Friday, May 6, 2011

Working Woman

So guys, I finally got a day job. YAY!!! However, who knows how long this job will last. It’s something I’ve never done before and my new boss took a big risk hiring someone without ANY valid experience.

The minute I graduated high school and could get a real job, I got into waitressing. It was supposed to be a temporary thing until something better could come along, but I became comfortable and stayed for five years. I hated it. I hated kissing everyone’s rears, hated running around like a chicken without a head for hours upon hours without any breaks. But the money was good and I was comfortable although I didn’t enjoy it.

Now, my new job is that of an insurance agent’s assistant. I have to learn so much. So I’ve been working there for a week now and every day I fear that this is the day I’ll get fired do to my lack of experience or a mess-up on my part. It’s hard when you have no idea what you’re doing and your boss is too busy to train you.

My mess-ups in week one? I had a lady who called to arrange payment for her insurance, so I opened her file and took care of the payment on the first policy that popped up. A day later, I learned how to view all the other policies and had to call the lady and inform her that I only took care of one policy instead of all her policies. Luckily, she was very understanding. Then, I had to fax a client his insurance cards and my boss told me how to open them and view them. How was I to know that they keep expired insurance files in their system? Apparently, I sent out the card that were three years past due. Oops! This customer was not happy. Oops, oops, oops. I’m one of those people who doesn’t take failure lightly, so every time I fail at something I take it to heart. All my mess-ups are bothering me big time.

Hopefully, my new boss will have patience with me until I learn everything. So far, she said that I will only learn everything after a year of being there, because there’s A LOT to learn. Oh boy, I really hope she’s patient until I learn it all.

So now tell me something about you guys. Have you ever gotten a job that was completely different from anything else you’ve ever done before? How did you handle it?

6 comments:

  1. Oh, gawd. I think I made tons of mistakes on every new job I tried. You are definitely not alone. How about all the mistakes I've made as a writer?? ;-) Keep the faith. You'll learn your new job quickly, Angelina. Of that I'm certain.

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  2. Congratulations! And don't fret. I usually give myself 3 weeks to acclimate. But those first three weeks are doosies.

    Just give it your best and I'm sure your boss will take that into account. We all start out new somewhere. Insurance is VERY hard work but I know you can do it.

    I'm so happy for you!

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  3. I once got a job in a furniture store. My boss was a horror who always kept me late. I was rushing to do the banking and hadn't realised they'd closed the front glass entry - smash! I still have the scars on my knee...fun job...


    Denise<3

    Romantic Friday Writers first challenge - Dire Moments

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  4. Congrats on the new job. I think my biggest change was going from working animal rescue/kennel tech to...Being a computer teacher to 12 year old kids. It was quite a change for me, and a challenge.

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  5. Yay for you! You'll get the hang of it then you won't have to think about it so much. There's always an adjustment period no matter your experience, and seems to me these mistakes could have been made by someone with more experience as they seem specific to the systems.

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  6. So funny! I LOVED waitressing. Loved it like crazy and even now miss doing it. I worked in the professional industry for years -- even managed the sales department of a huge insurance company, but nothing made me as happy as waitressing (and bartending, which I also did).

    Honestly, I've never had a job I despised. I guess that makes me pretty lucky. Good luck to you!

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