Day 5 of 7 - Persistence Pays Off

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6 years ago

Persistence. Something a trait that I have developed more of in this past month, both within Wealthy Affiliate and in my job search.

As a back story, I have been working in retail for over 20 years, mostly in retail management. Some people like it, I personally was starting to feel the stress slowly deteriorate my health. It is a job with a lot of demand and little reward. I guess you can say that it depends on who you work for, but for all the big chain stores I have experienced, the demand was always the same.

I went back to college 9 years ago, determined to get my degree and get out of the retail grind. I graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Science in Business/Accounting. I was so excited, until I started the job hunt back then and no one would even call me. Actually, I got one call and they didn't understand why I would take a pay cut.

Money doesn't lead to happiness for me. Especially now. My well-being and happiness comes first. Then money will follow.

Making a Promise

So when my company decided to close the store I worked at, I decided to take the opportunity to change my career path and focus on accounting again. I made myself a promise that I would not go back into retail. I wanted a career that would mean something to me. Something that would give me regular hours so I can actually have a life.

Granted accounting may not mean something to everybody, but for me it represented a goal and something I wanted to achieve. After 5 months on unemployment and over 200 applications, my future was looking grim. I have never been on unemployment in my life before this point, and I hated it. Some people that I worked with grabbed the first job that came their way. I had two offers for sales jobs, but I did not want them. I wanted to reach my goal.

Blessing in Disguise

On my 5th month of unemployment, I discovered Wealthy Affiliate. After reading a review someone posted (I wish I could remember who so I can give you credit!), it all made sense to me. This was something that I could see myself doing as a career.

But I thought realistically as I have no idea how to develop and promote a website, so I would still need a job. While I would set time aside in the morning to do a quick job search, I went full speed ahead with the rest of my day focusing on Wealthy Affiliate training and my website development. I literally eat, sleep and repeated WA throughout my day.

I love what I have accomplished so far. I love talking to my friends and family about it. Is my site successful yet, not at all. But it is mine and I am determined to make it succeed. I am being persistent in reaching its success.

In month 6, while filling out some applications I would get the question "what motivates you" or "what is your biggest success". I would mention my strive to achieve and what I have accomplished in my website creation in such short time. I am proud of what I have done.

Well, two accounting jobs must have taken a liking to that. Now I was getting calls for interviews.

Keeping on the Road to Success

Couldn't have come at a better time. I have a month left in unemployment. If I don't get one of these jobs, I have to go back into retail otherwise I will not have any money for rent come February. After an interview with the first job, I felt good. However, on the day I was supposed to be notified of the decision, I get an email saying "we still have not decided on the right candidate". That left a bad taste in my mouth. And I read that email right before walking into an interview with another job.

I walked out of that other interview feeling defeated. I felt as though I let myself down. I had to come up with a plan. I didn't want another dead end retail job, but I guess I had no choice.

Well, the moral of the story, persistence does pay off in the end. I went for a second interview with job #2 and was among the top candidates. Then next day I got a job offer for an accounting internship that starts next week. I succeeded in keeping my promise to myself. And that was the best feeling in the world.

Now I have two jobs that I am proud of. Before I hated telling people what I do for a living. Now I can't wait to tell people about what I do. Even though I have a job now, I am persistent in the success of my site and I won't stop till I achieve that goal.

So persistence does pay off. Do not give up and do not let what you think is failure let you down. Things do happen for a reason and if you keep your goal in mind you will achieve success. Don't ever accept second best when first is always in your reach.

All the best!

Chris