{"id":492,"date":"2006-09-15T09:24:43","date_gmt":"2006-09-15T16:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/getrichslowly.org\/blog\/2006\/09\/15\/the-worst-job-i-ever-had\/"},"modified":"2023-10-02T16:20:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T22:20:07","slug":"the-worst-job-i-ever-had","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/the-worst-job-i-ever-had\/","title":{"rendered":"On the road to nowhere: The true story of the worst job I ever had"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your job is one of your most important assets.<\/strong> It gives you earning power. It can bring you personal fulfillment. But what happens when you’re stuck in a job you hate? Here’s the true story of the worst job I ever had.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Unlimited Income Potential<\/span><\/h2>\n

I made some poor choices at the end of my college career; as a result, I graduated without a prospect for work. No matter — I lived off my credit cards for a few months, basking in the glow of adulthood. Eventually I realized that I needed to find a job.<\/p>\n

My father<\/a>, a life-long salesman, and always a sucker for other<\/em> salesmen, set me up to meet with an insurance guy who had tried to sell him a policy. We met in a Denny’s on the far side of Portland early on a Saturday morning. The guy gave me long, slick pitch, touting the job’s “unlimited income potential<\/strong>“. He needn’t have bothered. I needed work and was dumb enough to think that this was a perfect. I signed up.<\/p>\n

I underwent two weeks of training, during which I learned how to sell crappy insurance (though I didn’t know it was crappy insurance at the time). I spent two days learning why this was the most marvelous insurance product in the world. I spent another two days role-playing the door-to-door sales technique: I’d pretend to be the salesman and the 55-year-old chainsmoker seated next to me would be the customer. It was so easy! I sold him a policy every time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I spent a couple more days learning “rebuttals”, the magic scripts that would turn a prospect’s objections against himself. Our goal was to sell the customer whether he needed the insurance or not. We were to create<\/em> the need.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Awakening the Giant Within<\/span><\/h2>\n

This training period was life-changing. I had awakened the giant within<\/a>.<\/strong> I was a new man. I began to cast aside the skin of my existing life and take on that of another:<\/p>\n