After graduation, many students try to find jobs in the field they have studied. Sadly, not everyone manages to do it. Adrian Vlașin has a bachelor degree in silviculture and is currently studying to obtain his master’s degree. Due to the fact that his faculty is located in Cluj-Napoca, he does not have a chance to work in his field, as there are no jobs related to silviculture in the city.
Despite the fact Adrian didn’t find a job in his field, he still needs money to live. “I used to work in sales projects; it was easier for me during university, because I could work only on weekends. But once I started to be a master’s student, I had more time so I decided to find a permanent job. I remember I was looking for a job on eJobs and suddenly spotted the announcement to work as a driver in a Lithuanian furniture company. Without hesitation I applied for the job, because it was a good opportunity to also travel a little bit across Romania,” – remembers Adrian.
As he confesses, Adrian loves to sleep, so as he started to work as a driver his lifestyle has changed completely.
“Now I have to wake up at 4am and go to sleep around 10 pm completely exhausted,” –he explains.
Basically, Adrian’s whole life is about delivering furniture to clients.
“I may drive to Timișoara, Oradea and then come back to Cluj, all in the same day.” – says he.
Adrian’s day usually begins at 4 or 5 am depending on where he has to drive, but his first delivery has to be made by 9am.
“It’s 5 am in the morning and we will reach our first stop in about three hours and a half,” says Adrian setting his GPS to Sighetu-Marmației.
While driving, he prefers to listen to music or different English-teaching podcasts.
“For the first few weeks I had a partner to drive with, but now I am alone. Of course I feel lonely spending my whole day without any company, but when it gets too boring, I call my friends or sing along with the radio. It also helps me not to fall asleep,” – explains Adrian.
After a long ride to Sighetu-Marmației, Adriancalls the first client to announce that he has arrived. The whole process ofgiving the client the furniture takes around fifteen minutes, but the road toit might last hours.
After the first delivery was completed, it is time to go and get breakfast.Adrian confesses that he usually skipsbreakfast, because he can never eat right after he wakes up. After a short stop at the local shop, Adrian heads to Baia Mare to meet his next client.
To make his life easier and put everything in order, Adrian plans his route for the next day in the evening. He says that it helps him save time on the road and predict around what time he is going to come back home.Three clients are waiting for Adrian in Baia-Mare so once he gets here, it takes him around an hour to make all the deliveries.
“At first I really liked this job, because I was expecting to go to many cities and see the beauty of Romania, but it turned out to be a little different. Despite the fact I pass through the mountains and different places, I don’t have time to admire it, because I have to stay focused on the road. Even here, in Baia-Mare, I don’t have time to look around and observe people and places. I only see cars and traffic lights,” explains Adrian.

After Baia-Mare, Adrian heads towards Apahida,were the warehouse is located. Before getting there, he has to stop for onelast delivery. Even though his work as a driver is supposed to stop at the last client, itdoesn’t. After spending over eight hours on the road, Adrian has to go to thewarehouse to load the van with furniture which has to be delivered the nextday.

Once the furniture is loaded, it is time to do all the paperwork. The furniture company has only begun its work in Romania, s oit’s still understaffed. Despite working as a driver, Adrian also has to be a furniture loader and an accountant.
“To be honest, when I applied for this job I had some kind of expectations, but the reality is different. I believed it would be my perfect job, because I get the chance to travel a little through Romania and also get some money, but no. It is very exhausting to work for sixteen or seventeen hours every day. I do not recognize myself as a human anymore, because I feel like a vegetable. I don’t have time for my friends or any other things except work. Even though my weekends are free, I get so tired during the week that I prefer to sleep most of the time,” – confesses Adrian on his way home at 9 pm.
