I got fired today.

[coloradodem2005]

Well, I have been doing this part-time fundraising job for various causes for the last month plus. It is a little trying. The thing is, I take a lot of no's and I let it get to me. I shouldn't have. The thing is it becomes a little too visible. I may have put off some of my coworkers. I have always had a problem with failure and I personalize things too much. When I was trying to get a pledge from someone today, she said that she would most likely hav x-amount in in about a month. So I put it down as a yes when I should have put it down as a maybe. The thing is, I thought that she was almost definite, just not 100%. I think that some of the potential donors really got to me.

I also would not follow the script as much as I should, with doing rebuttals because some people make it clear that they either cannot donate or will not donate on credit card and in the past when I have tried to sway these people, I have lost them.

Sometimes I wonder if I could ever be a functioning member of society. I cannot find a job within my niche. I am not even sure what my niche is or of myself. On one hand, these kinds of jobs can be frustrating. On the other, I had income, I had a chance to affect things for the better and I blew it.

I know that I am the problem. I just wish I could figure out how to change.

[Systematic Chaos]

1. You're not alone, believe me.

I used to be very much like that, and still am to a degree but I can hide it now when I need to. My wife has had a number of horrible low-pay jobs since she moved up here to be with me and I find I'm kicking myself all the time because the way our finances are it's impossible to try and get her into some classes so she can have a better job.

It's very important to have a thick skin whenever you're working a job that involves the public, but some people just don't have that. I don't know exactly how you should change, but please remember that the kind of work you were just doing has HUGE turnover. You're not the only one who can't succeed in that kind of work and it is NOT anything I would consider it a weakness. I hope that your next job will be easier for you, as much as I hope Jeanette will find herself something less stressful. Good luck to you. :)

[amerikat]

2. hang in there

I hope things get better for you.

[madaboutharry]

3. I am feeling so bad for you.

It hurts to read how you are beating yourself up like this. I am sure the next couple of days are going to be hard, but most people will tell you that these kinds of situations don't say a lot about you as a person. Maybe you have too much integrity for that type of work. A person has to be good at the hard sell. Give yourself a break and then maybe go see a career counselor or someone like that who can help direct you into an area that suits you. Go easy on yourself, please.

[Systematic Chaos]

8. Well stated!

Hang in there. You know you have quite a few people here on DU who are pulling for you!

[coloradodem2005]

10. The thing is.

This was fundraising for Democrats among other things. The thing is, as I mentioned about the call where I should have put a maybe instead of a yes to a pledge when the woman said that she was almost sure but not quite sure. So the guy that fired me said that that was an integrity issue. The thing that hurts the most is that he was right. And unfortunately, I should have had more integrity in regards to that call.

The other thing is, they want you to ask high. For what to some people is an insane amount of money. I have had donors get angry and insulted and hang up. I could have had them for something if I did not ask that high but I lost them and got nothing.

[madaboutharry]

20. I know that this is not the best time

for you to be hearing all this advice, but one of the things that I have struggled to learn in life is the ability to close a door and move on. It is tough, but people who can do that actually do live longer and happier lives. Another point, why should you allow this guy who fired you define you and tell you who you are? Maybe you made a mistake, I am telling you that it doesn't say anything about your integrity. If you truly didn't have integrity none of this would be upsetting you. I think it is your integrity that is causing you pain. You are obviously a good and decent person and good things will come your way.

[coloradodem2005]

27. I hope you are right.

I feel like crying right now. Last year has been awful and demoralizing for me. This year has been a little better but still. I know that it has been this way for a lot of people though. In many cases longer than the last couple of years.

Later on, I saw a guy on the street who needed 15 cents so he could get a burger and I gave him 15 cents. He said, when I am eating my burger, I will think of you. His ribs were cracked because he made a grunt at one point. I asked him if he needed medical help. He said that he's getting it. He even has college degrees like I have one. This does not speak well of our society.


Thank you to all my well-wishers (past and present):grouphug:

[playahata1]

4. Telephone sales and other solicitation-type jobs are tough,

especially if you don't handle rejection well.

One summer during college I tried a part-time gig doing phone solicitations for a veteran's organization. My job was to get people to donate money, used clothing, furniture, etc. I am not a very good salesperson, and the organization did not and could not pay me enough to sit there and have people snap at me or hang up on me. I don't think I got anyone to pledge. I quit after one evening.

My brother also did phone sales for a couple of weeks. He couldn't handle rejection, either, so he quit.

My advice is: get into something where you don't have to deal with the public in that manner. Get into something where you don't have to sell anything, let alone yourself. Most importantly, ask yourself just what it is you want occupation-wise. Peace.

[coloradodem2005]

13. I agree.

With the economy the way it is, these kinds of jobs may be all that are left. I took this job because I felt that I had no real choice. I was looking into other options. This was certainly not anything I would have wanted to do long term. I would have liked it mainly through the summer and possibly fall. I never wanted my carreer to be in anything like this.

[Gildor Inglorion]

5. For me, that would be the WORST kind of job...

I admire you for sticking with it as long as you did. There are jobs in which you can help to change things for the better that don't involve fundraising and constant rejection. I'm sure you'll find the perfect job with a little time and persistence. Good luck!

[TlalocW]

6. Don't let it get to you

I was fired from a telemarketing job (actually selling stuff - not asking for donations) for not following the script - even though I consistently outsold everyone on my team. I refused to flip to and read off the response to, "I just can't afford it right now." That was in high school.

Now I'm 32, and I can't find a job in my niche right now - computer programming - and I took a job as tech support for Sprint cell phone customers, and I refused to do what was called, "Maximizing," which is while you're helping the customer with the phone, you hit the Maximize button in this one program to see what options to the customer's plan he or she is eligible for and offer it to them. I knew it was because the do not call lists have cut back on Sprint's ability to call people about stuff like this, which annoyed me. And I was upset with the company for not giving me the shift that they and I had signed our names to. I quit the day after I had a one-on-one with my manager (who wasn't happy with my 0% offer rate - we were supposed to have at least 74%) where I told him that I wasn't motivated to sell if the company wasn't going to keep its promises to me.

It was a convenient excuse for myself to go ahead and quit because my shift ended at 2:00 am; I wasn't getting enough sleep; I didn't have enough daytime hours to do things I needed, and I was becoming a pissier person because of it. All of which I told him while he followed me into the elevator, trying to talk me out of quitting.

Phone jobs are hard. Don't get down on yourself because it didn't work out for you.

TlalocW

[LDS Jock]

7. Sorry to hear about this

I've been in something similar before I got my current job. I too raised money for charities, mostly Mothers Against Drunk Driving. It was a hard thing to do to call people up and ask for money.

I see you are in Littleton. I don't know if things in the Denver area are anything like they were when I lived there five years ago, but for some fairly quick money, flexible hours you could try to see either the Denver Post or Rocky Mountain News and do subscriptions in person, like at grocery stores and such. I've done that, its SO MUCH EASIER than what you've been doing and pay is not bad either. Plus, with the flexible schedules, you can keep working on getting a better job, without as much stress as selling requires.

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out for you.

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. Hope you can find a line of work that is better for you

Though I know it's darned hard right now. *hugs*

[Syncronaut Seven]

11. Getting fired from a job you don't like

Is a blessing, trust me.

I'm a manufacturing engineer, I hate manufacturing. After I got laid off in Nov, 2000 I went in to restaurant, I like restaurant! It's fun, the women are beautiful and the food is good.

Had to sell the house so I could afford to live but I'm happier now.

[coloradodem2005]

16. Well, I liked it but I didn't.

I liked a lot of my coworkers and I liked the causes this was good. I hated doing the solicitation because it got me in knots about the people. It also got me angry when the people would get mad at me when I am doing something that they supposedly believe in.

[Old and In the Way]

12. Don't get discouraged.

Look at it as a learning experience. Telesales is about the hardest kind of sales work to do. I did it for 2 years and I really didn't like it much. No real advice (I'm 50 and I'm still trying to figure out what I'll do with my life...:-)), but try to find something that interests you and make an effort to apprentice, work part-time, or free to gain the experience.

[madrchsod]

14. don`t feel bad i got fired

monday..find another line of work or find out what you really want to do before you land another job..i`ve been in and out of work for 40 yrs.and figured out when i lost a job that it`s not my fault ,i`ve did the best i could, if they don`t like what i`m doing fine-it`s their loss not mine,i`ll find someone who needs my skills. you may not be the problem and you may not need to change,just stop beating yourself up and get on with it.....

[Droopy]

15. Two words my friend

Truck Driving. That's where all the misfits fit in.

I've tried working in a factory and I've tried getting a college degree to work in an office. Neither of them could contain my wild spirit. Maybe you should give trucking a try, man. You'll make decent money and see th country.

[coloradodem2005]

17. Sounds interesting.

I do have a college degree and I am going to work on a graduate degree.

[rumguy]

24. I've never trucked, but I must say the idea of constant movement

is appealing to me...

[mzmolly]

18. Sounds like a difficult and thankless job.

I am certain there are many things you enjoy and would be good at. Take it easy on yourself, and think about what you do well and what interests you.

I wouldn't do fundraising for anything!

:hug:

[coloradodem2005]

19. Difficult, yes. Thankless, sometimes.

You deal with more good and receptive people when fundraising than selling stuff. But it is the bad ones you remember the most.

[MissMarple]

Exactly, fund raising is like door to door sales, or making cold calls.

Unless you are are a very "up" extrovert, it can be hard. Teaching middle school is better. Good luck, sweetheart, you'll find something more suitable. How about a bookstore?

[coloradodem2005]

22. I have tried finding work in a bookstore.

There never seem to be jobs there.

Ironically, I have tried teaching and I was screwed out of it. I don't want to teach again.

[coloradodem2005]

21. You would not even fundraise for the Democratic party of for Kerry?

That is the only reason I took this job is because I could do my part to fundraise for things like this to help beat Bush. If that was not in the newspaper ad, I would not have even considered it.

[playahata1]

30. Did you take this job for purely idealistic reasons?

Please don't take what I am going to say the wrong way, because I know you're feeling down right about now. But understand that even in the most altrustic and idealistic of places, there is A BOTTOM LINE.

The Democratic Party -- at all levels -- is run AS A BUSINESS. And the bottom line is to raise X number of dollars for Kerry and other Democratic candidates. Your boss determined that you weren't pulling your weight in reaching that bottom line -- which of course is and should be no reflection on you. It's just that not everyone is cut out to be a salesperson. Like another poster said, there's other ways besides selling and fund-raising to work for the things you believe in -- if making a difference, working for change, is indeed important to you when it comes to the kind of work you want to do. Peace.

[coloradodem2005]

32. In a way yes.

There were other causes too. But I think the real issue was not about the quota. It was about having a thick skin as mentioned above. But yes. The reason it feels like a reflection on me is that I got mad enough to make others uncomfortable. I feel like an idiot from that standpoint and that is my real issue. I need to separate myself as a person from myself as a professional in any job. The thing is, when you deal with the public and people get mad at you despite your best efforts, when you are like me, you take it personally even though their anger is not about you at all.

[playahata1]

35. You feel the way you do because you take your job seriously

and want to do a good job. However, despite your best efforts, you are not getting the results that you -- and your superiors -- want. You are made to feel that this is all your fault, when it is most likely not your fault.

Believe me, I know how you feel. When things have gone wrong wherever I have worked -- journalism, college teaching -- I, too, often find it hard not to take things personally. I'm like: "Do I really want to do this the rest of my life?" or "They don't (or won't) like me." I, too, often have difficulty separating the "me" me from the professional me. I tend to remember the few bad things that happened more than I do the many good things.

You and I both, we have a lot to learn. There is nothing wrong with wanting to do well in whatever it is we do. It is just a matter of that whatever it is we do being a "perfect" fit for us -- though in reality, no job is ever "perfect". It is up to us how we choose to navigate those waters, if we choose to navigate those waters.

[mzmolly]

50. Well, ok ... sure I would, but I would hate doing it.

:P and would relish the thought that it was only temporary.

[HEyHEY]

23. Fuck them

Keep on trucking.... some people aren't meant to do some thigns

[TheWizardOfMudd]

25. You're obviously intelligent. Think "professionalism"

You stated in your post the things you were doing wrong in your job. Just don't do those things, think of yourself as a professional, and detach yourself emotionally from what you do.

Life is too short to get emotionally wrapped up in your professional functions.

[jmowreader]

26. Well, you know my standard answer...

Come pitch lumber with me. The pay is decent and, if the store's management is good, you're treated very well.

And you don't even have to like Bob Nardelli's political leanings. A lot of people who hate Bush work there.

[jburton]

28. Was this Telefund/PIRG?

Just curious...

I worked for FFPIR a few years ago as a canvass director.

Some days were great, others were shitty.

After several months, I just had to move on. The hardest part was that I loved my coworkers. Lots of liberal, smart, and just plain fun people!

Sorry about your situation. I still catch myself wondering "what if" about that job, but it was just too intense to last forever.

The job has built-in burnout. Nobody lasts forever.

Best wishes!

[coloradodem2005]

29. It was Telefund.

I burned out way too quickly.

[fujiyama]

48. .

[burythehatchet]

31. Hang in there buddy

for what its worth, I'm about to turn in and I'll say a prayer for you tonight.

[VolcanoJen]

33. Just a hug, buddy. Just a hug.

:hug:

Oh, and a big "Fuck Them!" from me to them. Somehow, a little anger, and a few beers, always makes me feel better in these situations.

Hang in there!!

:hug:

[coloradodem2005]

34. Maybe.

THough, I think my attitude was beginning to show. I said "Sometimes, I wish I could find a job where I don't have to deal with people. I hate people." I wish I hadn't said that. My attitude takes a beating when I deal with people that want nothing to do with you.

[playahata1]

37. It is hard imposing yourself on people that want nothing to do with you.

Which is what sales/solicitation is. Journalism is sort of like that: while many interview subjects are glad to get their names in the paper, there are just as many who think that all reporters are evil incarnate and don't want to talk to you. And heaven help you if you write something that makes them look bad.

Being a college professor is another story. There is some selling involved: you have to convince your students that you know what you are talking about, that it will be worth their while to take your course. The difference is that these people are coming to YOU -- and paying top dollar -- for skills and knowledge and three credits; it's not like you are forcing yourself on them, invading their time and their space.

[coloradodem2005]

42. Yeah.

The guy who fired me also said that some people complained about me because I showed my frustration when I dealt with too many no's. He said that I was abrasive. This is what I need to work on. I have had problems in the past relating to people and coming off bad. I have been trying to correct that. Though, this may not have been the best environment to do this in.

[SoCalDem]

36. Getting people to part with their money is the hardest job ever

If you can get unemployment, sign up right away.. Something is better than nothing..

Keep trying things.. You will find your niche...

Maybe you would qualify for some financial help to go back to school.. Maybe something altogether different will appeal to you.and you could meet some new people :)

Chin up... It takes a long time to find your perfect job...and after years of it, most figure out.."That ain't it, either"....

If you can fill your empty tiime with volunteer work, sometimes by being on the "inside" you can find out when they are hiring for the paying jobs there too..:)

[Feanorcurufinwe]

38. It's just a job.

Don't let it get to you. That kind of solicitation is tough work.

[SarahB]

39. Sorry about that

I hope things begin to look up soon. It can all be pretty frustrating sometimes.

[Mike Niendorff]

40. Welcome to the Two Million Club

Here's your hand-stamp, here's your nametag. Drinks are in the back.

Hang in there. :)


MDN

[Lisa0825]

41. I don't know if workforce offices in your state have the same services

as ours in Texas have, but if you really are looking for your niche, you could try calling and asking about aptitude testing. We do free testing here, and it can give you an idea of different types of work you could find appropriate.

If you are not familiar with your workforce office, go to http://www.servicelocator.org/nearest_onestop.asp to find your nearest full service center.

[Lasira]

43. wow..you sound

exactly like I feel right now. I've been trying to find work for the past few months and been rejected at some pretty crappy jobs (drugstore cashier) because I'm "not outgoing enough." Yes, because we all know you need brass balls to ring up prescriptions and cigarettes...*sigh*

:hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug:

Lots of hugs for you. It'll get better. It has to...right?

[nuxvomica]

44. I'm sure you're not unique in that field

A few weeks ago I got a call from a political fundraiser and he seemed really crushed that I was going to make the donation over the internet and not over the phone. I felt bad for him cuz he sounded like the job was getting to him.

[coloradodem2005]

45. Who was the donation for?

For all I know, I could have been that guy.

[nuxvomica]

51. It was for the Dennis Kucinich campaign

I wish I had seen your reply last night but I went to bed right after that post.

[Mobius]

46. Be greatful, that job sounds like it sucked.

You will find something more rewarding. Hang in there. People in general suck, especially when you try to get $$$ out of them, for whatever reason. Being a functioning member of society has nothing to do with being able accomplish this.
I wouldnt recommend changing, as you seem great the way you are. You didn't blow anything, and there are MANY ways you can affect things for the better.

[coloradodem2005]

47. yeah.

I have been accused of being abrasive in the past. And sometimes I can be too intense. I have tried to work on that. It is something that I do need to change. that is something I need to change. I think that I am a lot more reserved overall than I used to be. That is good.

[fujiyama]

49. I worked for a PIRG

here in MI. My friend and I went and tried the job...The goal was to canvass neighborhoods to help with great lakes and whatnot. A good cause overall.

The thing is, I really wasn't good at it. I lasted two days. The first day I ended up in conversations (even had a few conversation and got money from a die hard republican), but overall that area sucked (it was heavilly republican and I got several laugh in my face saying "you're in a heavilly republican area...Good luck"), the weather was extremely hot those two days, and the day after I was in Ann Arbor, which is a great place, but the streets I was canvassing were full of college students with no money to spare, even though many did sympathize with the cause.

I liked the people working at the place for the most part....a bunch of liberals, however at times there was this "Naderite atmosphere" to it...one of arrogance and inability to understand simple politics (when I told some of the people at the PIRG about the republican area comment, they said, "Oh well that shouldn't make a difference."). Then there were others that said, "democrats and republicans are the same. That's why I'm green".

They fired me after my inability to get many contributions in Ann Arbor. It's funny, because my friend lasted one day longer than me -- he too was let go.

In some ways I'm glad they let me go. After realizing that these are somewhat associated with Nader, I felt even happier I was let go...I just can't forgive him for the '00 run (and this year's run for that matter).

I'm sorry about your job loss. The only thing we can do is learn from our mistakes and the experiences we had. It obviously wasn't a matter of malice on your part -- it was a misunderstanding, and a mistake. Mistakes happen, in every field and career. The good thing is, this wasn't in a more critical area (like medicine or something).

I wish you luck in finding something else.