My Favorite Job

I was eager to get more involved on my college campus, thus I opted to apply to my college phonathon. I applied online and then I had a follow-up phone interview, where my soon-to-be supervisor Abdul asked me a bunch of different questions. The most important one was if I was comfortable talking to strangers on behalf of someone or something else, and how I felt about cold-calling alumni asking for money. Right away, I said I’m totally fine with it! In fact, I have a lot of experience talking to strangers and love doing so. I was extremely enthusiastic about the position.

I had one friend who had done Phonathon, and they thought it was great. I was confident that I could not only do the job, but do it really well. Considering my past work experiences, this job was similar, except now I had an actual paper script that I could read off to help me. Everyone was so supportive of each other, and that includes my supervisor Abdul. The training was so fun, as we got to play roles for the script. We needed to be well-prepared before actually getting on the phone, so we practiced our talking points as a caller and as a alumni prospect.

I loved going to work every evening and would come home to tell my roommates about it at night. We would start at around 5pm at the call center, in the administration building. Once we settle in, place our headsets on and the system goes and dials for us, you hear the ring, it is in that moment where I get excited! I feel like I am in some kind of zone, and everyone else calling is in it with me. “We are doing it”, I tell me self. I feel like I am actually doing something meaningful when I sit in that chair. We start calling alumni who have not given at all (we also call alumni who have given in the past too). After we build a rapport with the prospect we ease into the ask.

There are always three asks. We start with the highest amount, which is usually around $150 dollars and we go down from there. We address the reason they decline and try to further build a relationship with them so they give. There was also value in just connecting with the alumni themselves and not just about getting the gift. I enjoyed getting to know these people who were once in my shoes. It was also so interesting to hear about their life at Towson and their life after Towson. Most are doing well. However, some not so much, due to the majors they chose. I had great conversations with the alumni and even stay in touch with some of them over email. I usually would ask if they had any advice for me, being a student. They had some good stuff to say which I keep in mind these days.

There was a real feeling of camaraderie with these people, even those who were unemployed and in very bad shape. They always had something to say. There was also a great feeling of camaraderie between my coworkers which have now became my friends. We all really believed in what we were doing — I love that feeling. Occasionally, I would get an angry alumni who was more churlish than anything else. I always hoped for the best. Nonetheless, I was glad I experienced what I had, because I had found something I was passionate about. It gave me the chance to develop skills that I would not had have otherwise, skills that I could use in future jobs, plus the connections I made, It would be an understatement to say this job was my favorite. Even though I enjoyed talking to strangers before, I further learned how to recognize their desires, and show them that giving to Towson would help them with fulfilling those desires.

I have a fix on how to read emotions, just by hearing their voice. I learned how to speak for something other than myself. Finally, and most notably, I learned how to get people to listen to me and how to listen to other people as well. I learned that it is not easy selling a product, when there is no product to begin with, to such a degree where I had to STOP selling, and listen to what they want me to hear. I learned patience and was greatly rewarded for it. I was honored by my supervisor for being a top caller.

I was responsible for raising $15,665, the highest amount in the office for 2018–2019.

Related posts:

Our project on the exploration of the future of prosthetics was both an exchiting and a thought provoking experience that encouraged us to think beyond what we knew an look into a future that is…

Even in the darkest of times, there is always something that will bring us absolute utter joy every single time. It’s been a long few years, and we’ve needed these furry angels to lift our spirits…

Inviting The Didler | Aaron Kemp | Sai Kiran Ramarapu | Kate Lynch | Sally Prag | Christine Carmichael | Sneha Devaraj | Roxanne Barbour | Deepa N Swamy| Dena Ogden | if you’re up to it and anyone…