I remember a friend was once in the situation where he’d lost his job and time was running out. He had to move out of his house. At the time he had a pregnant wife and three little kids. Their house was all packed up into their car and a U-Haul truck. They had nowhere to live.
Now my friend is a man of much deeper faith that I, and he was confident that everything would turn out okay. In fact, he had a phone interview that morning which was the third and deciding interview with a prospective employer. He made the phone call to an Episcopal Church in Elkhart, IN, from a phone booth looking out at the truck and car.
The interview went well and they offered him the job and told him how much it paid. They asked when he could start and if there was anything they could do to assist him in the transition. He said that he could start tomorrow and could they tell him if they knew of anywhere he might stay for the night. He said he was all packed and would be in Elkhart in about 4 to 5 hours.
They agreed to meet at the church and they would work something out when he arrived. While he was on the road, two parish members called the church and told the Rector that they needed to leave town that an emergency had occurred; that they needed to leave right away for six to eight weeks. Could someone watch their house for that time? The Rector said that the new Youth Pastor was arriving in town in a few hours and needs a place to stay for awhile...
When my friend arrived in Elkhart, he was met by this couple who were packed and ready to head out of town. They greeted the new Youth Pastor, met his family and gave them keys to the house and directions to get there. They thanked each other and praised God's for his grace & blessings. My friend, his pregnant wife and three kids drove to a storage complex where they were met by 10 parishioners who help them unpack the U-Haul. They then drove to their temporary home, overlooking the river. They got settled and were taken to a welcome party at the home of another parishioner who would become their very best friends.
They eventually found a house to buy which was a real fixer-upper. That wasn’t the end of their troubles and trials, nor was it the end of their blessings and joys. So what’s the point? Chose to be hopeful; have faith and trust because when all seems hopeless something good will happen. It may not stay but then something else good will happen.
I was speaking to a group of job seekers the other day and I offered them a prophetic statement that someday down the road they’d all have jobs and there would be no more unemployment and then I’d be out of work. There was loud discord from the group, a collective, “Yea, Right! What are you smoking?”
I understand the group’s reaction; the news about the economy is so dark and dismal, how could I express anything so silly as a world without unemployment? Even a rate of 4% is next to impossible to envision. Yet, there was one person back in the far corner said, “No, you’ll still have work; folks will need someone to help them grow in their career beyond their new job.”
This person had hope. There are people out there who realize that “Yes, we can” is more than a campaign slogan and that we live in a world were anything is possible, but, and this is a big but, nothing will happen without the expectation that it will happen. Having hope is having an expectation that something will change, something will be different, something will be better.
Often when we are suffering from some tragedy or trauma, like a mass layoff resulting in job loss, someone comes along an--whether out of ignorance or a total lack of tact--says something trite. “Buck up, Charlie, you’ll have a job in no time.” Or “Sorry to hear that you’re unemployed, I wish I could help but we’re not hiring at my company.” Recently a 45 year-old Electrical Engineer told me that after two months in job search someone said to him, “Hey, they’re hiring at the Seven-11.”
Folks going through job transition often report that after the first weeks of not having a job that they feel they’ve been tainted. People feel isolated, like they caught a communicable disease or something. Then when they’re feeling the pressure of the job search someone says, “Anyone who really wants a job can get one.” Or “Those people who have been unemployed for over a year are lazy...”
Corporate America is sitting on a bunch of money; some estimates go as high as a Trillion Dollars (that’s 1012 or $1,000,000,000,000.00). Companies across the country are running lean and mean and people with jobs report fatigue and frustration with the amount of work they have to do, and that the pressure is building. They report that the unemployment rate is as stressful on their lives as for those unemployed, maybe more. (My clients find this hard to believe.) But, the pressure is real and something has to give. Everyone is waiting for the shoe to drop.
Let’s have the hope, the expectation that companies will start hiring, slowly at first, then with greater urgency and gusto. Let’s have the expectation that consumers will begin to consume more and consume more wisely. Then, folks will then be able to pay off their debt and even start saving. And then, there will be no more unemployment and I’ll be working only with folks looking to grow in their career. Let’s have hope!
Christmas is in the air and have you noticed how warm and kind people are in the stores? I was at the movies tonight with my daughter and there was a traffic jam exiting the Mall at 10:15 PM. This is a lot different than just a year ago. There seems to a sense of hope for the future. My wish is that you’ll experience the peace and hope of the Christmas Season. And may the new year be filled with success and prosperity.
I have worked with over 200 people this year. Many of the folks I coached, trained or presented to were motivated and invigorated in the hope of an improving economy. And a good number of my clients who had been in transition for over a year landed a full time jobs. They did that with some new tools, hard work and a commitment to working their network. They quickly found that the more they called their contacts and asked for help and support in their job search the more interviews they were getting.
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| Making the calls |
It’s easy to say it’s a numbers game... it’s hard to move out of your comfort zone, learn new skills, practice phone and networking scripts and ask for help. They tell me that it’s even harder to accept people’s help when you have nothing in return. But with me in their corner, cheering them on, they made the phone calls, got the meetings, did well in the interviews and landed the job.
This November I was privileged to give the Keynote Speech, which was an inspirational talk to the Career Stimulus Program’s 150 attendees. For weeks afterward, I ran into people who told me how motivated they were by the talk. They emailed me with accounts of how it gave them courage to carry on and trust in a higher power. As I said at the end of the presentation, I cannot guarantee when, but each one of your will find a job, if you trust in your God, your friends and family and most importantly, have faith in yourself.
Have a Merry Christmas and may the blessings of the Christ Child fill your heart, your home and your future. Happy 2011
I remember a friend was once in the situation where he’d lost his job and time was running out. He had to move out of his house. At the time he had a pregnant wife and three little kids. Their house was all packed up into their car and a U-Haul truck. They had nowhere to live.
The interview went well and they offered him the job and told him how much it paid. They asked when he could start and if there was anything they could do to assist him in the transition. He said that he could start tomorrow and could they tell him if they knew of anywhere he might stay for the night. He said he was all packed and would be in Elkhart in about 4 to 5 hours.
