should screaming at work get me fired?

holy ****....you have to walk a customer ALL the way to the product they are asking about?

well, excuse me, I didn't realize how hard you were pushing yourself.

you obviously have to be kidding in your reply, because there's no other way to take your comment of how you have to have every little thing spelled out to you.

oh, I didn't know about the rule about how you have to wipe you ass after taking a dump. maybe that's why I smell like ****.

grow up young man, just grow up and act like a human that has a sense of responsiblity and pride in yourself and your work.

Well, and what can one say to that? I'd like to see what you're doing in 10 yrs.

If all you know of selling is that you were being lied to, your life experience is very limited.

Don't you understand that every interaction with have with another person, and even your animals, is selling?

You sell to your dogs for instance, that they can love and trust you, and be your pack leader.

You sell to a potential friend the fact you have similar interests, balancing well off each other, and it would be mutually beneficial to associate with each other on a regular basis.

You are being yourself to both, but you have to let both know the points about you that will entice them to be your companion.

In the business world, you sell, (for instance) a necklace to a woman, helping her find the one that is the most attractive on her, not necessarily the most expense. Why?
Repeat business. You may lie and tell her she looks better in the more expensive one, but later on, after the excitement of the purchase wears off, she's going to realize the other one looked better on her. She'll say, "I won't go to that store/person, again" You sell me the one I look better in, I'll keep coming back for all my jewelry desires, knowing I can trust you.

You meet a girl you have the hots for, and lie about you personality to get her. Later on, fights/regrets/breakups.
You sell her your good points, and a lasting relationship may result. She really doesn't have to say "You're keeping your bad points from me on our first date. That **** don't fly here" She's smart enough to know you have bad points, everyone does.

Someone interviewing you knows you're human, and have bad points. He's not stupid. Don't lie, tell him your good points. When I interview someone, I'll ask them to tell me about a time they've failed.

We've all failed, every single one of us. It's what you've done with that failure that counts.

If you take that failure, and use the lesson learned from it, you've made your chances off success the next time that much greater.

Stop thinking the lesson learned is that you have to lie. That's become your crutch. Figure out what you're going to do with the lessons learned from failed interviews. Or, keep doing the same thing and end up getting the same shitty jobs you've always gotten, that will last a short time.

Average performers are treated in an average way. Poor performers are treated in a poor way. Why not rise above your petty complaints, and act in a commendable way?

Honestly, I can't believe you are whining like a small child about having to follow this rule, or that one, when it's all pretty much common sense in how a human being should be acting in the first place.

You'd never be hired by me. I don't mean that in a hateful way, you'd just never get past me. First off, I'd never return your call after seeing your job history, and if I hadn't seen it, the conversation wouldn't go past 5-10 minutes. You don't lie that well, I would ferret out the truth in a minute, because I know the right questions to ask, and I don't back away from asking them until I get an answer that makes sense to me. The more tangled the story becomes, the more I'm unable to make point A lead to point B, the more I know you're not good material.

On the other hand, I've interviewed people that make me salivate, I can't wait to get them on board. Their reputation precedes them, and/or they conduct themselves with such integrity they totally impress. To those people, I sell myself and my company. I don't lie, ever, about the fact that I work for a good company, with good benefits, with the ultimate goal of excellent care to our patients, because that's exactly what we give. I want this person that would do nothing but enhance a patients life to join us, and I want to make sure they know all the benefits are true, and there.
Are their less than optimum aspects of this company? Sure. Does the applicant know that? If they have a brain in their head, yes. Do they think we're lying to them? I certainly hope not.

I've fairly recently been a co-owner of an art gallery, where, of course, we sold art. My business partner was better at sales, but I wasn't all that bad at it, in my opinion, though I'm not a natural at sales. I prefer people get information about the product/art piece, and make up their own minds. I'll leave them alone to look while being handy for questions... that depends on the customer, some want to be in the room in peace, and some like to chat along about what they are looking at, and some like to do both, one before the other.

Some of her talk was based on our own conversations in our own early years in the business together. Especially back in the beginning I'd hear her repeat what I'd said to her about the work the day before. So.. she was a better, sunnier, sales performer. She had spent years before all this in some kind of sales, and was smooth at it. Which is not to say she ever lied. Maybe a bit of fudging. Let's say that both of us would promote the good parts of a work that the customer already was interested in, and I remember knowing she herself didn't like a piece much... I think I was more quiet about promoting a piece I thought was 'lesser', but that was a matter of degree. So much of liking art has to do with what a viewer brings to it, and my own tastes/views have galloped around in circles and have even been diametrically opposed to each other over time.

But re lying? We'd have not hung anything we didn't somehow respect in the first place.

I agree - really good/long term good sales people do not lie - like you said they may leave out the negatives (unless you ask) and glorify the positives, but they do not lie.

If you want repeat business in whatever you are selling - you do not lie.

And if you're selling yourself, don't lie but do put a positive spin on it - what you learned from the experience, how you've improved, what you'd do differently.

I had a great marketing professor once who took that a step farther. He said the only people who get ANYTHING in this world are those who know how to sell. You want a girlfriend? You have to sell yourself. You want a wife? You DAMN sure have to sell yourself! You want a decent job? Wanna buy a house? Want your child to try new, healthier foods? And on and on it goes...

Here is my best professional advice.

I worked in PR for 30 years. Good PR/sales does NOT involve lying. You will only get yourself and your company in trouble that way. It does, however, involve phrasing the truth in the most flattering way. Of course, that just makes good sense.

If you look at sales as manipulation, you will not enjoy the job (unless you're pathological) and believe me, you will not be good at it long-term. The best salespeople see themselves as helping their customers solve a problem. The customer walks in because he needs something. You help him find the best solution for his problem. If you don't believe your products are good enough, quit and find a company whose products you can believe in and recommend with enthusiasm. Good salespeople look at it as a win-win deal. The customer's problem is solved, and the company benefits.

Thus speaketh the 5 wise hens.

True. And I am quite sure each of us has been there, done that.

Where are the wise roosters? I know we have some A+ salesmen around here.

No you don't deserve to get fired. But they don't care if you deserve it or not. They will fire you.

You will get better. You only fail when you quite. keep trying and remember, life is tuff.

"A thousand times I tried, only once did I succeed"
-Abraham Lincoln

Holy ****! I can't believe it. They actually upped my schedule to 3 days next week. Ok, maybe screaming like that will get me canned, but I haven't screwed up since. I'm very well on my way to earning my hours back. Those wrist band really did do wonders for me in that I quit burning myself.

I was just this information by our PSM, and I found it very interesting, and very true. Text is copied below
I think a lot of companies, especially places like Walmart, McDonalds suffer from "warm body syndrome" they need someone to mash buttons, put up inventory, and you walk in the door. You may have an attitude that sucks, act inappropriately, but by God, you walked in the door.

I think about a company/store like Nordstroms. I've only ever bought shoes and handbags there, can't afford their other products. However, their sales staff let me know I was important, and worthy of their attention. (note I didn't say they MADE me feel that way. they let me know they knew what I already knew)
I don't know a thing about Nordstroms training, but I'm sure it's extensive. I don't know about their hiring criteria, but I'm sure it's not that you walked in the door.
If you work in retail sales as a career, I'd guess that a job at Nordstroms would be a desireable position to aim for. If you got a job there, you'd be pretty proud of yourself, as you would know you had to be among the few acceptable by them.
If you get hired by Walmart, you might be really glad you got a job, but I don't see anyone being proud of being hired by a company that hires people that squirt ketchup at others on the sales floor.

46% of new hires fail "- and not because they lack skills
July 16, 2009 by Sam Narisi

With so many candidates for every open job, choosing the right one gets even more difficult. But do your managers know the best interview techniques to avoid hiring missteps?

The most common reason new hires don’t work out? It’s not because they don’t have the technical skills they need, says hiring consultant Jennifer Shirkani, speaking at the 2009 Society for Human Resources Management Annual Conference.

Most new employees have enough skills to do the job, because that’s what interviewers focus on. But it’s the soft skills that more often doom new hires.

Nearly half (46%) of hires fail within the first 18 months on the job, according to a survey of managers by Leadership IQ. The reasons, according to the managers surveyed:

26% fail because they can’t accept feedback
23% can’t control emotions
17% aren’t motivated to succeed
15% have the wrong temperament or work style for the company’s environment, and
only 11% fail because they lack the necessary technical skills.
Hiring often comes down to a manager trying to decide who’s the most qualified based on skills and experience. But the real key for separating stars from the duds, Shirkani says, is to focus interviews equally on interpersonal skills, work styles and culture, as well as skills and experience.

Here are some interview questions she recommends:

“Think of a time when you were unfairly criticized. How did you handle it?”
“When was the last time you had to act without the guidance of a formal policy or procedure? Tell me what you did.”
“Give an example of a situation where you had to deliver bad news. How did you go about it?”
“Tell me about two times when you had good ideas but co-workers resisted using them. How exactly did you handle that?”
Questions like those, combined with information from references, will give you a pretty good picture of whether the candidate will be a good fit.

I know I failed at Wal-Mart cuz I couldn't control my emotions. This time, I'm determined not to fail at McDonald's.

Great. Anybody that can handle the pace at McDonalds can handle anything. Too bad so many employers don't know that.

I think you have made progress, DD22. I've noticed a number of times people here have poked at you about your temper and you have calmly answered them without getting insulting or overly defensive . Good going. I do believe people can mature and control their flaws, you seem to be really trying hard to do that. I know people don't think much of fast food jobs, but if you can survive in that chaotic atmosphere future jobs are going to seem like paradise.

Great minds think alike. Even when one belongs to a conservative and the other to a liberal

That's good, and yes, I too have noticed you're controlling your temper.

Just keep the article anyway, to give you something to think about.

wow that describes me.



its too bad if your poor, and you have the wrong temperament, you have no options really, unless you know someone, or know of an opening somewhere at a job that fits you.

i lasted at mcdonalds for 1 day. the manager was there for about 5 minutes my first day, they put me at drive thru, no one spoke english except one guy and he left about 15-20 minutes after i showed up. his shift was ending and i was "bumping" him.

and i needed a manager to cancel orders out, if i messed it up or something like that, i wasnt allowed to remove the item off the list if you know what im trying to say.

4 hot n spicy
4 double cheese burgers

*wait, take off two double cheeseburgers*

this means i needed a manager to take the 2 cheeseburgers off.
ANd id have to run around trying to find one, asking where one was etc..

So in the middle of my shift i said **** this, i just put the order thru and started a new one.

"ignore that, im starting a new order"

well noone spoke english, so i couldnt tell them to ignore the orders!

LOL! so they would give people the wrong order i told them to ignore when they pulled up.

so fun! once i put in like 5 sundae orders because they kept changing their mind.

"get manager! get manager!"

And where the **** was he then? ******* morons.

all the mexican ladies got so mad at me but i laughed at them which made it worse..

i come to find ut the manager was a whore, fuckin everybody their who had a penis.

i wish i woulda stayed, she was so hot.

Sure you have an option... you can change your temperament!

Poor is really not the main thing here. I talked before about how much you remind me of the people I worked with in L.A. (except that you're white and you can hear). When I talk about them developing a work ethic, that's what I mean. Most of 'em (not all) started out saying the exact same stuff, only instead of "I'm poor and nobody gives me a break" it was "I'm deaf and nobody gives me a break."

I've told this story here before but one exercise I'd do with them is to tell a story about this guy who got fired because he had a friend clock in for him where he worked so he could take some time off to do something (and he was caught). Then I'd ask them whether the guy who was fired was deaf or hearing. They all guessed that he was deaf -- 'cause it was so unfair and they'd never do that to a hearing person.

'Course, the person in the story was actually hearing. I had to keep the newspaper story on hand to show them because they were so amazed -- "what?? but he had to take some time off, that's not fair...!"

Anyway, point is, this victim mentality thing gets you nowhere fast. There's a lot about work that sucks -- that's why you get compensated for your trouble with money -- and you have to actually work to get anywhere. Everyone else does, too.

By the way (sorry to go on at such length) but on that other thread I said you reminded me of these people I used to work with, then you talked about your own story more, I want to make sure it's clear that the people I'm talking about had alllll those issues (plus), and then were deaf on top of it all. AND they were successful in the workplace once they figured some stuff out.

I really get impatient with the whole victim mentality thing.