This blog will be about the very first "job" I held while I was living in Melbourne in 2009. Looking back, this job was completely useless, however, at the time, I thought it was a dream come true. However, thanks to this jobs, I now know I am never doing them again, and I can spot the commission-based jobs in a paper or on the net.
My very first job I held in Melbourne was a telesales profession. It was a week before I was due to move, and I was getting frustrated with no phone calls for interviews or anything of the like. Then I saw a job for a telesales profession, you know them guys that ring you up during dinner and try and sell you crap? Yep, that job! The ad made it look like a great job, good pay, easy work, etc etc. So I applied, and then 3 hours later I get a email asking for a interview. With the job I was currently working as, as my 2nd only real job, I was pretty unknown when it came to the outside-of-Oaklands workings. So I took a day off, in my final week of work, to go to this interview in the heart of Melbourne CBD. The interview was very basic, and everyone got given a job, and at the time, I saw this as the greatest happening to me. I finally had a job for when I moved in a couple days! I was very excited and could not wait to move to Melbourne and start working and living the crazy lifestyle the city offers.
The morning of my very first day, I was excited. I borrowed my housemate's computer the night before to look up train and tram times, so I was ready when I walked out that front door....
I took a train into Flinders St, Monday morning, in peak hour. Prior to this trip, the only other time I have been in Melbourne by myself was for the interview, and the only other time I have been in Melbourne with a group was for a footy trip and for a couple doctor checkups. I was not prepared for the madness of the CBD during peak-hour. The streets were swarmed with people, people in suits, people in shirts and boardies, people in homeless outfits and people in crazy weirdo clothes. I had never really used Melbourne public transport system, so I did muddle up tram times and actual trams. I was scheduled to begin work at 9:30am, however, by the time I boarded the correct tram, it was already 9:28am! I was going to be late for my very first day! Whoopsy!
I finally arrived at the building, half-an-hour late, but I was keen to make up for lost time. They already started the training session where we were being briefed on the product (a.k.a, scam) we were trying to sell (a.k.a, trying to talk people in believing the crap). This was all very exciting, the call centre was on the 5th floor and was filled with, not to be racist, but it's my blog, your typical call-centre type person. This is no joke right here, but I was only white person in the entire centre! I don't know how many exactly there was, but I think there was about 7 or 8 of us attending the training.
After the morning session, we had a little lunch break, where I proceeded to search for a McDonalds for a nice cheeseburger. Now, for those who have been to Melbourne, you know just how easy it is to find a MickyD's in the CBD. There is basically a restaurant on every single corner in the entire, well, city! But for some reason, around where I was working, which by memory was St Kilda, on Albert Rd I think. I could not find a McDonalds. We were due back for more training at 1:30, and with the time being 1:20, I gave up my search and went back to the building where I cried a little bit on the inside.
Back into the hustle-and-bustle, which is the call-centre lifestyle. You walk into a call-centre room and the first thing you notice is, it is loud. It is a room filled with computers, and people at each computer, talking, all the time! It was not really my ideal setting, as I prefer the relaxed mood, casual thing, while this was tense and loud. The manager of the centre came into the training room and gave us a run-down on his "company" where he told us about his humble beginnings, and then he told us in about an hour we will be joining everyone out on the floor. This excited me a bit, as I wanted to just get out there on the phones and start selling!!
Finally the time arrived where we were able to hit the phones! We were given a script, which we read over and over. We were also given a 5 page booklet filled with phone numbers and names of the people we had to call. I was feeling good, I knew the product (*cough cough*) and always thought I was good with people. To this day, I still remember the very first conversation I had with my very first potential client.
*Ring Ring*
*Ring Ring*
*Ring Ring*
Customer - Hello
Me - Yes hello Mr Smith, I am calling from Trinity
Customer - Yes?
Me - Yes, now I have seen you can save money on your Telstra phone account
Customer - How do you know I'm with Telstra?
Me - Uhh, I don't I just....
Customer - Yeah how about you f**k off mate and stop ringing me, I am sick of you c**ts ringing me up, I have a business to run here, I don't need you f**kheads always calling me!
Me - Oh, I am sorry sir, I will.....
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*
What a great insight to my future.
Looking back, I can see why he was so upset, but at the time, it shook me up, but I was ready to make up for it. So I spent the next couple hours on the phone calling clients, however, I could not talk someone into buying.
Now I mentioned earlier we started of with 7 or 8 people, by the end of lunch, there was 6 people, and the very next day, out of our group, we only had 3 people (including me). The second day was spent on the phone. I'm not going to bore you with details, but, I just could not sell this damn product! It was quite frustrating at the time, and it would have been helpful if I did sell, because I found out how the pay structure actually worked on my third and final day.
My final day arrived, whereas at the time, I just saw it as my third day. Back on the phones all day, and the group we started of with was down to me and another guy, everyone else high-tailed their way of it, which I should have done. It was around lunch time and the manager comes up to me and sits down beside me. He asks me why I haven't sold anything over the last couple days, and the best answer I could come up with was "I'm trying really hard" and he said "Well I don't think you, I have listened to a couple of your calls. You haven't made a single sale, so you have to leave" Yes, I just got fired! I was devastated!
As I was packing up my stuff, I asked about the money for the training. Wait, let me back up and tell you the pay structure the ad said
"$18.95/hr for training, with uncapped commission afterwards"
When I first read it, the week earlier, I saw it as $18/hr for training and for our job after training. But, at training they said you don't get a pay rate, but, you get paid on per sale you make. Now, when I was leaving, the manager said that I won't get paid for training because that $18/hr only comes to you when you have been working for the 3 month probation period. So the only way you could get the $18/hr was if you worked for 3 months, and at my rate, there was no chance of that happening.
So my first job in Melbourne, I made a whopping $0 and 0 cents. Looking back, you think I would have learnt my lesson, however, I still have some more Melbourne job stories to tell....
From The One They Call Anthony, This Is The Life And Times
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