First Day as a Qualifier

Hello Everyone,

How y'all doin'? I am not doin' too shabby, considering that I am listening to a nice hard mix of some alternative music that just rocks my socks.

Well, this is a picture of the World Trade Center in Barcelona. And no, I didn't take the picture. But to whomever did, thanks. This is where I work as a qualifier. ( A glorified name for "telemarketer"). It is a nice area. Overpriced, but nice nevertheless.

I work with a bunch of other guys and gals my age. We have a bunch of lists in front of us to coldcall with numbers of businesses across Europe to call. I work from 8-5 every Monday through Friday. I am trying to get solid leads for the brokers in the area next to us. All I have to do is get the other person on the line to agree to let me send them information. Thats ALL. No selling, praise Jesus !!

And Oh My Gawd !!! I didn't even get a single lead. No one I spoke to was interested in receiving the free information package. The minute I mentioned the word "investment opportunity" in my spiel, the doors were slammed on me. Can't say I blame those people, though. But hey, I do have to eat.

I called businesses in Denmark, Norway and England. Part of the battle was simply finding people that speak English. There were some businesses that just didn't.

Luckily people were civil to me. I know that Americans can be downright vicious to telemarketers. I was waiting for people to threaten to kill me, tell me to f**k off or convince me to find Jesus. But my favorite responses were people just laughing at me while I was speaking because they have no money to invest. One woman yelled at me, lol. "Why you bother a small business in Finland?" Haha.

I must have made about over 100 calls and got NO leads. But luckily my boss told me not to worry especially since it was my first day. By the end, I was just frazzled. Trust me, this is NOT my dream job. I can't wait for the day I get an actual career where I am building relationships with people and making a hell of a lot of money in the process.

You know what's funny ? Last Monday I was starting my first day as an au-pair. I was cleaning the house and babysitting, and I was isolated. And today (Monday) I am in a nice office with different people. I still can't believe that I packed and left San Sebastian so quickly, especially since I kept in touch with the family for about a month before I arrived. I planned my life at the time around moving there, and I thought it was all wonderful opportunity. And I left it all in a heartbeat to come back to here in Barcelona. I never expected that to happen. I wonder if my life here will take any other unexpected turns.