The first day of my so called new job

[blues90]

Since all the other prospects I had turned sour and this position was the only one left I had to take it and hope something else comes along , well maybe .

I have been a blue collar worker and became white collar management but this was the same field that I knew well .

Now since i haven't been able to find a thing in my old field and being 57 this scares the hell out of me .

This position is working for a fund raising company doing phone work , not cold calls or sales but fund raising for a variety from the DNC to green peace and even the Heritage think tank which is conservative and really rubs me the wrong way . This company is large and provides better than min wage but not by much and you get a bones program to make more and you have to work min 20 hours a week and at least 16 hours a month of this must be weekends . So most of the people may not need the money I do and most are students or part time or seasonal actors and the like .

Today was 5 hours of training after filling out tons of paper work with all the calif rules we have .

My head is spinning , all the information and all of it was given in one lump including work hours , schedules , how you are paid , how you are rated , everything you can think of .

So you basically have to remain unbiased and deal with some funding for some organizations that are against my basic view which is strictly progressive , so you have to learn to act in a sense .

i did loose my fear of talking up in front of a room of people and I have deal with people in the world of auto service who I would never like or agree with , ones who drove in with I voted for bush stickers and the american flag supporting this attack . But I put that aside and played the game and no one would know the difference . I hope I can do this here .

I really feel completely out of my element , completely out of it but I have no other choice if I want to pay the rent .

if I knew things would get to this point I may have leaped off a cliff while I had the chance and the balls to do it .

I won't know how well i will do for a while or how much money this will render . i can look at this as better than being in Iraq or a torture camp so this is what I need to keep in mind .

Man , this is so un-nerving and odd i don't know what to think anymore .

[lizziegrace]

1. Beginnings, especially when you feel forced into them

are so frightening. I truly understand your feelings, but hang in there. I'm glad you didn't find the courage to jump off that cliff.

:hug:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

2. Suck it up, keep your opinions to yourself, and when

it all gets to be too much just whisper that one sweet word to yourself: "PAYCHECK".

It can be done. I've done it myself.

[seaglass]

3. Well, at least it won't be boring right? You could talk to some

interesting people and hopefully there will be enough money there to keep you afloat.

Most people feel out of their element when they do something new, I don't think it really matters how old we are.

I wish you good luck.

And p.s. I do know how you feel, I'm in my late 40s and have been trying to get lucrative employment for a while. I hate the interviewing process and the waiting and all that. Right now I'm temping, doing data entry and it is sooooooo boring, but I get a paycheck so it's fine for now.

[RumpusCat]

4. I did phone fund-raising once

It was a little more intimate than this since I was working for my college and my job was calling recent and not-so-recent graduates to ask them to contribute to A, B or C Alumni Fund.

I had a mixed experience--on the one hand it was pretty easy work for the money, especially compared to doing something like working retail. I did learn how to talk to random people and a little bit about persuasion. The downside was that, personality-wise, I wasn't suited well for the job and didn't much care for it. I found the 'acting' you have to do too exhausting. But, I worked there for about four months until I found something else.

Your post reminds me of how I felt at that job and I just wanted to say hang in there! A couple of my friends found that they liked the job and got pretty good at getting big donations out of the alums. Fund-raising skills are handy, especially if you're interested in politics. :hi:

[tibbir]

5. You can learn to just keep your progressive feelings quiet

and everything else will settle down in time. You may be able to earn some of the bonus money and that'll make it more palatable as well. Good luck.

[Nikia]

6. I've just started a new job too

I actually did it voluntarily, quitting my old job for this one. I think that it is always stressful starting a new job. There are always a lot of new things to learn. It is naturual that it might take a while to feel comfortable.

[mdmc]

7. thanks for the story

I haven't started my new job... I've been doin a week of orientation.
comin to work high or drunk is bad... sexual harassment is bad...

[kiraboo]

8. Keep in mind, too, that you can keep looking for work you'd

prefer while learning the ropes at your current place of employment. How could you feel anything but strange given your situation? That's normal and won't last forever. In the meantime you are getting, if not ideal work experience, serious LIFE experience which you may very well be able to apply somewhere meaningful in the future. Hang in there. You'll be okay. :hug:

[blues90]

9. Thank you all , amazing support

I just posted this and already support , that I must say is amazing and I am grateful .

In an odd way now that I think about it , this could be good practice in case the bush crime family continues to ruin our lives and we end up walking amoung aggressive neocon enemies i can just pretent to agree and be believable and save myself from being put in a camp . Or course all bets are off if they look at my voting record or I make a move to save someone from the black helmet police without reserve , then it's run like hell .

[lizziegrace]

11. Keep your sense of humor

It'll get you through the darker times! :)

[sendero]

10. Changes are tough.

... but it sounds to me like you will be fine.

We've all been in jobs that weren't perfect. I hope to be in one soon :)