In early 2020 I applied for a job as an “appointment specialist” not knowing exactly what that meant, just wanting a job that would provide me with health insurance and a paycheck.
I was fortunate enough to be granted an interview and I remember wondering how an interview was going to go as I wanted to wear a mask during what was the height of Covid. When I arrived at my interview I remember thinking it was odd because I didn’t see many masks. I asked about that during the interview and the manager, Daren, said they took proper precautions.
I heard I got the job a few days later and started within two weeks. The first few days were like an intro to the company, everything they could tell us about what they did, how they did it and what was expected of me. I soon found myself working in the call center scheduling appointments for homeowners. I did pretty well and was among the top callers each day. But I was bored. I did give it about 7 months of effort.
A job with a company my friend owned suddenly opened up and I was set to leave. I put in my two weeks notice and was set. But the company wasn’t done with me yet, the director of call center talked to my manager(heard this all afterwards) and said “How do we keep the good ones”.
Soon I was contacted by the director of Inside Sales, he said “We think you’d do well in Inside Sales, please consider giving it a chance. SALES?!?! ick. I flat out told the guy “I don’t like lying and don’t think sales is for me”. He said that it’s not about lying and that he thought I would like it. After discussing with my friend I thought, what the hell, let’s give it a month.
One month went well, It was easy, just making calls talking to customers and getting them to want to buy what we were selling. I soon bought myself 10 or so sales books learning how to sell better and reading as much as I could. Before I knew it, It was December and I had sold over one million in less than a year. And I liked it. I was happy, busy and helping people.
We started with about 7 people in the department, but as the company grew so did the department and before you knew it we had 20, then 30 and finally about 40 reps in our department. We also had a couple of great department heads that helped us grow, instilled in us pride and the departments’ sales also kept growing.
I eventually started to take actions to improve the department, helping the directors and manager with little things. One of my colleagues called me the team cheerleader as I was always trying to keep spirits up and encourage those who were struggling. My manager approached me about becoming a team lead around year 4 and it was about a year later that that came to fruition.
I liked being a lead; helping people, learning more about the business and tracking goals. I listened to my team’s calls, coached them on this or that and was available to help with our boss, who wasn’t available. I liked it quite a lot.
I saw a lot of changes in the company, a lot of people come and go. I made friendships that will likely last a lifetime. I learned valuable skills in the last six years and will take them with me when I go.
This year brought more changes, including my decision to step down from the lead position. The company made changes too and continues to grow and adapt to what it’s going to become.
I had been thinking about leaving for a while, but got serious about it a few months back and started tossing my resume out there to jobs that looked appealing. Soon I had 5 interviews lined up and all of them were jobs I was more than capable of doing. I took evaluations, had virtual interviews, modified my resume and soon I had three offers.
I took my time deciding which direction to go and thought really hard about leaving before making the ultimate decision. I even considered another position within my current company, but it didn’t seem to be for me.
It’s been a good six and a half years. I grew along with the company and I guess we grew apart.
Six and a half years ago, I was just looking for a paycheck and health insurance. I ended up finding a career, making lifelong friends, and learning a few things about myself along the way. Not bad for a job I didn’t even know I wanted.
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