In the summer of 2016, I inquired about and applied for a job that I didn't know would entail so many unexpected experiences and changes to my life and to who I am as an individual. A job that I didn't know would cause people to mistaken me for the kind of person that I had always aspired to be as a child growing up, but never thought I had the potential to become at any point in the future: an extrovert.

I really didn't think that a simple job could change me so much for the better in just a few short months, but I am more than proud and certain to say that it did. However, while what is often argued is the idea that a job is what can help bring someone out of his/her shell, I like to believe that there is more that should be added to that statement. In other words, I believe there is one job in particular that will instantly turn you (as an introvert) into a true extrovert, and that job is becoming a retail sales associate for one of your absolute favorite stores in the entire world!

Before we go any further, allow me to provide you with a little bit of background information about the job that changed my life completely and for the better in the summer of 2016!

Since I've already written a few Odyssey articles about my experience as a retail sales associate in the past, I'm not going to provide you with too much extensive detail on the subject. After all, this article is meant to inform you of the one job that will instantly make you an extrovert, and I'd rather take this time to inform you of why exactly a job as a retail sales associate will make that goal of yours a reality.

However, I will say that getting offered a job as a part-time chocolatier for Godiva in the summer of 2016 wasn't something I ever thought I could achieve until it actually happened to me. Before getting hired, I had such a low amount of self-respect and confidence in myself that I didn't even consider myself as being worthy enough to be affiliated with the kinds of people who were working there already. Pathetic, I know.

I should have never resorted to thinking about myself that way (and you shouldn't either). The problem was that I had just always seen them as being "The people with gorgeous faces and confident attitudes," and I unfortunately never thought I had the potential to meet either one of those standards. I mean, I knew I was beautiful, but not that beautiful, and I was definitely lacking in the whole "confident attitude" department.

However, I now know that it isn't a person's image that makes him/her successful as a sales associate. Rather, it is whether or not he/she is able to cope with the many tasks and situations that they will be faced with throughout their duration of employment in the position.

Allow me to expand on those ideas a little more by elaborating on a few of the reasons why a job as a retail sales associate will instantly turn you from an introvert to an extrovert much sooner than you'd expect:

1. All the talking

First of all, as a sales associate, you're required to engage in the one activity that terrifies and pushes you to share your true personality with the world in order to sell your company's products. That, my friends, is TALKING.

2. Doing things all in your own way

There are definitely jobs out there that will require you to interact with people in order to attract business. However, being a sales associate will give you the opportunity to "take the reins" and do things all in your own way.

There is no particular set of guidelines you have to follow in order to make a sale(s). Each of your coworkers is going to have their own style for promoting and selling products, and having a job as a retail sales associate is what is going to enable you to discover a unique and effective style of your own.

3. Discovering qualities people admire about you

Unfortunately, you've most likely already encountered quite a few people in the workforce who aren't exactly genuine with what they do. You know the drill.

The instant they start talking, it's almost exactly like they're reading from a script just so they can get you to buy something. While you could probably get away with doing that for a little while, being a sales associate will cause you to grow tired of the norm and to really discover the kinds of qualities that people admire about you and why.

You'll eventually even get to a point where you'll learn to embrace and express those qualities for the purpose of attracting more clients and establishing genuine connections with them that will last for longer than you'd expect.

4. Being super assertive

You and I both know that there are a LOT of people in this world who aren't very nice, and will definitely try to take advantage of you if you seem like the kind of person they can step on without any hesitation. Fortunately, a job as a retail sales associate will enable you to develop the one quality that you thought only existed among your extroverted friends, and that quality is the ability to be assertive whenever circumstances deem it necessary (at least in a professional manner).

5. Coming out of your shell

As a sales associate, you're going to have to face your fears of coming out of your shell in order to interact with your clients, coworkers, and sometimes even your boss whether you like it or not. You're also going to need to interact with them in a way that gives them a positive impression of who you are. They'll all (hopefully) want to get to know and become friends with you. Who knows? They might even look to you for some ideas on how they themselves can be more successful!

I can't tell you enough about how instantly proud, shocked, and relieved I become whenever I have people express that they would've never thought I was once an introvert. I have no doubt that the reason why people have no trouble with perceiving me as an extrovert nowadays is because of the job that I was offered last summer as a retail sales associate for my absolute favorite store in the entire world: Godiva Chocolatier!

On a final note: when they say that getting a job is what will truly help to get you out of introvert mode, I hope that you now understand that there is more to the statement. That is, not every job is going to change you as effectively and unbelievably as a job in retail sales will.