How I Decided My First Job Would Be My Last
Why I Went from Being a Customer Service Rep to Being My Own Boss in 6 Months
The idea behind Allonsy Creative was originally born from a need to escape what felt like a job I had been tricked into taking. I was completely fed up with doing repetitive tasks I didn’t sign up for and having little to no control over my own schedule to boot. For most, a customer service job may not be the worst thing in the world. For me, it fueled a strong desire to become my own boss.
After 6 months of being told I was not ready to work in a marketing department, I had lost all self-confidence, felt incredibly depressed and began to doubt my ability to work in marketing. I began to fear I was falling behind in an ever-evolving industry, and I would miss my chance to transition into a role that would fully leverage my strengths.
If all I was good for was answering customer support lines and covering shifts on our company’s support live chat, why the heck did I put in years of my time working and learning to promote a Fortune 500 brand like VS PINK? Why did I spend thousands of extra dollars and countless hours getting a graduate certificate in my field? Why did I bust my butt with internships when I could’ve been squeezing every last drop of fun out of my college career?
It all began to feel like a waste.
Instead of letting myself totally spiral, I chose to start gaining experience on my own as a freelancer—I wasn’t about to sit back and waste the most valuable years of my early career answering phone calls from unruly (and unappreciative) customers. I knew this would help make an eventual transition to a new and better job a bit easier, but I had no idea how that would happen.
But let’s back up. Being placed in a role for which I did not apply was not the only reason I felt I needed to get out. To understand the full story and emotion behind this decision, I think it’s important to understand what came first.
If you’ve recently graduated, you know the feeling of being so ready for a new opportunity, but not being given the chance. The majority of jobs you’re applying for require years of experience you just don’t have, and you’re left applying for entry-level jobs that don’t fully leverage any of the skills you picked up in college.
But, I Have a College Degree
I’m the first to admit after I graduated I sat in post-grad, pre-adult limbo (61 days to be exact).
While the first week after graduation was pure bliss—no classes, homework, or schedule to follow— the weeks after that were uncomfortable. Those days were filled with applying to tons of jobs all over the country and getting rejected by the majority of those potential employers.
Job application boards, LinkedIn postings, personal and professional referrals—all seemed to have the same outcome, a well-written apology email or my personal favorite: rejection by silence.
It was the hardest pill to swallow.
Two college degrees, a Master’s Certificate in social media, miscellaneous internship experience within the marketing industry wasn’t enough.
After what seemed like the longest time ever, I finally got an offer that seemed too good to be true. Spoiler alert—it was.
Making the Best Of a Bad Situation
The job title I applied to and accepted was “Marketing Associate.” At the time, the majority of the interview process felt like a blur because I was so thrilled to hear back from a company that I was actually excited about. In part, this excitement was also due to the fact that everything on the job listing seemed to check out.
Motivated, self-starter, can wear many hats when needed? Check, check and check. Will contribute ideas to the marketing and social media team, strong ability to communicate brand messaging to potential customers via social media? Awesome—right in my wheelhouse.
The warning signs were instead revealed later in the interview process. Unfortunately, I ignored them. To be fair, I probably couldn’t see the warning signs at the time because I was naive about jobs in the real world, and because I convinced myself even though I may not be starting off doing the work I applied for, I could work hard enough to move quickly through what I was told was just training—that wasn’t the case.
In reality, the job I was accepting was a customer service position.
There’s nothing wrong with having a job in customer service. But, that’s not the job I applied for and it was something I really, really didn’t want to do. I wanted to be working in digital marketing, specifically social media marketing—and not only did I want to do this, this is what I was told the job would be.
If the job listing described the role that consisted of answering phones, talking to unhappy customers, or writing the same email dozens of times each and every day, I wouldn’t have applied.
Regardless of my feelings around being deceived, I worked incredibly hard and never missed an opportunity to slide over to the marketing team and offer my suggestions.
I was determined to prove my worth and make the best of a bad situation—surely they’d notice they put me in the wrong department and would be impressed enough with my initiative that I would earn the role for which I originally applied.
Customer Service Rep to Freelancer, to Business Owner
Six months in, I realized nothing was going to change, regardless of my performance. The company had a one-in, one-out policy as to who got to work in the marketing department. So who knew when or if my time would ever come to move over. More than that, I was embarrassed that I still wasn’t working in marketing—nearly a year after graduating.
This is around the same time I chose to start my side-hustle. I considered it a test. If I liked what I was doing in my free time better than what I was doing full-time, I knew I would have to find a way to do more of my “side hustle” and less of my day job.
As time went on, I continued working at my full-time job and continued to gain clients on the side—I was quickly approaching 60, then 80-hour work weeks. Each day, my full-time job became less and less enjoyable.
During that time, willing to do anything to get out of a bad situation, I took a few interviews for different full-time positions. But none of them felt right. After the experience I had gone through, I couldn’t see myself wanting to have a traditional 9-5 ever again. Allowing myself to work for someone else who may never have my best interest at heart, and yet hold all the cards in determining the trajectory of my career, did not seem like something I’d be willing to risk again.
I wanted to be my own boss, set my own hours and have the freedom to decide who I wanted to work with. Most importantly, I wanted to get results and make a difference.
The Biggest Lessons I Learned and Hope to Teach Others
I worked so hard during my undergraduate career and thought I was fully prepared to excel in any job I had. But, with my first post-grad job falling so short of my expectations, I was completely crushed and my self-confidence was shaky at best. It’s taken me a long time to finally feel comfortable sharing this story because of my own expectations for myself.
However, a lot of good has come from this, and ultimately I’ve been able to walk away with some valuable life lessons I will carry forward—and honestly, I hope I can inspire others to apply these lessons to their own situations:
1. Don’t be afraid to say no
First and foremost, as basic as this advice seems, it’s one of the best. Saying “no” to one opportunity often opens up so many other doors for you. Although this may be tough when you’re waiting for your first few job offers, take the time to really make sure the opportunity is right for you. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Saying “yes” to the thing that doesn’t feel right, jeopardizes your happiness. You never know, your actual dream job could be right around the corner.
2. Connections are priceless and networking can actually change your life.
Personal connections are huge, especially within the professional world. I’ve found the majority of my new clients have come from current or previous client referrals. Surprisingly, the rest of my clients or potential leads happen when I least expect them. Sitting in coffee shops, chatting at wine tastings, and even socializing at the grocery store can all be opportunities to meet someone who might be an excellent professional contact. Be open to sharing your passions with others, you never know who can help you or who needs your help.
3. Stop waiting for your dream job and create your own opportunity.
Although this may seem to contradict my first piece of advice, hear me out. Not everyone is cut out for a typical 9-5 job (I’m certainly not). I had a really hard time breaking away from the script of working a “regular” job—this is what we’re all told to do right? You go to school, you get a job. But the truth is everyone has the opportunity to forge a new path and try something untraditional. Remote, freelance work is becoming extremely popular, and that alone could allow you to pull some side work from even the comfort of your own home. Even if it's just something to gain experience for a future career path, I highly recommend taking the opportunity to expand your portfolio and get “real-world” experience. Remember, if all else fails, there’s nothing stopping you from creating your own business to do what you love.
At the end of the day, I learned you can’t allow others to dictate your worth, your capabilities and you especially can’t allow them to determine your career path. You can and should be in full control of what you do on a daily basis, and how you ultimately spend the majority of your time throughout your adult life. If you feel undervalued or under-appreciated, do everything you can to put yourself in a better working situation or work for someone new—or, make the decision to be your own boss and crush it.
