remember the quote from trainspotting?
"choose life. choose a job. choose a career. choose a family..." and so forth.
i have chosen a job. have i chosen life, though? but from the beginning, for you probably are dying to ask this question: "so what do you do?"
i solicite. i telemarket. i fundraise. i convince people to support and contribute to the project. hahaha. does not matter how you phrase it. it is the same shit dressed up nicely in politically correct words. so i sit on the phone and i dial. and dial. 604-344-2566 or 1-250-876-8912 or 1-613-466-7834. amazing how many combinations one can make only out of 10 digits.
i call alumni of sfu three times a week and apart from 'informing' or 'making them keep in touch' (nicely, phrased again, eh?) i make them donate money for scholarships and bursaries, library endowment or whatever else they feel like donating money for. hahaha. funny.
4 hours on the phone. "hello and good evening may i speak to mr. x please" can't really make a font sound exciting on the blog, but you must be quite positive. voice is everything. you have a boring voice, you lose. "who is calling?" usually comes an unpleasant answer. people are really afraid of other people here. people are paranoid not to be robbed or cheated. they are always alert. and they are especially alert when it comes to soliciting.
then i say: "excuse me, that i haven't introduce myself. my name is grzesiek and i am just a student calling from sfu alumni" notice that i smartly don't mention the actual apeal. how smart. i really can't get over how smart it is. make them feel relaxed. relaxed people usually are willing to donate. tfu, participate, contribute, give, support. we don't like the word donation.
and so whoever picked up the phone get the prospect or it appears that i am already talking to the alumnus himself in disguise. sfu alumni. they are funny too. so many interesting stories i could read from their records. when did they graduate, what degree did they recieve, how much have they given in the past (the program has been running roughly for 20 years) and sometimes they even include comments like: "loves sfu" or "hates sfu" or both. alumni is a weird cast. especially emba alumni (executive master of business and administration).
then obviously i have to do my job. so i go through asking them about their experiences at sfu, how much they loved the university, i tell them about my experience here and how fantastic the place is, then i remind about some of the benefits and services and then, as bakkerud would probably say, i cut the small talk and ask not for a for support. remember, support not donation. we prefer to put them on credit cards.
but don't you think the job itself is easy. nah. not at all, actually. some people hang up. some are completely not interested or broke. but others just give. some out of pure desire to help out, others just so i won't bother them any more. people are funny. but sfu alumni are even funnier. so diverse, i'd say.
also what i have noticed is that so much depends on the faculty they went to. i swear. the scientist were so bloody unresponsive generally, no offence to anyone. business students give a lot, but there is nothing behind that money. and i think that intention is more important than the actual amount. so i much more appreciate 10 bucks from someone who has just lost their job than 1000$ from an emba graduate. it adds up after all.
another funny thing is to listen to the answer machines. how many different styles people develop to record the welcoming message. but as i have said before. those peolpe are sfu alumni. they are extremely funny. as i work i get a lot of answer machines. that is inteteresting, though. i think.
[i got this job in the middle of october. some impressions are from the very beginning, but most of the post was written today. this job is good, though. it makes me more and more convinced that i do want to work on the farm just like my predecessors. or at least i don't want to have an sitting job. i will try to make some more insightful remarks at the end of the calling campaign in the end of the month.]
