Is this the job I applied for, or, Am I bugging the hell out of you?

April 28, 2007 5:59 PM

Started a second job today - 8 hours Sat. & Sun. Not sure if I like it or if I should even go back tomorrow. It's a sales position, I hate sales people. Help!

Started a new job at a fitness center today. In sales. (When I applied, I'd have sworn I applied for a front-desk position. But club isn't open yet so there is no front desk.) Spent the day first watching training vids for two hours. Training vids promised I'd have at least 5 days of training before being thrown to the wolves to sell. So after first two hours, spent two hours sticking post-its on cars in various parking lots. Then spent remaining time working my way through a list of 78 phone numbers - no idea where the info came from - trying to set appointments to bring them in to tour the club such as it is.

Appointments set = 0.

Problems.
1. I don't much like talking on the telephone. To anyone.
2. Data wasn't very reliable - several people on the list were already members, several didn't speak English.
3. In my full-time job, I get to deal with a lot of annoying people who are downright rude to me. I'm not sure if I can handle two additional days of rudeness a week. (No one was really outright rude, but there was definitely rejection in the air.)
4. I hate getting flyers and crap on my car, and get angry because the people who put them there are littering/polluting the environment.
5. I'm really not familiar with the club yet, don't know the price points, number of cardio machines in new facility, etc.

I'm capable of doing everything asked of me, as long as I don't think about it too much. In some regards, I know I'd be a good salesperson. I'm friendly and outgoing, and I genuinely believe in the importance of physical fitness. The club members I've met seem very pleased with the service. The coworkers I met today (and those I have met there in the past when I interviewed) seem to be great people. As you'd expect, the job includes a free gym membership, a really nice perk, plus all the motivation I'd need to actually use the gym. Plus, I *really* need the money.

To elucidate, while the club location is being renovated, the company has leased another store front in the center and set up cardio and weight equipment so early members can go ahead and start working out. The new facility should be open within a month. Everything could change when that happens.

I'll take advice from anyone, but would especially like to hear from people who work in similar jobs. Should I tough it out for at least a month? Is there a certain "gym membership sales mentality" I need to develop to make this work? Should I just drop by and leave them my official logo tee shirt tomorrow morning? How do I know if I'm even capable of working both a full-time job and a part-time/16-hr-per-wk job? If I do leave this job, what are the odds of finding something else just for 2 out of every 3 weekends (have to work at FT job every third weekend) that is less mentally/emotionally demanding?

posted by Jaie to Work & Money (18 answers total)

Health club sales are some of the worst.

I've done two of the three (four?) types of sleazy sales like this - health club and computer sales...with car and/or insurance being the other parts of the triangle (rectangle)

If you are in any way commission based, you'll waste your time at the 2nd job - where other sales people (during the week) are stealing some of your sales.

I vote either pipe up about it being phone based...or look for other work.
posted by filmgeek at 6:15 PM on April 28, 2007

Are you on commission? Yes = quit; no = stick it out and think happy thoughts.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 6:18 PM on April 28, 2007

I had a friend who had a similar job. It involved promising people a lot of free things with no pressure, inviting them and/or their friends to the gym, and then pressuring the hell out of them to join or sign something.

I also had a similar job once cold calling. This is a sales job, and it involves hooking people in one minute or less in something they could not be less interested in. You need to have a HIGH threshold for abuse. If you have other options, take them.
posted by xammerboy at 6:25 PM on April 28, 2007

Are you kidding? There are lots of jobs where they would be delighted that you only wanted to work weekends. Nobody else does! I had one recently -- at a movie theater. You could try coffeehouses, bookstores or bars/restaurants (if you have waitstaff experience). You could also sign with a temp agency that staffs public events, caterers, free sample passer-outers, etc.

I would rather be boiled in oil than sell gym memberships, but that's me. I would think that, since you have a full-time job on top of this, you'd want a job that was (a) stress-free and (b) guaranteed income, even if it were minimum wage.
posted by Methylviolet at 6:40 PM on April 28, 2007

Response by poster: It's somewhat commission based - I can't remember the term they use, but it's $7 something an hour or commission, whichever is greater.

I'm not sure if I have other options - I mean, would Target honestly don't know ...
posted by Jaie at 6:43 PM on April 28, 2007

I lasted all of two hours at a similar job, years ago. If your heart's not in it, don't do it.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:44 PM on April 28, 2007

Response by poster: Methylviolet, I think you summed it up better than I did. I hadn't expected this to be so stressful! It sounds like I need to just call them tomorrow and say I won't be back, and then explore the options you've mentioned.
posted by Jaie at 6:45 PM on April 28, 2007

Response by poster: Oops, make that "would Target hire someone who could only work two of every three weekends" ...
posted by Jaie at 6:46 PM on April 28, 2007

You might want to consider getting a night job rather than a weekend job -- it is harder to work every day than it is to work really long days then have days off. Temp agencies are your friend here, too. But again, you want that second job stress-free.
posted by Methylviolet at 6:50 PM on April 28, 2007

Oh and Starbucks has "hiring events" -- posted in their stores -- where you apply, get interviewed, and get scheduled for a second interview (or not) right on the spot. So maybe hit up all the nearby Starbucks.
posted by Methylviolet at 6:56 PM on April 28, 2007

No opinions on the sales industry, but re: working two jobs, I've done it once, and it wasn't so bad. Sure, the hours can seem crazy, but I made sure the second job I did was as mindless as possible (front-end at a small grocery store, and I didn't work weekends). It paid dick, but it kinda felt like a small break.
posted by booticon at 6:59 PM on April 28, 2007

You really need the money. So quit when you find another job, but not before. But, yeah, plan on leaving.
posted by TrashyRambo at 7:00 PM on April 28, 2007

What I've heard is the best mentality for doing sales: you're trying to help people solve their problems. They came in at one point (or got on your list) because they thought joining a gym might solve a problem in their life. What was that problem? Would belonging to this gym help with that? What did they think? Do you have any additional information to add? You're just trying to help. Etc.

(Also, can you get taken off phone duty and put on in-person duty? Hating to talk on the phone sounds like a potential problem.)
posted by salvia at 7:37 PM on April 28, 2007

Yes, you can work two or even three jobs (I've found more than three to be too much).

It sounds like this job sucks, but you only gave it one day. Give it another chance and maybe it won't be so bad. If it is, ditch it.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 8:49 PM on April 28, 2007

"When I applied, I'd have sworn I applied for a front-desk position. But club isn't open yet so there is no front desk."

It sounds like you might enjoy the front desk position or some other customer service position in the gym more. Since the gym isn't open yet, clearly you can't do that right now. I'd find out whether you are going to get such a position in the temporary store-front gym. If so, tough if out for a couple more weekends and see how that goes. Keep in mind you might find scanning people's membership cards at the gym pretty mind-numbing. Whether or not that's a good thing depends on you.

If you're stuck in the sales job with no real chance of a job in the actual gym, I would take Methylviolet's advice and look for weekend work somewhere with people who hate you less.
posted by zachlipton at 9:01 PM on April 28, 2007

I would suggest you talk to whoever your supervisor is. Ask them when you'll get to start working the desk as you expected. Also ask very specifically what that will entail. Compare that with what you were told about the position.

Don't let them skirt these questions. If they try to avoid the questions, or they tell you too many things that contradict what they have said or lead you to believe before, I would quit. If they are already lying or misleading, I wouldn't trust them to be a good employer in the future. If you find the answers mostly fall in line with what you expected, other than being stuck in sales during this transition, then you might consider staying. And I say that because they already have mislead you. They should have been more up-front. If what they tell you this time seems very direct and truthful, then maybe their indirectness about what you'd be doing at first really was just the result of honest mistakes.
posted by gauchodaspampas at 9:32 PM on April 28, 2007

Re: working two out three weekends. It really depends on the store you work at and HR/management. At the Target I worked out, they preferred to hire people at 31.50 hours to avoid FT (32 hours at Target for FT benefits). Rarely did I know anyone to avoid working weekends altogether. However, the in-house Starbucks who did their own hiring had half their staff work the kind of hours you mention. The full-time SB people loved it- we worked 40 hours during the week, and the part-timers worked weekends for us.
posted by jmd82 at 6:03 AM on April 29, 2007

If you interviewed for a front desk job, I agree that this might be a temporary thing while the new gym gets set up.

As advised above, I'd check with the management ASAP and ask what your permanent role is going to be. If they don't seem to know or suggest it will be similar to the role you are doing now, then I'd consider quitting, since you are obviously not the best choice for phone sales if you hate talking on the phone!

If you are just temping until the new store opens, then I'd stick it out. After all, if the new gym opens in a month, doesn't that just mean you need to do 1 or 2 more weekends? It sounds like the front desk job would suit you.
posted by ranglin at 5:41 PM on April 29, 2007