The Right Place at the Right Time

I feel like I've had a pretty trying summer.

I finished my Health, Wellness, and Fitness diploma. As much as I felt successful for completing it, I didn't know what to do next. Every job I applied for was entry level, and every entry level position was some bland flavour of sales. I finally managed to get a sales position at a gym, so as at least I didn't feel like my background knowledge would be wasted.

I loved many things about my job selling gym memberships. Most times, I felt like I was helping people. I was giving them something that they knew they wanted and needed, and when they didn't need too much convincing on the benefits of exercise and how it would change their life, then I was happy. Unfortunately for me, the nature of sales is not "they wanted it, they came to me, and so I gave it to them." My contentedness shattered when I couldn't keep up with my personal goals, let alone the club's goals. I began to feel less like I had something worth selling, and more like I was the equivalent of a telemarketer and the kid who jumps around outside Little Caesars, trying to get the attention of passersby. I didn't feel like a salesperson. I didn't feel like I could be good at selling.

I came to a crossroads of sorts. I had to make a decision: do I push myself, learn the skills, practice, and become a great seller? Do I change my perspective, try something new, see the position in a different light? Is my goal still to simply help others? Or should I throw the towel in and accept that some people do not have the gift of the glib?

Who was I, really?

A quitter? Someone who would succeed, no matter what?

I began to fervently apply for other jobs. I wanted to do something that wasn't related to sales, that didn't have a bunch of numbers and goals and quotas to meet. I wanted to be alone; I was worn out by the greetings and scripts and "peak attitude" I had to force myself to have every day. I started to apply for general labour positions, because I just wanted to work hard and keep to myself. I didn't want anything glamourous. I simply wanted to work.

I immediately received a call from a temporary staffing agency about a light general labour position. I was on my way to my job at the gym at the time. I made a joke about being on the road to the position I really didn't enjoy at all, and the man on the phone insisted I come by that morning so I could do something I wouldn't hate anymore. I shrugged it off, told him maybe I'd come to the interview, and went on my way, But I ended up at work early, and my heart was pounding, and I had a feeling I just couldn't shake. I explained to my manager that an emergency had come up - yes, I was dishonest, was I becoming a salesperson at long last? - and left to go see the man who had called me.

It started to pour rain, and I was sweating from my nerves and the humidity, and I was in my gym uniform (which isn't really interview attire, which you could probably guess). I looked and felt awful. But I showed up, announced myself as the girl who hated her job, and received huge smiles from the two men who greeted me. I was sat down with some tedious paperwork and we made small talk about my job and my morning. I was told someone would shortly take me to see the warehouse I'd be working in when the second man approached me. He asked me about my education and my five year plan. I mentioned my diploma and my plan to do something further in human resources and occupational health and safety. Corporate wellness is totally my jam.

"You're overqualified for these labour positions," he said without skipping a beat. "I have something else that is much better suited for you, if you'll give me a chance."

And that's how I was thrust into my new resource administrator position at a temporary staffing agency. I simply said I wanted to learn about human resources, and now I'm a human resource administrator. I literally qualify people for work, complete health and safety work and training with them, interview them, get them on the pay roll, and get them into work as smoothly as possible.

I woke up one morning, dreading the end of the month and the pressure of my sales position, and the next morning, I was sitting at my own desk, with my own work computer, frantically phoning and emailing and learning a whole new system - but I was happy.

The two positions have great similarities, if I'm honest - I don't get away from making a multitude of phone calls, booking appointments, having conversations, and servicing people. But I don't have to fret over nearly as many numbers. It's a lot less guilt tripping and telemarketing when you call someone who is desperate for work versus someone who maybe wants to try the gym for free but won't actually commit to a membership for a whole year. I'm learning a lot about the laws governing employment and employees and health and safety, and it's all very interesting. And at the end of the day, it's a business. I'm helping and teaching people, and I'm marketing, and I'm organizing a lot of data, and there's never really a dull moment. It's a cozy office. They're great people. I feel accomplished. I feel like I could really go somewhere in this role.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about how quickly things changed. I applied for a job, I answered a phone call, I went somewhere against my better judgment (against anyone's, really - when it all comes down to it, I lied and skipped work and left without much notice).

I guess there is such a thing as fate, as being in the right place at the right time.