I was recently hired to work as a student admissions counselor for my college. Our main job is to call high school students on the phone and ask them questions to get to know them and then answer any questions they have about my college.

For the most part, I’m pretty well versed when it comes to answering questions; I know my institution very well, and I’ve been going here for 4 years, so I know what it’s like to be a student. When it comes to holding a “casual” conversation with a high school student, or really anyone I don’t know, I feel completely lost.

During my first 2–3 days of training I realized that I’m horrible at this job, and I’m wondering if it’s even worth it to stay. I say this because I feel extremely uncomfortable when I do training calls, and I don’t know if I’ll ever become less awkward in terms of my phone skills. I’m also noticing that my training manager is getting a bit frustrated with me because I’m not learning fast enough.