you must keep your eyes open to avoid being deceived, and secondly, you must know how to avoid risks and find a better way out.