The first week of work.

Well, well, well.

I learned a LOT (understatement of the year), but what I think I learned most importantly was:

a) Being in the mortgage business for 15 years doesn’t help jack when you’re suddenly in the real estate business

b) I’m still WAY too hard on myself.

Here’s a little visual of how the week went.

First day:

Later that day:

Later same day:

Intermittently throughout day:

Everyday at my notes when I tried to work unattended:

Thank GOD the person leaving the post (real post, not blog post) is kind, and patient, and put up with my OCD note taking.

I literally wrote the same procedures down in triplicate without knowing it.

By day three I had 2 binders full of paper and dividers and stickers …

My mentor just sat.  And smiled.  And taught.

Now, you would think that learning an industry language I didn’t know how to speak, and how to operate 3 new systems I’d never even heard of before – would be what I was most anxious about.

No.

The Phones.

Oh my God.

The vast ‘think on your feet and don’t stutter’ scenarios that end up being on the other end of the line, pale in comparison to the mind-blowing multi-line phone system.

Mother of God!

To top it off, I have to say “It’s a great day at ______” when I answer the phone. This has been answered by such responses as: “Bullshit” and “Is it? Is it really?”

Sigh.

I was feeling more comfortable by day 5 – and this is where my years in the area did come in handy – I knew a lot of the people (escrow officers etc.) who were calling.

It’s really just going to all come down to repetition, trial and error and experience – and I need to remember that.

As I said earlier to my friends – I’m learning a new language, and already expecting myself to speak it fluently, know proper grammar and have the accent down.

And let’s face it – I haven’t even achieved THAT in my native tongue. 😉