What price for my "soul".... (long, rambly, job-related)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

No, I’m not selling it unless the price is right…, I’m just having a crisis of conscience…

I was laid off from my job as a Mac repair tech on 1/29/09, and have been unemployed since then, I’ve been on Unemployment Compensation, and frantically looking for work, most of the responses have been for part-time/temporary and at or just barely above minimum wage

my previous job I was making $12.50/hr, and had a great rapport with customers, and was well liked by all the staff

Needless to say, I was absolutely gobsmacked when I was laid off due to the crappy economy, suffered from bouts of depression, and the lack of decent job offers was incredibly disheartening

So, I was thrilled when one of my leads followed up with me last week, $10/hr, plus commisions, and a five minute drive from home, sounds to good to be true, right?

I went in for an interview, what the hell, I had nothing better to do…

It was Inbound Telesales…
Customers would call in and order products advertised on infomercials (warning!)
we were also supposed to pitch add-on sales (Warning!!)
however, I was told that we didn’t have to shove the add ons down their throats (Lies, all of it, LIES!)
We would be put through a week of PAID sales training, where we would learn their “selling techniques” (Red Alert!, Shields Up! Danger Will Robinson, Danger!!)

So, I figured it’d be worth a try, best case scenario it’d work out and be a great, laid-back job environment, worst case scenario, we’d part ways amicably

It’s been a week, how was it?

HELLISH! their “sales technique” is basically “badger and intimidate the customer into buying the crappy products and add-ons, push them to the point of hanging up”

the products?
a cheap, crappy steam “sanitizer” (Monstur 4700)
“herbal suppliment” pills, one that reduces stress (Relaxxxie), one that helps you sleep (Fall2Sleep), one helps you quit smoking (PenultimateSmoke)
“nicotine blocking” mouthpieces for cancersticks (NicotineShield)
that “Cures and Remedies “They” don’t want you to know about” and “weight loss” book series
the two most popular “Male Enhancement” products (FlaccidZyte and Gro-stenZe)
and a cheap two-day cruise on a major cruise line (CircuisSideShow)

(names altered, but you get the point)

the fact that they’re selling the stupid Male Enhancement crap is enough to make me quit right now, I HATE those products, I get spammed for that crap non-stop, the last thing I want to be doing is selling that shit

watching the infomercials for the above garbage, my mind was screaming SCAM!! the whole time

We haven’t even talked about the “add-ons” yet, no, they’re not accesories for the Monstur or more NicotineShield mouthpieces, they’re “Discount Clubs”, basically Val-Pak style discounts that you pay for, yes, you pay for more junk mail, once a month, there’s FOUR of them for every product, and you’re expected to push all four, they want you to push the customer to the point that they threaten to hang up/cancel the order, only then can you back down, you’re basically told to wear down the customer’s resistance, and bully them into taking the add-ons, with the promise that they can cancel them later (where they’ll call “customer service” who will try to convince them to keep the product/add on and only cancel them after the customer becomes verbally abusive and/or irate)

the whole week I was there, I felt sick to my stomach, nauseous and ill (no, it wasn’t swine flu), I dreaded waking up and going to training every day, their “sales process” is confrontational, intimidating, and stressful, I hate this job to my very core, it goes against every moral fiber in my being, I can’t get past the feeling that I’m selling crap, junk, and garbage to, basically, gullible idiots, everything they sell is crap, their sales technique is crap, and the company trips ALL of my Slimy Scumbag sensors

So, this morning, I went to the Unemployment Security office to talk over my options, my unemployment will expire in August (not counting the extension), and if I decide this job is not for me, it won’t count against me, I have up to five weeks to decide, I don’t need five weeks…

On top of that, I have an interview with another computer sales/repair shop coming up on Wednesday, and another interview with a second shop that I’m working on scheduling

Heck, I’d rather go to work for McDonalds, or selling Ford cars at the local Ford dealer (and I HATE Ford!) than work for this telesales job

For me to be happy with a job, I have to believe in the product I’m selling or repairing, not only do I not believe in the products this telesales company sells, they’re crap, and I think every one of them is a SCAM product

I’m torn, on the upside, it’s a job, it pays the bills
on the downside, I hate, despise, and distrust the products being sold, (especially the male enhancement crap) and I see NO value in the “buying club” add-ons, the company has a very nannying break/lunchtime policy, all calls are monitored (Big Brother is Listening!), and if you don’t hit your goals (30% product, 150% add-ons) you’re put on probation for four to eight weeks, if you’re still not at target goal, buh-bye!

a single “unexcused” abscence is grounds for immediate termination
if scripts (yes, the pitches are scripted) aren’t read verbatim, you can be reprimanded, or even terminated
forget your time card? it’ll cost you $10 to have a manager punch you in and out that day
lose your time card (plastic RFID badge), that’s $20
lose/damage the headset? $75 out of the paycheck

Every fiber of my being is SCREAMING RUN!, RUN AWAY, NOTHING IS WORTH THIS!
my mind is saying “it’s a job, tough it out until you find something better, the people don’t have to call you if they don’t want the product…”

What to do, what to do, what is the cost of my soul?
I feel MORE stressed with this job than I did on Unemployment, and I HATE being on unemployment…

2

Listen to your gut, man. Go work the Fryolater if you have to.

3

This is the part that pushes it from “grin and bear it, it’s a job” to “oh god, flee for your life”. Not even the shittiest boss I’ve ever had would have charged me for occasional help clocking in due to missing/broken time card.

4

Telesales is not for everyone. Telesales for a product (or in your case, products) that are shite – well, it’s only for someone that needs to work 3 weeks to show that they “tried.” Or a student that just doesn’t give a #&$%. I work in inbound sales. We don’t get commission, we are here for the customer. I love the products we sell, and use them myself (gift wrap, bags, ribbon, etc FYI) so I like my job.

Since you are lucky enough to have a choice between UI and this “job” – take the UI. Trust me, you will be glad you did. Never settle when you have the option to continue looking. Take it as a learning experience to trust your gut.

5

When every fiber, nucleus and microtubule is screaming at you to run, do it. I talked myself into applying at a local call center (not as odious as that one sounds) using the same dumb rationalizations - it’s money, nothing else will come up, how bad can it be - even to the point of calling myself lazy and unmotivated because, after all, those successful people don’t care what they have to do to start to pick themselves up (which is probably BS).

I wound up running out the door while waiting in the lobby and I’m glad I did. Always trust your intuition.

6

That wasn’t the worst of it, one of the sign-off forms (the one that first started the Red Alert sirens wailing) basically said (paraphrased) “If you go off-script, you could be at risk for disciplinary actions up to and including termination, and legal penalties may apply”

they explained the “legal penalties” thing as a situation where a salesdroid puts stuff on the customer’s order without their approval, if the company got sued they wouldn’t stand behind the salesdroid (which, admittedly would be performing credit card fraud) and would potentially sue the droid themselves, as well as fire them

the fact that the company felt the need to “babysit” employees (you could only go on break if your availability percentage was 90% or higher), berate them when arbitrary, impractical sales goals were not met, potentially sue negligent employees, and have the crappiest, most arbitrary “benefits” package available (if your hours drop below 35 hours a week for a month, you lose your health insurance and other bennies, and have to wait until the next sign-up period) just gave me the feeling that they didn’t trust their staff to be professional adults (to be fair, a lot of the sales and CS staff put off that “Here’s Your Sign” vibe…)

So, this afternoon, I met with the woman in charge of HR, and had an honest conversation with her about the job, and my misgivings, she was very professional, understanding, and good humoured about the whole thing (made me wonder if she actually worked for them, she was too professional)

I basically said I must have misunderstood the sales job when I was interviewed, I was under the impression that it wasn’t a high-pressure sales job, I described my personal selling technique and asked her, honestly, how long I would have lasted if I was on the sales floor selling that way…

“About two weeks”

I asked her how they would respond to a query by Unemployment Assistance
“well, he gave it an honest try, but the job wasn’t right for him, it’s not in his chosen field, so we parted company mutually” she said it would not affect my UC claim (which meshes with what UC told me this morning)

So, I thanked her for the job opportunity, and for the sales training, but I regretted to inform her that the job was not right for me, that it wasn’t a good match, we shook hands and left on good terms, she wished me luck in my job search

It feels SO good to be free of that job, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders

7

Check very carefully with the unemployment office about what they say about you. I would not trust that HR person’s word for how the company will handle it.

8

I plan to, I checked with Unemployment first, before I talked with Unemployment, they both said the folowing thing…

as long as I wasn’t drawing payroll for more than five weeks from the company in question, it wouldn’t affect my UI benefits, in fact, the State of New Hampshire’s Unemployment FAQ says;

Both NHUS and the job said that since my previous job was not in sales, and that I don’t feel comfortable working there, and because I’ve been there less than five weeks (I’ve only been there a week) it would not affect my claim, just document the week I got paid for, and compensation for that week only will be adjusted accordingly, the next week, unemployment continues on as usual until it either runs out or I find a job

Still, I am going to be extra vigilant here…

9

Good luck. There but for some grace.

10

Shit, man. It’s not worth it. Go get a job waiting tables in a decent restaurant. You’ll get more in tips than you would at the telesales hellhole, plus you’ll generally have a lot of time to research/apply for jobs.

Your soul will thank you for it.

…aaaand, on finishing reading the thread, congratulations!

11

Easier said than done in this area right now!

12

Virtually any high-traffic restaurant will do. Applebee’s. Chili’s. These places tend to be super high-turnover establishments.

13

Rather than looking at the cost, consider the return-on-equity. If you really, truly, are willing to sell your soul, you can be quite comfortable for the rest of your life.

Your financial life, anyway. The rest of it will range somewhere between vague dissatisfaction and abject misery.

14

Congratulations. Have you considered moving? Starting your own repair service out of your home? Sometimes when you’re starving in the desert, its time to move out of the desert.

15

Dude, get down here to the seacoast. This is the time of year when all the little shops and restaurants in Hampton Beach etc. are opening up for the season. I don’t know whether they’ve already hired folks for this year - but maybe not!

16

Dude, you’re thinking too literal here. Get back to that job!!! Record every call. Post MP3s of all the batshit crazy callers looking for male enhancement products to a website. You’ll be famous in 48 hours. book deals… then a movie!