Howard Wilner is a College graduate who has a long-lasting career as a successful leader within the automotive industry. He currently serves as the president of a large company called Automax Pre-Owned. And has been president of New England Automax Inc since 1989, he was able to accomplish incredible boosts in sales volume, productivity, and overall efficiency. Howard Wilner is further very knowledgeable about the business of late-model foreign and domestic vehicles. In fact, it was his understanding of the market that helped him navigate it so fruitfully.
In what city/state was your first company located and approximately what year did you buy it?
The very first job that I ever held was in Boston, Massachusetts in the food and beverage industry. Since I was attending school in the area, it seemed very convenient and I decided to take it to help with my expenditures. Working as a cook and then a bartender, I stayed in the restaurant field throughout his college years, before entering into sales.
What was your working situation prior to starting with that company?
Since it was my first job, I did not really have much professional background prior to it. I did spend some time at the college where I was taking my courses. This, however, was the extent of my knowledge about the real world as I was still learning how to navigate the new stage of my life. Fortunately, starting my new job enabled me to see how people deal with stress and pressure. Getting to experience that was extremely beneficial as it allowed me to grow and develop as a reliable worker.
More importantly, my lack of experience was quickly compensated by my willingness to learn and take advantage of the resources around me. So, I was able to quickly catch up to productivity levels of those who have been working much longer than me.
What motivated you to accept your first job?
Although financial well-being was my primary reason, I had a lot of other incentives to start working. One of them revolved around getting some professional experience that I can put on my resume. That way, I would be in a better position to find a job once I completed my degree. Also, working was an outstanding way to build my network and get to know people who might be instrumental to my further employment.
In other words, I saw this as an opportunity to establish invaluable connections with professionals who know how to navigate the job market. Lastly, I wanted to challenge myself beyond my course load as I was doing very well in my classes. So, it seemed that finding something else to keep me busy was a rather natural step towards maturity and growth.
How did you go about handling your new role?
I got a lot better at planning and making my schedules. Whenever you start a new job, you have to adapt to those around you as you are the new person in the group. In other words, it is unrealistic to expect that anyone will pay much attention to what is going on in your private life. So, you have to accept that your first few months will be spent making small sacrifices so that everything would work out well. I also used this time as an opportunity to get better at multitasking.
For instance, I was constantly juggling work with my own school and personal life. At first, it was quite hectic, and I thought that I will never be able to master it. As I got settled in, however, things got much easier and coming up with on-the-go plans became second nature.
Were you thinking of it as a temporary or as a long-term position?
It was definitely temporary. I actually do not believe that any college student wants to stick with the first job that they find. Nevertheless, I still treated this as my career employment. In translation, I always met and exceed the expectations as I believed that being average was mediocre.
What are the three things that you liked most about the job?
It was very flexible, my boss was incredibly understanding, and the pay was decent. In fact, I think that those three requirements can be used to gauge how good some job opening is. After all, good hours, fair management, and a decent salary are three of the most crucial factors of every job. Naturally, as one gets higher in their career, they will start figuring out what other things they deem important. Regardless, one must always be reasonable with their expectations.
