Yet another ironic day

So… once again I am unemployed. This was my choice. I just didn’t see myself working 11 hours a day, 5 days a week indefinitely. No paid vacation, sick days or paid holidays. This week I made about $620. 3 of those days I made a total of $70. It’s also not as stable as I need. Nobody in the office was married (or even engaged). And I just can’t see myself as a super-salesman 30 years from now… it’s just not what I’m looking for.

All that is not to say that I’m ungrateful for everything I received while working there. I grew in ways that I had never imagined. I developed more in the past 5 weeks than I could have in months elsewhere. I believe that this business model is fantastic and is probably one of the greatest management training models I have ever seen. I think it is brilliant and it is obviously successful as a business model. But as I was told on day 1: This business is not for everyone. And ultimately it wasn’t for me.

I have a temporary telecom thing worked out with a friend. It will be working nights pulling cable in a Wal-Mart. It is a 5-6 week gig and should pay very handsomely. (I hadn’t even heard about this position when I decided it was time to leave.)

Love to all,
Chris

Sleepless in… somewhere

What a whirlwind month for me. I clearly haven’t been blogging. This is exclusively due to work… and sleep. If only I could live without sleep like some of my family, I’d be blogging all the time. There’s a LOT to talk about, but no time to say it.

My job is good. It’s hard work, no lie, but it’s definitely good. This is probably the biggest character-building job I’ve ever heard of. I’m learning things about myself that I’ve never even thought of before. I’m growing substantially on a daily basis. Because of how we operate, I have statistics and objective numbers to verify my growth.

I had one week of training. A new trainee can expect to be promoted 2-4 weeks after completing training. I had 8 days alone in the field when I got my promotion. I am now continuing my training in learning to interview and train others into my position. I should be taking out some interviews as early as next week. The training and work are both intense, and I am working my absolute best every day. I am happy to do it because I see how good it is for me. I pick things up in days rather than weeks because of the intensity at which I train myself and at which I am being trained by my leaders. More updates to come.

Love,
Chris

Beat the Streets

Sales is no joke. It’s hard work. I’m working 8-7 most days. My time is spent on the streets, working for a living. However, I’m apparently good at my job. I’m getting a lot of compliments on my progress and performance. I don’t know if this is because they’re trying to encourage the new guy or if I’m actually doing that well. I have decided to believe that it is because I am awesome (I have noticed that a positive outlook is absolutely required to do well).

I’m really enjoying work. Ironically, part of why I was so expendable at TRX was that I could/would not sell for them. I didn’t believe in what they were selling, so I couldn’t sell. I refused to lie to make a sale. Luckily, working for Maximus should never leave me selling anything that I believe to be an inferior product. I fully believe that we have the best product on the market. I have seen only one business that had better rates than we can offer. And I’ve been in… several.

Tuesday (Day 1) my trainer and I were the “High Rollers” for our office. This means that together we made more money than anyone selling our product in the office. There are two offices sharing office space. We sell different products (not competing products). Each office has a high roller.

Friday (Day 4) my trainer (different trainer) and I were the High Rollers.

I closed my first sale (almost entirely on my own) Wednesday (Day 2). Apparently this is unheard of. I’m excited. I was the High Roller for the office.

Needless to say, work is going well. Tomorrow is my “bunny hop day.” It’s my last day of street training. I am essentially on my own. My trainer will be working the same street, but he will be on one side and I will be on the other. Thus, he will be within reach, but cannot be used as a crutch. I’m anxious: excited and nervous. It will really be a unique day. In a big way, my performance tomorrow will set the tone for the first part of my sales career. It should be interesting if nothing else.

Tuesday I have in-house training. Wednesday I’m sent out on my own… permanently. Bring it on.

Pwnt

I’m so beat. Work has been great, but I’m TIRED. I really do want to post, to update everyone. I’m just all worded out right now. I’ve read that men generally use 20,000-30,000 words a day. I talked all day for the past two days. And this wasn’t relaxed conversation. It was driven, intentional conversation.

I’m doing really well with training. I have a TON to learn, but I feel like I’m making good progress. I think I may have a future in sales… or at least the sales industry.

Love to all,
Chris

Sweet Delicious Irony

So…  you know cruel irony?  Like when you post on your blog that you have the best relationship in the world and you break up the next day?  Well, sweet irony is like when you give up on your job hunt and find your next job the next day.

I have a job.  Let’s start at the top.

Wednesday:  I post that I give up my job hunt.  I surrender to God and admit that He is in control in the most public forum available.  No holding back, no reservations.  I give up.  Later that day I schedule for an intriguing job posting online.

It was a bit of a strange posting because they were asking specifically for “Restaurant/Hospitality/Retail Experience.”  I was curious because the posting was a bit vague.  I called in and asked the woman answering (Priscilla) if she had received my resume.  She said that she received the questionaire that should have been with my resume, but she didn’t get the resume.  She asked me a few quick questions and said that the president of the company would be doing interviews tomorrow (Thursday) and that there was one slot left.  Since she had me on the phone, she put me in that slot:  11:30.  Fast Forward.

Thursday:  11:30.  I am given a 5-minute interview with Julian, the President of Maximus Marketing.  This is clearly a time for Julian to see me, see how I carry myself and in a way to size me up.  He said that there would be more interviews tomorrow (Friday) and asked if I would be available all day (10-5) for an interview.  I say yes.  He says that if I’m selected for round 2, I’ll get a call.  At 6:30 that night the call finally comes.  I passed round 1 and got a callback.  Fast Forward.

Friday:  I show up 20 minutes early and find that there are already 4 other round 2 candidates in the office.  I was at least 5 years younger than all but 1.  I’m wearing the only non-black suit.  I’m also wearing the only colored tie…  red.  Great choice.  I spend 7 hours on the streets selling with a seasoned employee (Matt) and a new hire (Carlton).  At the end of 7 hours, I’m given my third interview.  This is only about 20 minutes long.  At the end I’m offered a job.  I start Tuesday.

My target client is every business owner.  The service that handles the processing of credit cards is my product.  Most providers have to go through another party who is a direct provider of this service with Visa, Mastercard, etc.  These “providers” give you their price, but don’t have to tell you the markups of the direct providers.  Thus all the hidden prices.  I am going to be selling for the direct provider.  The great thing is that there aren’t the annoying markups and hidden prices.  Anyway, I don’t know a ton about it yet, so I shouldn’t say too much.

The product seems great and the President is a good Christian man who was quite clear that his company is run on Biblical principles.  He promised that I would never be selling something that I had to scam, cheat and swindle to make the sale.

I’m very excited to be starting so soon…  now I have a bit of shopping to do.  Ties, some shirts, pants, an iron…  you know, those things I really should already have.  Lukcily I have a long weekend that traditionally has great sales.

I’ve bored you enough.  If you want more detail, call or email me.

Thank everyone for all the prayers.  You don’t have to stop.  I’d appreciate it if you kept going, actually…

Love to all,

Chris

ADDENDUM: I forgot to mention that there were about 30 people in the first round of interviews. There were only six in the second round. (I was the only one who was called back from my day of interviews.) They were only looking for 1 or 2 new employees. I have decided that this whole thing was and is completely God. He is pretty awesome. I am a fan.

Financial Independence and a lesson in humility

Financial independence.  What a loaded term.  Yes, I’m now paying all my own bills.  I don’t need charity to make it through, and I’m living on my own dime.  However, independent I am not.  Through this job hunt, I am learning just how dependent I am on my God.  My God provides.  Out of the blue I meet a guy who does telecom and can offer me sporadic work doing the basics but getting my foot in the door.  Out of the blue I get an email saying that Lee owes me $400.  Daily I receive gifts of food and support from friends and family.  I live on.  I keep moving forward.

Through all this I have learned that I am not nearly independent.  I need my God.  He provides food, shelter, favor and money.  Without His favor, I make nothing, I work never, I have door after door shut.  Still, I have to believe that my God has a plan.  I refuse to accept that I am in this situation simply because someone at my former work decided that I was no longer needed.  My God has a plan for me.  He has just the door I want ahead.  And when I find it, I will walk through.  Until then I have daily lessons in humility.

Yesterday I was given work for a day.  I crashed in the Cohl’s spare bedroom night before last.  As I was leaving yesterday morning, Keith said that he needed extra hands for the day (with pay).  My first response was “Keith, I can’t take your money.”  He insisted that he really did need the help.  I accepted.  After working for the day, I realized that he was right, it would have taken forever with only one person.  I put up crown molding and baseboards all day.  It wasn’t hard.  I actually really enjoyed it.  I think that I was too proud to accept without his insitence.  Generally I wouldn’t think of myself as a prideful person.  However, yesterday I really had a hard time accepting it.

Lord, let the lessons continue.  Teach me patience, humility and reliance on you.  Yeah, it’ll hurt.  But You have a reason.  And I’ll know it later.  I trust you.

-Chris

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Recruiter-ed

So I’m finding that I apparently look good to recruiters.  I don’t know what the repercussions of that are, but for now it looks like I’ll be doing a lot of job hunting via recruiters.  There are no fees for me.  The recruiters are paid by the companies (my future employers) to find qualified people for positions.  I’ve had interviews with 2 this week and contacted another one this morning.  I have the names of a few more that I’ll be contacting early next week.

Monday morning I have a phone interview with a well-known company in the area.  It’s very exciting.  I’d love to work with/for these people as they do great work.  I’d be with their web design team and let me say tis…  their web sites are impressive.  I can handle jumping in with them, but I’ll need to familiarize myself with their sites a bit more before I really feel comfortable jumping right in.  The only problem is that this particular company apparently takes 6 weeks to 6 months to hire.  If they make me an offer first, I’d be more than happy to take it.  But if someone else makes me an offer, I don’t know that I can afford to wait.  Hrm, maybe that’s a good question to ask in my interview on Monday.

Anyway, I’m doing…  ok.  The first week of unemployment was rough to say the least.  But I’ve learned a lot about myself from it, and I’m working around the clock to find anoter job.

Spending has dropped to virtually nothing.  The only money I’ve spent since last Wednesday (other than on gas) was 1.08 for ice cream.  I decided that it was time to spend money and icecream was 2 for $1.  Don’t get me wrong, I can pay my bills.  I’m pretty good at saving, so I can cover myself for a while.  But when I got fired, I went into complete financial lockdown.  I emotionally have a VERY hard time buying things.  I guess that’s good?  It’ll make my financial stores last for a while longer, at least…

Anyway, I’m gonna get off this thing.  Continued prayers are much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Chris

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