Before I begin, I feel I should make it clear that I have absolutely nothing but respect for all branches of the United States military and everything they’ve done for this country and that this post is in no way an attack on any member of any branch of the armed forces.
Last week a recruiter from the Marine Corps called my house to attempt to talk me into enlisting (I understand that he’s just doing his job). It was a phone conversation that lasted several minutes and consisted of him telling me the benefits of enlisting in the Marines, then a quick questionnaire to see if I qualified for enlistment. My asthma (for which I have been receiving treatment, including inhalers, nebulizers, and pills since I was seven years old) disqualified me, thus ending the phone call.
Today when I was walking to my local GNC, a Marine recruiter was standing in the parking lot (there’s a Marine recruiting office right next to GNC). He introduced himself to me and brought me inside the office, where a bunch of other Marines spoke to me about the same things that the recruiter over the phone did. This too concluded with a survey that ended when I informed them of my asthma.
Normally I’m pretty quick to ignore salespeople (because let’s face it, these recruiters are trying to sell civilians on the idea of enlisting) and telemarketers, but since these are the people defending my country, I really don’t want to be disrespectful to them. However, these attempts to get me to enlist are all very inconvenient and somewhat time consuming. I would like to end these conversations faster, but without being rude to them. I really hate to waste both my time and theirs (I have absolutely no interest in enlisting, asthma or not). It’s even harder when it’s in person like when I was going to GNC. Does anyone have any suggestions for avoiding these situations and for shortening them when they do occur?
You know don’t worry about “disrespecting” recruiters. They’re not going to go cry because you told them that you’re not interested. Obviously don’t mouth them off and tell them you’re harassing me or something, but tell them you’re not interested. The best way is to tell them that you’re not ready. That you have plans now that does not involve the military. If ever you decide to enlist tell him he’ll be the first to know. But as of now you have other plans. Or you can say what I always say to enlistment recruters, “I’m going through an officer track”. They always smirk but they leave me alone after.
Its not that hard to start with “I dont want to be disrespectful but to save your time and mine I do not medically qualify, I have severe asthma.” He will thank you and move on.
[quote]JCMPG wrote:
Its not that hard to start with “I dont want to be disrespectful but to save your time and mine I do not medically qualify, I have severe asthma.” He will thank you and move on.[/quote]
^this, It’s time consuming for you to talk with them but it’s even worse for them since they think theyre getting somewhere even tho throughout the whole conversation you know you dont qualify. Just be upfront about it.
You sound like the type of guy who goes to a bar and meets a couple of “new friends” and next thing you know you are sitting in someone’s apartment with 4 guys trying to talk you into getting naked with them.
You need to learn to shut these things down quicker.
Ok thanks everyone. These were all fairly obvious and I probably should’ve been able to figure it out myself, but sometimes we all need someone to point out the obvious things that we miss. I appreciate all the help from everyone.
