Episode 4: What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?
When I transitioned out of the Army, I was 29, and had never been on a formal interview for a job. I had never looked for a job beyond browsing the classified ads looking for a Summer job when I was in College--old school! I used a Junior Military Officer recruiting company to find my first job out of the Army, and that was certainly helpful with creating resumes, and interview preparation. In fact, the recruiting company brought companies to me, and other young officers leaving the military, so I didn't have to search for a job. I went to a hiring conference where they put us up in an Embassy Suites, interviewed with several companies there, and accepted a job offer with a veterinary diagnostic company called IDEXX Laboratories selling high-end in-house hematology and chemistry equipment.
I left the job with IDEXX in 2008, and found myself on my own to job hunt. I knew I did not want to do any sales if I could help it, so I went on to Monster and found a slew of "Marketing" jobs that promised quick promotions for the right candidate! I heard from a company that looked promising, and went to an initial interview. Upon arriving, I saw that there were at least 20 other young people in suits with resumes in hand, also waiting for interviews. I thought that was weird, but did the interview and got a follow-up interview for the next day. How exciting! The first red flag, though, was when my interviewer said, "Wear comfortable shoes tomorrow!" I thought that was a weird request for a job I thought would be office based, but I put on a nice blouse and some professional pants with some comfy(ish) flats, and arrived first thing in the morning for my "interview." This job made many promises, but the one that I also found weird was that "if you did well enough, you would open your own store one day." At this point, I didn't even know what we were marketing for, but I figured I would find out eventually.
Again, there were dozens of men and women like me, as if everybody got a second interview. We were organized into groups and introduced to our interviewers FOR THE DAY. Then we were loaded into vans. This is where I should of just said "no thank you," because I didn't know what this was even about, what we were going to do, how long this would take, and did not think this seemed like a marketing job. Instead, being conditioned to be compliant, I hopped in the van with the others and went along with it. After a few minutes, the vans dropped us off in a large neighborhood, and we were told we would be going door-to-door selling Papa John's coupons, and we could not return until we sold all of them. We were not getting paid for the day either, because it was an "interview!"
All day long, we walked from house to house, knocking on doors that said, "No Solicitors Allowed" and "Baby Sleeping--Do Not Knock." My "interviewer" told us that you should always knock on the doors that say "No Solicitors" because the husband put that up because his wife buys a lot of things. Oh, the sexism there, that didn't hit me until a couple of years later. We walked around this neighborhood from 10 in the morning until it got dark--maybe 6 or so. People did buy the coupons, though when there are 10 people at your doorstep in suits, they might have thought we were with a cult who would kidnap them if they didn't buy these Papa John's coupons. As the day progressed, I just got angrier and angrier. How deceptive! Since we couldn't go back until all of the coupons were sold, and my feet were hurting, and I was sweaty and mad, I grabbed those final coupons and made some compelling plea to a homeowner who bought the last bit of them. I am sure I said something along the lines of, "We have been out here all day. They won't let us leave until all of these are sold. They are only $5 a piece. Won't you help us out?" I think I would still be wandering the neighborhood if I hadn't of done that.
When we returned to the office building, a few of us were asked back into the main guy's office, and the others were told to leave, and thank you for your time. This guy told me that my "interviewer" had raved about my sales skills, and you could have your own shop one day, and we would like to extend you an offer." I said, "You promoted this like it was an office-based marketing job, and really this is a door-to-door sales job. No thank you." I could not have gotten out of there fast enough. I returned home to Jeff, vented an angry tirade about the preposterousness and dishonestly of my day, and warily avoided any more job descriptions that said they were in "Marketing."
I was especially confused and naive at that point because I assumed with my experience in the Army that I would be a good candidate for other jobs. I had a degree from Davidson, which is very respected in the South, I had 7 years in the military as a leader, and with immense responsibilities. But nearly every company wanted experience from their very narrow emphasis, and being a helicopter pilot did not fit in with anything other than entry-level sales, because pretty much anyone was a candidate for entry level sales. I started to learn that while recruiters and hiring managers said they respected what I did in the military, that respect did not extend to giving me a chance at a job. Add to that the fact that I didn't know what I wanted to do anyway, and I was frustrated and confused. Do I want to do another kind of sales? Project Management, whatever that is? Data Analysis, probably not? I could do something in Logistics--are there jobs finding ammunition for the South Korean Army in Iraq? I took the LSAT and got into 1 law school, but despite my Dad's prestigious career as a lawyer and judge in Jacksonville, FL, and my tendency to argue when I want something, I did not want to be a lawyer, and I did not want to go to Law School.
In my search for my purpose in life, which in my mind was a career, these were the different jobs I tried:
Diagnostic Practice Consultant with IDEXX Laboratories (driving all around Western North Carolina convincing small, rural veterinarians to buy equipment costing $60,000 when they could just use a lab)
Account Executive with Alliance International, a Junior Military Officer Recruiting Firm (Cold-calling various companies to convince them to travel to a far-away city, so they can hire Officers leaving the military that probably don't have the skills the company is looking for, even though military officers and non-commissioned officers are incredibly adaptable)
Customer Service Representative for Sprint (Answer calls from irate people because they lost cellular service for 5 minutes in a 30 day span, or to solve problems with their phone by telling them to turn off and turn on their phones, all in a 10 hour shift from 4PM-2AM, with carefully monitored bathroom and lunch breaks. Also required to solve customer's problems to the satisfaction of the angry, nasty customer all while keeping the phone call under 2 minutes.)
Cold Calling Sales Position for Red Ventures, a "Marketing" Firm (Call random companies from alleged leads to sell them hosting packages and domains)
These are just a few of them, but it gives you an idea of my journey. I thought that when I left the Army, I would magically find a career, and stick with it for the rest of my life. As I progressed through different jobs that I really hated, I began to wonder what was wrong with me. Why couldn't I figure it out? I now know that most people don't know what they want. Even my friends with successful careers have doubts, or wonder if they should move from this job to that job in the scope of their fields.
I think I might be better just thinking, "What will I do next?"
Comments