Be Determined and Focused

My first job was as a barista at a local coffee shop. I needed the job in order to purchase my first vehicle. Unlike most, Mom and Dad would not buy me a car, not due to lack of money, but because they wanted me to earn it. At the time, I was pissed.

Everyone of my friends had a car purchased by their parents. This of course drove me mad with jealousy. However, due to my parents strong will to not give in, I was forced to get a job and save money in order to purchase my first vehicle.

Getting a Job

As soon as reality kicked in and I realized my parents weren’t going to buy me a car, I started looking for a job. The very first Saturday I started looking for a job.

I first went to all of the places that I wanted to work and asked to speak to the store manager. If the store manager was not in, I would ask when they were available. I could see the uneasiness in most employees eyes when I asked this question. Reluctantly, they would reveal the information to me.

Once I was in front of the store manager, I asked them directly if they had any positions open. With a snide smirky smile they would say, “We don’t hire 15 year old employees without experience.”

I always thought this was a ridiculous answer. What 15 year old has relevant work experience in anything?

This of course was a chicken-egg problem. I would thank them for there time, but before leaving I would say, “Since no positions are currently open, I’ll be back next week at the same time to see if any positions are available.”

I said this regardless of how they stated no.

Lining Them Up To Shoot Them Down

I would have all of the companies lined up, 15-minutes apart, in order to time the meetings with each company.

At exactly the moment I said I would be there, I would walk into the store and ask the same question, “Do you have any positions open this week?”

It didn’t take long to find a job doing this. In 3 weeks I had one manager actively avoiding me, and 2 others that were intrigued. I secured a job with the coffee shop. Upon my leaving, two years later, I gave the manager who hired me my letter of resignation. She pulled me into her office and said that she was disappointed in losing me, but understood that I was moving on to better things. She revealed to me she loved my initial determination and set me above any one else looking for a position. She stated, “If this kid is dedicated enough to try to obtain this position, I bet he will be just as dedicated to work here.”

Determination Wins

The key take away I learned from this activity was that determination separated me from my competition. No other 15 year old kid had enough determination to keep at it, week after week. So regardless of how people act, continue pursuing them, to the point of annoyance, until they say the words your looking for, “When can you start.”