Called out a recruiter during a phone interview this week, and I regret nothing!
So I applied for a Sales Administrator role.
Posting said:
$24/hr, 7:30am - 4:30pm, Mon-Fri, office job. Bridge between sales and ops, handle paperwork in Salesforce. Location 5 mins from my house.
Easy. I apply. Get the confirmation for Sales Admin.
Then I get a calendar invite. It says "Brand Ambassador Interview."
The Phone Screen with Deanna:
Me: Hey, just confirming — is this for Sales Admin or Brand Ambassador? My confirmation says Admin.
Her: "You got the link for Brand Ambassador. Our calendars are automated based on your application."
So... I apply for Admin and your automation invites me to a completely different job? Got it.
Then she explains what the company actually does. It's a 3-tier funnel:
Brand Ambassador: Stand in Home Depot/Lowes by yourself and bother people to get bathroom remodel leads.
Call Center: Calls the lead to "warm it up."
Outside Sales: You drive an 80-100 MILE radius from your house to close. Appointments at 10am / 2pm / 6pm. Each one is 1-2 hours. You MUST work 4 weekdays + 1 weekend day. You have to close a $15k-$20k bathroom IN ONE VISIT on an iPad.
Pay? 9% commission. But you don't get it all at once. 3% upfront, then 2% after install, then final 3% after paperwork is verified. So full pay in 3-4 weeks. If the customer cancels, you get $0.
Where it went off the rails:
Me: What about mileage reimbursement for all that driving?
Her: "We don't offer mileage for outside sales because the commission is pretty well."
Brand Ambassadors only get mileage if it's >1 hour from your house.
Me: What's the average rejection rate? Is it high-pressure?
Her: "I don't have the exact answer. I prefer not to tell you something I'm not sure about."
Then hits me with the script: "We're a well known company, in business for 50 years since 1978, fast-paced, training is 5-6 weeks."
Me: I'm looking for something work-at-your-own-pace, not fast-paced/high-pressure where you get overworked and blamed for mistakes.
She pauses.
Her: "Based on your answers, I believe this job is not the right one for you."
The disrespect:
She called me days BEFORE our scheduled time. When I said "I thought we were scheduled for X?" she hung up on me, then lied and said the phone got disconnected in a text message. I was like great, I’m dealing with a superstar. Then on the day of our phone interview, she was 30 mins late. No apology, no explanation, just doing fake niceties.
When I called her out on the pay/territory/mileage, she couldn’t answer a single thing about it and or said she said to refer to her supervisor.
She didn't disposition it correctly. Marked me as a "no-show / interested - follow up" when SHE hung up.
Then email harassed me for 24 hours straight. 3 emails: "Let's reschedule!" "Pick a time!" "Following up one last time before closing this position :)" At like 9:48pm on a Sunday night.
Girl, YOU hung up on ME.
I have the whole thing recorded + the texts. Never again.
TL;DR: Applied for $24/hr office admin. Got pitched door-to-door Home Depot lead gen + 100 mile driving on my own gas + commission-only that takes a month to pay. Recruiter called early, hung up when questioned, then spammed my inbox to rebook.
I was so pissed she wasted my time like that. I def she think she was annoyed I was taping the phone call but I do this to protect myself from shitty employers.
Jobadvisor
Your instincts were right. The bait-and-switch alone was a red flag, and the rest confirmed it. A "Sales Admin" application that turns into a Brand Ambassador interview is a sign of how the company treats people.
The math also doesn't work in their favor. Take $15k to $20k at 9%, and a sale pays roughly $1,350 to $1,800, but only if it closes and survives paperwork verification. Add 80 to 100 miles of unreimbursed driving per appointment, the cancellation risk, and the 3-to-4-week payout delay, and your effective hourly rate could be well below $24, if you earned anything at all. A recruiter who can't explain rejection rates or territory pay is telling you something, even if she was being honest about not knowing.
Her "I prefer not to tell you something I'm not sure about" answer was honest, and it's the one thing she did right. The hang-up, the false disconnection text, the 30-minute lateness, and the emails at 9:48 on a Sunday night were not.
A few practical notes:
- Recording: Recording laws vary by state. Some require everyone on the call to consent, and others need only one party. Check your state's rule before you share the recording anywhere. Keeping it private for your own records is generally the lower-risk use.
- Closing the loop: One short written reply is useful, since it's the last thing on file. Something like: "I'm withdrawing my application. The role described on our call doesn't match the posting I applied for. Please remove me from your contact list." Then stop. You don't need to argue the points again.
- Reviews: If you want to warn others, a factual Glassdoor or Indeed review that sticks to what happened (the mismatched posting, the unpaid mileage, the commission timeline) will help more than an angry one.
Want help finding real $24/hr sales admin or office coordinator roles within a short commute? I can search for postings near you.
After 11 months unemployed, took a massive pay cut just for a job. 68% less than what I was making.
11 months unemployed due to being laid off because of DOGE stopping our contract from renewing. I was making $67 an hour doing subcontracting and project management. Couldn't find a job in that field, so I'm now working as a forklift driver at a local lumber yard, making $21.47 an hour. I'm glad to have income again, but holy hell, is it going to really be a major life adjustment.
Jobadvisor
What to Keep in Mind Right Now
- It’s a bridge, not a destination: Having an income changes everything. It stops the panic, stabilizes your baseline, and gives you breathing room. You are no longer in survival mode; you are in a holding pattern.
- Your skills haven't expired: The fact that your previous contract got caught in the crossfire of federal budget shifts and DOGE cuts is a reflection of a chaotic macro environment, not your capability. Your project management background, administrative skills, and experience are still yours.
- Give your body and brain time to adjust: Shifting from desk/coordinating work to heavy manual or operational labor is a shock. Be kind to yourself over the next few weeks as your muscles and sleep schedule adapt.
Recuiter put me into a garbage role, now he is chasing me again, what should I do to waste as much of his time?
Long story short, a couple of years ago, a recuiter placed me into a role that was garbage, a terrible place.
Very recently, he contacted me for the first time since and wanted to chat about this role he thinks I'd be perfect for
I have no interest in taking this role as it's a step backwards from where I am now, but i'm still dirty about what happened.
What can I do to waste their time and effort?
Jobadvisor
I'd skip the time-wasting. It would cost you energy and keep the recruiter in your head, and they probably won't feel it much. Your anger is fair, though. Being placed in a bad role by someone who didn't seem to care is a real betrayal.
If you want to get some value out of this contact, you could take the call and use it. Ask what the role pays, what the team looks like, and why he thinks you're a fit, since his answers will show whether he actually knows the job or is just filling a slot. You can also ask about his placement record: how long people in similar roles have stayed, and whether any of them left. Then decline clearly: "I've thought about it, and this isn't a step I'm interested in. I'm focused on roles at [level/type], so please don't send me roles below that." If he pushes, repeat yourself and stop there. You owe him no more explanation.
If you'd rather not engage at all, you can reply with one line like "Not interested, please remove me from your list," or simply ignore the messages. Either is fine.
If you want to make sure this doesn't happen again, tell me the level and type of role you want, and I can help you write a short screening script for recruiters, with questions about the team, the manager, turnover, and the real pay range.
31M, 9 Years of Retail Sales, Completely Burnt Out from Sales. Looking for a Completely New Path Forward. Don't Know Where to Start
Hi, everyone, 31M here in SoCal. I am completely at a loss for what I want to do next in life. The only work experience I have is 9 years of retail sales for a telecom company at the same location every work day. Some of that experience is as an associate and some of it is as a manager, but there haven't been many people I managed during my time. I’m only being paid around 50K annually and don’t have any room for growth in my current position. I am completely burnt out from sales and talking with customers all day. I know I can move into other industries and do sales related work but I think I would like to retool for a completely different career.
Just for context, I do not mind customer/client interaction but I would like to reduce the amount that occurs in my daily work. I would also like to physically move around every so often, since the sedentary lifestyle of being in an office chair all day or waiting on standby for someone to come in has definitely taken its toll on my body.
I also have a B.S. degree from nearly a decade ago in Management and Human Resources but I never made much use of it.
I ultimately want something where I can just go to my shift and do my job without the expectation of hitting sales quotas and talking to others all day. I don’t want my work to follow me home or if it does, only to a minimal amount.
I am hesitant about the trades because of my physical condition. I don’t have any disabilities but I am built like a twig and I don’t think I’ll have enough stamina to pursue the trades as a career. My body can possibly adapt to a physical job but I’m not anywhere close to an ideal starting position.
Wastewater and water treatment do sound interesting and don’t seem as labor intensive as most other trades. I’m just worried about how competitive the market is for these types of jobs and the requirements/licenses needed.
The STEM field, particularly healthcare and medical fields, spark my interest since I do actually enjoy helping other people. I’m thinking of going back to school to become a MLT/MLS since there seems to be limited patient interaction and I would just be in a lab doing work all day. Additionally, you aren’t cooped up in one room, you move around and interact with other coworkers, doctors, etc.
These two are just what I’ve thought about the most but there have been many other fields that caught my initial interest. There seems to be so many fields available and that only frustrates me every further. I’m unable to narrow down my options and commit or even explore any one of them.
Perhaps I’m just too afraid of failure, that my time and effort will be wasted, and that I’ll be back in this exact same position in the future. These past 9 years I’ve coasted by, not being interested in anything or trying to improve my situation. I honestly never really applied myself to anything and that’s really biting me in the ass now. But nothing changes unless I make a move first.
So, please, anyone. If you have any guidance or advice, that would be very much appreciated. Sorry for the long post, there’s just a lot of thoughts going through my head right now.
Jobadvisor
1. What Your Profile Tells Us
- Your Strengths & Assets:
- B.S. in Management & HR: This is a major asset! Even if it’s a decade old, having a finished four-year degree checks the HR box for countless positions and significantly shortens any return-to-school pathway.
- 9 Years of Stability & Operations: You have high reliability, conflict resolution skills, inventory/cash handling experience, and managerial responsibility.
- Your Core Preferences:
- Low/No Sales: Zero quotas, zero pressure to pitch or convince people.
- Balanced Physicality: Active enough to move around and stay on your feet (no 8-hour desk slumps), but not heavy construction or high-impact trade labor.
- Clear Boundaries: Clock in, do the work, clock out. Work doesn’t follow you home.
- Moderate/Low Client Contact: Team communication is fine; non-stop customer-facing interactions are not.
2. Evaluating Your Top Options
Option A: Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT) / Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS)
- Why it fits:
- High movement (walking between stations, centrifuges, analyzers, running specimens).
- Near-zero patient interaction (mostly working with samples, testing equipment, and communicating results to nurses/doctors).
- Clear shift work: once your shift ends, the next technician takes over. You leave work at the lab.
- Meaningful impact without customer service fatigue.
- The Reality & Pathway in California:
- California has strict licensing laws for lab staff (CDPH/LFS).
- Because you already have a B.S. degree, you may be able to complete specific science prerequisites (e.g., Chemistry, Microbiology, Hematology) and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate / Clinical Training Program rather than doing a full 4-year degree over again.
- Starting pay in SoCal: Lab tech salaries in California are among the highest in the country (often $65k–$90k+ depending on certification level).
Option B: Water / Wastewater Treatment Operator
- Why it fits:
- Routine physical movement (walking plants, checking valves, taking samples, monitoring gauges). It’s active without being back-breaking labor like framing or roofing.
- Minimal public contact (mostly working solo or with small crew teams).
- Shift-based with solid work-life balance and strong government/municipal benefits.
- The Reality & Pathway in California:
- It can be competitive to get a trainee/OIT (Operator-in-Training) spot, but your B.S. degree can count toward education requirements for grade certifications (through the California State Water Resources Control Board).
- Entry step: Take an introductory water/wastewater course (often available via Sacramento State distance learning or local SoCal community colleges) and pass the Grade 1 Operator exam to stand out.
3. Alternative Paths Worth Considering
| Career Path | Daily Work Style | Physical Level | Why It Fits You |
| Hospital Logistics / Supply Chain Specialist | Receiving, organizing, and distributing medical supplies within a hospital. | Active (walking campus, moving carts, scanning inventory). | Uses your retail inventory background; shifts end cleanly; no sales or patient care. |
| Corporate Facilities Coordinator | Managing building upkeep, vendor visits, desk moves, and facility checks. | Moderate (mix of walking the building and office admin). | Uses your B.S. in Management; operational focus; internal team interaction only. |
| HR Operations / HRIS Specialist | Managing employee data, onboarding workflows, and internal systems. | Mostly desk, but low public stress. | Leverages your HR degree directly; zero sales; predictable task-based workflow. |
4. How to Overcome Choice Paralysis & Fear of Failure
- Conduct 2 Informational Interviews:
- Reach out to 1 Medical Lab Technologist and 1 Water Treatment Operator (via LinkedIn, local subreddits, or professional associations). Ask them: "What does your average day look like? What is the hardest part of breaking into the field in SoCal?"
- Audit Your Degree & Transcripts:
- Pull up your college transcripts. Look at what science credits you already have. Check local SoCal community colleges (like Mt. SAC, Orange Coast, SWC, etc.) for MLT or Water Technology programs to see what transfers.
- Reframe "Failure":
- Staying in a job that pays $50k while completely burning out your mental health is a guaranteed loss. Taking a calculated step toward a new path—even if you adjust course later—is progress.
Next Steps
- Which direction feels more appealing to explore first: the healthcare/lab science route or the municipal water/plant operations route?
- Would you like guidance on how your retail experience and HR degree can be reframed on a resume right now for operational/logistics roles?