Started new career and hate it. Stick with it or give up?

[muttmom92]

Since my dd was born 5 years ago I have been lucky enough to be able to work from home doing medical coding. Due to the crappy economy, my pay has been cut in half. It's been like this for a year and I really need to find more income.

Well on a whim I signed up for real estate classes and got my license. I thought I could enjoy it because I love looking at houses and staging them. I knew going into this that I was going to have to push myself to be a salesperson. It is just not my personality. I don't like cold calling. I don't like calling people I know over and over to "remind" them that I'm in real estate.

I'm only 3 months into it, I have no clients and I HATE it. I wish I had never done it. But I've put money into this and it'll be like thowing that money away if I quit.

I don't know what to do. I need a job with security. I now know that the buying/selling of houses is only a small part of the real estate business. The majority of it is marketing yourself and drumming up business. And I hate that.

Do you stick with something you hate because you've made a commitment to it or do you do what feels right?

Thanks.

[lynsage]

Sales is one of those fields where if you don't like it and can't push yourself to succeed, you're never going to make it. Switch careers and find something that's right for your personality and skills.

If switching careers isn't an option, I encourage you to work on affirming to yourself that you deserve prosperity, attention, professional respect, and clients and remind yourself that although you might feel like you're selling "you", what you are doing is providing a service for people who need new homes or need to move to another place and it is helpful and valuable.

(My dad worked in sales and owned businesses that employed salespeople for most of my life, so I'm pretty well versed in this stuff )

[Carita]

maybe you can look around and see if you can get hired on an hourly basis to work as someone's assistant. Someone else out there may need help showing houses and staging, and is very good at the sales side.

[sarmis35]

I did the same exact thing a few years ago. I could have written your post! I just don't have an ounce of "sales person" inside of me. I gave up when I got pregnant. I never made a single sale (but it was right when the market was tanking). I feel badly about all the money and time I put into it. But I realize now that I just can't do anything do to with sales. I think sometimes we need to try things on to realize that they don't fit. Unfortunately, I haven't yet found another path that I want to pursue but I am trying to have faith that I will!

[muttmom92]

Thanks for the replies. I'm so mad at myself for not listening to my instincts on this. I knew it wan't the right thing for me.

I have been applying for paraeducator jobs but I found out there have been around 75 applicants for each job! A lot of retired teachers are taking these jobs since the economy tanked. I really want to get a job in a school and work toward my M.A.T. I guess I'll just keep trying.

I'm also working on getting more medical coding work. We'll see how that goes.

This constant stress about money is making me sick. I don't know how much more I can stand.

[JessieBird]

I think that your situation is definitely challenging and disappointing but you have one great thing going for you - your self-awareness. You know what you like and you know what you are/aren't good at. In your post you very clearly identified what attracts you to the real estate industry but also the aspect with which you struggle. Rather than quit altogether, throw away the education and make another big change, I agree with Carita, I think you should look around to see if you can find a real estate related job that doesn't involve sales or marketing. Such as possibly an assistant in a typical real estate office or maybe a manager in a co-op housing development (my aunt did that for a while and loved it). If you think about it for a while, I bet you could uncover tons of industries related to real estate where you could apply your interest and knowledge without having to sell. Some of these jobs may appear to pay less but the security and not having to do the marketing would be well worth it.

[sacredjourney]

I took a Registered Holistic Nutritionist course a few years ago and had the same issue. The course came with a book outlining a fresh perspective to selling yourself. Basically the idea is that you don't "sell" yourself, you rely on recommendations from previous clients. Do you do any community- based activities, such as attend church or school meetings? This may be a good time to slip a business card to people. Once you get a client, ask them to spread the word for you. I also have a friend in real estate, and she told me it takes time to get the ball rolling. She's been at it for 3 years, and it took her a year to sell a trailer, but now she has moved up enough to buy a house.