Lessons I learned that got me to where I am today!
In hopes of making Part 2 less wordy, I am going to just do a quick recap of part 1! Read all of part 1 HERE.
I can’t imagine working for someone else… but the previous jobs I worked all taught me important lessons and helped shape the way I am today. The first part of my adult working journey was in collections.
The key lessons I learned:
Just because it doesn’t exist - doesn’t mean it can’t.
If you don’t ask, you won’t get it.
Your actions impact your direction (even if you don’t have authority).
Take initiative! Don’t wait for someone to ask you to help if you know you can help.
Sometimes - there isn’t more.
Now that you are all caught up, let’s jump into the 2nd part of my adult working journey!
Part 2: The Staffing Agency
Lessons I learned
You have to set your own boundaries.
The more you give, the more they will want - but that doesn’t mean you actually have to do it.
Listen to your gut.
My Staffing Agency Journey
While I was still working at the collection agency, a recruiter reached out to me about finding work in Peterborough (I had moved from Toronto to Peterborough 6 months earlier and had been doing a 1.5 hour commute each way). Given my acceptance that there was nowhere to go, I went for it. I went and did all the testing staffing agencies do (I failed the Excel test because the system was so old it didn’t like the short cuts I was trying to use… LOL) and they started doing their thing.
They got me an interview! It went well and they wanted a second interview!
But, before I had the second interview, the owner of the staffing agency called and asked me if I would work for him as an executive assistant!! I was so excited! I said GOODBYE to collections, and I took the job. I thought this was great.
A new opportunity, a fresh start, closer to home… ummmm NOPE!
I was soooooo wrong!
If a job could be a red flag… this, was it!
My boss was a nightmare!
I was supposed to be an executive assistant but ended up wearing all the hats - assistant, driver, account manager, problem solver, part time payroll helper, trainer, scheduler, interviewer… all the things.
My work hours were Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. BUT lucky me, my boss would roll in at 4:45pm so I could play executive assistant. So, with 15 minutes left of my work day we would start going through his emails… together… which I was not allowed to do earlier on my own…
I am sure this does not shock you, but it always took longer than 15 minutes, so I ended up staying late every night.
Lesson #1: You have to set your own boundaries. I started letting my boss know in the morning that I had to leave at 5pm so if he wanted to do emails, we would need to do them earlier or the next morning. If that meant I had to get up at 5pm and leave mid emails - I did it.
One day the account manager at the sister company left. I was asked to help there “temporarily” to fill the factory positions while they looked for someone else. There was no one else there to help, so I had a quick introduction from the boss and IT guy, and I was dumped into it. Fill jobs daily (24/7 workers needed), interview new employees and do the full onboarding process, help with payroll, answer phones… all by myself.
This location provided factory workers for companies that needed every shift filled - day time, evenings, weekends - and I wasn’t “allowed” to stop until all the jobs were filled. And apparently, it was also my job to find a replacement if someone didn’t show up… AWESOME!
I was getting called at night, on weekends and the hours were getting LONG. That was not what I signed up for.
One Saturday I was at a pool tournament and I had 13 missed calls… THIRTEEN! Not only did I not answer the calls, but I didn’t call back either. F*CK that!
When I went in on Monday I was immediately called into my boss’s office (he was never there… he clearly came JUST to give me shit) where he said, “I am this close to firing you.” I can honestly say if I had not had a Starbucks Straw in my mouth drinking my iced coffee - I am not sure what would have come out of my mouth that day.
Lesson #1 REMINDER: You have to set your own boundaries. I had to remind myself when I moved to the “sister company” that I was in control. This job was different but still needed boundaries.
One day, I had plans to go to pool after work. I got a job list late and needed to find A TON of people that could work shifts the next day - I wasn’t even halfway done and it was already 6pm. I wasn’t done and I was late to leave for pool. I walked out.
I had to go so I just left.
Lesson #2: The more you give, the more they will want - but that doesn’t mean you actually have to do it. They needed someone to run the office - I jumped in. But the more I did, the more I could handle, the more they expected of me. I had never actually been asked, it was now just expected that I would do every single thing they put on my plate… at whatever time they wanted me to. NOPE, that was not going to happen anymore.
On the way to pool I listed everything possible I thought I could do for work: I could walk dogs, I could sell DVDs, I could work at Starbucks... At this point ANYTHING would be better. But by the time I got home, I had calmed down. The next morning I got up, I got ready and I drove to work.
I made it to the parking lot but couldn’t bring myself to go further. I pulled out my work computer, hot spotted the data from my phone, typed my resignation email, closed the computer, texted IT and said “come get your sh!t… I quit.”
For the first time EVER, I walked out of a job with no notice.
I had no back up plan.
I had no idea what I was going to do.
But I did know it wasn’t that job!
Lesson #3: Listen to your gut. I can’t explain what happened that night I walked out or the next morning when I couldn’t go inside. What I knew was that in my gut I knew I could not put myself through that anymore.
Working at the staffing agency was the shortest stint in my working journey, but quite possibly the most impactful. This is where I learned exactly what I did NOT want in my life.
In part 3 I will share my final work lessons and tie it all up into a pretty bow for you!
Next blog will be out on April 29 2024. Stay tuned!
