The Process of Selling Out

My Next Job Sucked!

I finally found a position through a temp agency.  It was a position with a fairly big company.  A position in their credit department.  I was excited about this job because it was such a big company, and that was what I wanted.  I wanted a job with a large company, and I was going to work my way up from the bottom.  The American Dream, right?

Man, this job sucked.  I spent all day calling customers trying to get them to pay on their accounts.  And I had a quota.  I had contact like sixty customers per day.  And these customers were never happy about me calling them asking for money.  I have never been cussed out so many times in my life.

I worked with a bunch of middle age women.  For real, I was the only male in the credit department.  All day I would have to sit there and listen to these women gossip about each other and other nonsense.  I would have to listen to constant complaining from these ladies.  Complaining about everything and everyone.  But they were so nice to each others face.

Being Unemployed (Part IV) or Finding Something Better to do with My Time

I was unemployed, this time, from February of 2010 to May of 2010.

Aside from scouring the job market for a suitable position, I decided to try to better myself and get back in shape. I started working out. A friend and I started P90X.

I needed something to do to keep my mind off of being unemployed. And this was the best thing I could think to do. Plus, my wife had planned our vacation for September, so I had some time to get myself looking good before we headed to Roatan.

Working out was probably the best thing I could do during this unemployment. It gave me something to focus on besides the job hunt. It gave me a goal other than finding gainful employment. And it was the healthy thing to do.

Being Unemployed (Part III)

This time I jumped right in to the job search. I treated it like a real full-time job. I was up when my wife went to work, searching and applying for jobs.

First thing in the morning I was up and at the computer searching for jobs, applying for positions, updating and rewriting my resume to reflect the position I was applying for. I would spend time calling temp agencies looking for positions. I applied for anything that I felt I was qualified for, even jobs that I was not qualified for but felt I could do. Any job that would pay what I was needing. I would also apply for jobs that I thought I would enjoy, even if the money wasn’t right. I would get interviews but never jobs.

The economy and the job market was horrible in 2009 and 2010.

My Second Layoff

After working for the trucking company for a few months, I was offered a different position. I wasn’t hitting my weekly quota, so they asked me if I wanted to work nights im their logistics department. The position would pay a little more,since it was night shift hours.

After several days of mulling it over, I decided to accept the position.

The Friday before I was supposed to start this position, I was called into the HR mangers office.

They told me they admired my work ethics. They liked the fact that even though I was beat down everyday with trying to hit my quota, with my drivers constantly being rejected, I would come in the following day fresh and ready to go again.

Then they told me they were letting me go.

My manager even offered to pray for me. For what, I don’t know. I told him I didn’t need it, but thanks anyway.

So, once again, I had to go home and tell my wife that I was let go. It is not easy to do this twice in five months.

Jumping Into the First Thing Offered (Part I)

So, after my month of not working, I took the first job offered to me.

I took a job with a trucking company. A job hiring truck drivers. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.

It wasn’t an easy job. We had too many restrictions on what would qualify a driver as fit for the company. Plus, our job was made even more difficult because we had a hiring quota. We had to hire some many people in so many areas.

On top of all this, it was apparently a “Christian” place of business. This made it awkward for me. Everybody was always talking about church and talking about praying for eachother. I just didn’t fit in.