Summary

The author transitioned from customer service roles to a writing career by reframing their job experience and leveraging their passion for writing.

Abstract

The author describes their journey from feeling trapped in customer service positions to finding fulfilling work in writing. Initially, they believed their only career options were customer service-related due to their job history and the suggestions provided by job search platforms. However, by changing their job title to "Administrative Assistant" and adding "Virtual Assistant" to their resume, they began to receive better job suggestions. The author realized that administrative work was not their true calling and started to apply for writing jobs, a field they had experience in since their teens. After securing a contract writing position and updating their resume and LinkedIn profile, they began to see listings for higher-level writing roles, indicating a shift in their career trajectory and potential opportunities.

Opinions

The author found customer service jobs unfulfilling and sought more meaningful work.
They believed that many social media jobs were essentially customer service roles with demanding hours.
Working at an animal shelter was emotionally challenging for the author, leading them to leave.
The cemetery job, while initially seen as a destiny, became a source of negativity, prompting the author to quit.
The author felt that their job title as a "Client Services Representative" was not an accurate reflection of their duties and that "Administrative Assistant" was more fitting.
They desired a work-from-home position to avoid the stress of rush hour traffic and start their day calmly.
The author discovered that administrative work was not as fulfilling as they had thought, leading to mental exhaustion.
Blogging and writing were identified as the author's true passions, which they pursued by applying for writing jobs.
The author is optimistic about their career prospects in writing, as evidenced by the interest from recruiters and the types of job listings they now encounter.

How I Escaped the Dreadful Customer Service Position

I found better jobs — and here’s how

Up until a year and a half ago, I thought I was doomed to work customer service jobs for the rest of my life.

I hated working with customers, yet it seemed like these were the only jobs I was qualified to do. My first out-of-college job was a Social Media Coordinator position, which I quickly learned was not a path I wanted to pursue.

This was with a nonprofit and eventually the grant expired, and I was excited to see what else was out there.

At first, I applied for other social media positions, and I quickly learned the competition was fierce for these jobs. It seems like every fresh-out-of-college grad wanted to work in social media.

I also learned that many social media jobs in my area in 2016 were glorified customer service jobs, where the employee was expected to respond to social media posts at all hours of the day and night. This was not something I was interested in.

I wanted to do something important with my life, something that meant something and made a difference.

This led me to two part-time jobs at an animal shelter and a cemetery. For a year, I worked seven days a week between the two jobs. Eventually, I dropped my animal shelter job because — as crazy as it sounds — it was sadder than working at the cemetery.

The tip of the iceberg was when I learned about two dogs I’d personally cared for and adopted out dying in a house fire. I’d heard plenty of other tragic stories of what had happened to the animals I’d adopted out, but this one was too much. I couldn’t do it anymore.

I continued working at the cemetery, feeling for a while that it was my destiny. Death had always been part of my life, and I was the weirdo who enjoyed planning my grandma’s funeral. I liked helping people navigate the most difficult time in their life, and I thought I was good at it.

Becoming a mom in 2021 changed my perspective on life. I realized day in and day out, I was surrounding myself with sadness and angst.

This wore on my co-workers, too, and they were often unkind to each other and me due to the heaviness of the work we endured. The work environment was toxic, and not because of our clients.

I needed out, so I quit.

During the time I worked at the cemetery, I had looked for other jobs, but all jobs that ever popped up on Indeed and similar sites were in relation to Customer Service and Client Services.

This is because my most recent job experience was Client Services Representative, so this triggered similar jobs to appear as suggestions. No matter what I did — even when I searched other job titles — the only jobs that popped up were specific to customer service.

At the time, I thought the only jobs available for people with my skillset were customer service jobs. It would take tweaks to my resume to learn there were other jobs out there.

Here’s what I did.

1. I changed my job title from “Client Services Representative” to “Administrative Assistant.”

I knew with absolute certainty I did not want a position that would have me on the phone or answering customers’ requests every minute of my working day.

Truthfully, I don’t mind interacting with customers most of the time —you meet some cool people when you’re working with customers. My problem is when I have to work with them back-to-back without a break to work on other things.

While working at the cemetery, I frequently voiced that I felt “Client Services” and “Customer Service” representatives were inaccurate descriptions of the work we did. Yes, we handled customers a great amount, but we also spent a lot of time doing admin tasks — and that was the stuff I enjoyed.

I proofread documents, submitted deposits, discussed with accounting about our books when things didn’t balance, entered data, sent out bills, and wrote letters. I was also the point-person for technology issues, and I spent hours of my time helping my co-workers with computer issues.

While I answered phone calls, dealt with face-to-face customers, and replied to emails, I did a lot of other internal communication with our volunteer and finance teams that an administrative assistant would do.

I always felt like administrative assistant was a more appropriate job title, but the City paid administrative assistants more. This was the only difference between an administrative assistant’s job and mine — about $10 an hour.

While changing my job title may have been a tiny fib, I never once lied about the work I did. Immediately after I changed my job title, I started getting better job suggestions.

2. I added “Virtual Assistant” to my resume

I was determined to start working from the comfort of my home. Rush hour traffic stresses me out, and I desperately wanted to start my day on a calmer note. I started working with a Virtual Assistant company the day after I left my job, so this was easy to do.

3. I realized administrative work wasn’t fulfilling me

For years, I thought I was happiest when I was doing admin work. I realized after doing it for six months of doing virtual admin work that this wasn’t true. It was not fulfilling me — it was draining me mentally, and I was taking more naps than I ever had in my life.

I needed to do something else with my life.

4. I started applying to writing jobs

I’ve been blogging since my teens across multiple platforms, so it was natural for me to use any website I started to create blog posts. I had created a blog when I started my Virtual Assistant business as well.

I realized what I really wanted to do was write, and the only way to achieve this dream was to apply to writing jobs.

With my current resume and writing samples from my most recent blog, I applied to writing jobs and accepted a contract position last January.

5. I added my current writing job to my resume

This is when amazing things started to happen. I started to see my dream jobs appearing on Indeed and all platforms I’ve uploaded my resume.

I’m talking about positions like Lead Writer and Head Editor. While I don’t think I am qualified for these positions right at this moment, seeing them in my feed shows me what is possible and what I’m capable of with my current experience if I stay on this path.

These five steps altered my view of my qualifications and the future jobs I can and will hold. Since updating my LinkedIn profile last month, I’ve had two recruiters reach out about local Writer and Editor positions. I’ve never had recruiters contact me about anything other than customer service roles.

A couple days ago, I received a text from a recruiter who’s been contacting me for over two years about customer service jobs, and I finally replied, “I’m no longer interested in customer service roles.”

I’ll never apply to another customer service job again.