Summer and the Fast Approaching Work Force Enrollment

It seems nearly impossible to scroll through any form of social media without seeing posts from people and companies alike preparing and anxiously awaiting the upcoming summer season. Typically I would be as enthused as my social media compadres for the upcoming beach season, however I fear that my seemingly endless days of lazily laying by the ocean at Wrightsville Beach are coming to an end. As I get closer to graduation I realize that I am on the verge of not having home at the beach and will be taking a job in Winston Salem at State Farm starting the first few weeks of summer. Don’t get me wrong I am extremely excited about getting to start work and actually make money however it is bitter sweet moving from the beautiful place where I grew up and moving to a city that I have never visited.

Our athletic director at High Point Dan Hauser and former athletic director Craig Keilitz set me up with their State Farm insurance agent to meet and discuss the possibility of working there post graduation. I quickly jumped on this opportunity to pursue a job and contacted Mr. Nick Jitima about the job opening at his State Farm firm in downtown Winston Salem, NC. After a string of email and phone conversations we met up for an interview to see if this was what I wanted to do after graduation.

Upon meeting we discussed everything about his firm including salary, daily schedule, work life, what I would be doing, and benefits his company has to offer. To be honest I was a little taken back thinking, “How the hell could a Biology major with no sales experience manage to sell insurance?” Never in a million years could I have ever guessed that I would be interviewing for a insurance sales position after graduation. Everything he said seemed to click with me however, and he made it seem like I would be able to excel at the job and make a good amount of money directly coming out of college. I thought for sure that I would get a job in medical or pharmaceutical sales being a Biology major, but it turns out medical devices and pharmaceutical companies are not interested in hiring people with no sales experience directly out of college. Mr. Jitima made it clear to me that if I wanted to pursue this career path after I spent time with his company, he would be more than willing to help me find a job that I would excel in in the medical field.

As of right now I am leaning toward accepting this position. Living in Winston Salem would be nice due to its close proximity to High Point where I still have all my close friends returning next year for their final year of college, a short two hour drive to Raleigh to visit my brother whom I am extremely close with, and finally a quick three hour drive home to Wilmington to visit my family. It will be nice to have a job lined up after graduation and not have to worry about hunting for a job while living at home over the summer. So hopefully I will be able to gain sales experience and who knows maybe I’ll end up loving the job talking to people about their insurance and start a career with State Farm.

Like I said in an earlier blog it is all about staying positive and this opportunity is a great one that I am very fortunate to have. Just have to tackle it with the same positive mindset and succeed in it.

-Hunter