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THE GANNON KNIGHT

  • November 2GANNON UNIVERSITY'S EIGHTH PRESIDENT WALTER IWANENKO, JR., PH.D. INAUGURATION IS SEP 22
The Student News Site of Gannon University since 1947

THE GANNON KNIGHT

The Student News Site of Gannon University since 1947

THE GANNON KNIGHT

Door-to-door sales teaches you life skills

Door-to-door+sales+teaches+you+life+skills

I know everyone has been saying this, but summer went by way too fast. It felt like I was just at home and now I am back here starting my senior year.

That statement also leads to the very familiar and go-to question: “What did you do this summer?” Well, personally, all I did was work.

Last summer I worked in an office where I inserted data into a computer. It sounds fancier than it is, but it still gave me a steady paycheck and office experience. But this summer, I did something I didn’t think I would ever do – door-to-door sales.

I was updating Bell TV services, which is the equivalent to Time Warner Cable here in the United States. But, I am sure Time Warner isn’t as hated on as Bell is in Canada. Then again, I think anything you are selling or updating door-to-door is hated by many.

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To say the least, I had fun. I had several doors slammed in my face, got told to go places no one should go and I had some dogs that wanted to end me but it taught me a lot about my work ethic. No matter how many people said no, I would keep going until I found that person who said yes, because it was all a numbers game.

I would work almost 10-hour days on 100 percent straight commission and hit 70-plus doors at least three times a day. But, statistically, every one-in-five people would say yes, so if I didn’t work and try my hardest to hit as many doors as possible every day, then I would walk away with nothing.

This job opened me up and made me more outgoing. I was able to knock on a complete stranger’s door and more times than not, make a connection and get a sale. Every day we would have teaching sessions and I even became a leader who conducted some of these sessions before I switched jobs – it was a place for people to learn something new every day.

Sadly, the idea of not having a stable paycheck every week was not something I could risk going into my senior year. I still had one more year to pay for and I couldn’t continue working for the company.

Everyone at the company was amazing and very supportive when I switched to become a bus transportation manager for the Toronto Pan Am and Para Pan Am games.

Now, that was another experience in itself and I loved working for the Toronto games. It was very stressful at times, but it definitely helped me prepare for this stressful year I am embarking on.

In a way, I am glad that I didn’t get the same job that I had last summer. I might not have made as much money as I did in previous summers, but I learned a lot about myself and what I want out of a career, which, to me, is priceless.

 

BECKY HILKER

[email protected]

 

 

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