Today I begin my new position as Sales and Leasing Consultant with Saturn Saab of Kitchener-Waterloo. Some of you that know me will probably think that I know nothing of cars and car sales. This is true. I know exactly a small step above nothing...and that is what I told them in my interview. I was very honest in telling them that I knew little of vehicles and found (initially) little interest in their vehicles when I went to the AutoShow in Toronto last weekend.
What I did tell them, was that I was committed to good customer relations and being open and approachable. I also stressed that I was a fast learner (which is good since in addition to learning what is 'under the hood', I need to learn to drive standard).
How I got the job was tough. I have been applying to many positions in the past 2-3 weeks. Many of them were 'incomplete' opportunities or lacked that organizational structure that I was looking for. Some of these included unusual opportunties by companies called CampusBeaver.com (a student website) and TPSN Enterprises (those people that push credit card applications to students). There are a lot of really bad jobs opportunities out there that make some unrealistic claims about how much you can earn. I do not like stories of grandeur--I prefer to earn my money the traditional way.
I also had some good opportunities that I had to turn down including positions such as the following:
Sales - RPM Communications
Sales -Honda
Intergenerational Project Facilitator- City of Waterloo
Manager-in-Training -- Discount Rental Cars
I applied to jobs in the following ways:
The Record
Workopolis
Monster
KW Job Shop (useless)
Government websites
Government Job Bank
Various company websites (direct)
Good luck to anyone that is looking for a job. It is no easy task to find the right job for the right time, for the right person.
