What I Did:
Sell fire extinguishers. At least, that was the whole idea. My job was to cold-call businesses and ask whether they were interested in buying fire extinguishers from the company I was working for. It sounded perfect for a recent high-school graduate like myself.
How I Did It:
The job wasn't so bad - I used to open the yellow pages and randomly pick companies to call. Most responders were pleasant, if not exactly willing to buy from a private provider. Naturally the owner of the business wasn't too happy about that!
She used to sit and stare at me and the other person who was making the cold calls as though it would magically increase the number of sales. Instead it just stressed us out. After a few months I quit and went to college.
Advice
- If telemarketing sounds like a fun job, make sure you have an easygoing personality and/or thick skin to handle crabby customers - or a demanding boss.
- If you do get a mean person on the phone, talk sweetly to them. Sometimes it will make them simmer down; if not, you can remain smug knowing you were nice to them while they continued ripping their hair out because you disturbed them in the middle of dinner. Your boss will be impressed too ;)
