The Right Place

Last week-end  I made my annual trip to Montreal to have some fun with a group of guys. Several of these guys I only see once a year on this trip. As everyone knows, when you see someone once a year, you take a few minutes to catch up. I was chatting with one of the guys and he asked how things were going with the new job. I know it's been over a year but I had just started before last year year's trip. I told him how happy I was and he mentioned I look happier and better.

That was the validation that I am currently in the right place.

I have done a few different things in my life. When I see people doing those jobs I am so happy I'm not them.

Anytime I see a manager in a grocery store they always look tired, frustrated, and ready to quit. They don't seem to be excited to get up and go to work. If I stayed in that world too long I would have ended up like that. Every job has some aspect of being a grind but that one is really bad. The balance between enough inventory and food not spoiling is razor tight. The margins are tiny and overall, I'm happy I'm not there.

If I see a car salesman I just laugh. I was always curious what it would be like. The job could be quite good but the typical person in that business is not a team player and will stab you in the back. Some people thrive at it but I'm glad I tried it, learned from it, and moved on.

There is another office I used to work in that could be great. There were a lot of good people who want to do great things but the environment is draining. Everyone catches flack for things not getting done but nobody is given the authority to just make the decision. It has to go to a unreasonably high level for a relatively low level decision. I needed approval from my boss, who was making a six figure salary, to get the office to order file folders. Yes you read that right and yes, it is very silly.

Where I am now, I have responsibility, autonomy, and authority. I can decide where I should put my efforts, and use the necessary resources to get there. If I need something, I get it.

It's a great place to be.

Different people are suited to excel in different roles and right now I'm in a very good spot. I am fortunate and will do what it takes to be successful and stay there.

The New Job

As I had mentioned earlier, I have ended my full time employment within the Cadet Program. For me, it's time to get back to the parts of the program where the good is actually happening. However, I am not independently wealthy so I need a way to make money to buy food and shelter. So, I have started a sales position with Southbank Dodge in Ottawa.

I'm really new to selling cars and I haven't been working in a for profit organization for over a decade, so far, it's going ok.

I'm not going to sugar coat this is any way. Selling cars is pretty much what it seems. I really can't comment too much on it yet, I haven't learned enough to do that. What I can tell you is this is not for everyone. It is a performance based job, it is all about dealing with people, and not everyone is going to do well at it. For me it's way too early to determine if I have what it takes. I understand sales and I know how to communicate, that still doesn't mean I'm going to be successful. What I've figured out so far is like most things you will get out of it what you put into it. If you put in the effort and don't make too many mistakes, you should be ok. There must be a living to be made selling cars or people wouldn't do it for years.

After doing some training most of my first day on Friday I somehow managed to sell 3 cars on Saturday. There was a lot of help from the sales managers but I think they see I'm serious and will take the time with me now. At least I hope that's the case. However, I've only sold 3 cars so I haven't proven anything yet. I need to drive my own customer traffic, I need to do a good job of finding the right vehicle for each customer, but most of all I need to learn a lot.

This is a big change from what I've been doing for the last 11 1/2 years. I'm not even sure if there is a procedures manual for this job, never mind the myriad of rules that go with military life.

I don't know if this is for me but I know it's different and that should keep me going until I do know. If nothing else, at least I wasn't scared to make a change.

Dream Job

I'll admit I have a great job. I don't write about my job but it is rather cool. That being said, I can dream. As I was riding the exercise bike at the gym today I started to think what would be my dream job.

I think for a job to be a dream job it needs to have a bit of an unobtainable quality. It needs to be a job that you really can't see how you would get there from here. It needs to be a job that there aren't too many or maybe only 1 of it in the world. It needs to have a cool factor. It needs to to be something that interests you.

For me I think my dream job would be Commissioner of the Canadian Football League.

I am and always have been a huge fan of Canadian football. I have a business degree and I can get things done. All that being said, I have no idea how to get there from my current place in life. I'm not sure if my mixture of education and employment experience is what they would be looking for. However, I can dream.

If you are going you might as well dream big. You should shoot for something that could be amazing. I think that job would be.

I don't know how or if I will ever be in a position to have my dream job, but that doesn't mean I can't dream.