It is amazing - to me at least, the "coincidences" that seem to appear when a person concentrates on a particular theme. So it came about yesterday, while talking about creating a job service for members of our church and while there were several attending the sessions, the remarks of a couple still linger in my mid and - I believe, they are worth mentioning.
In my opinion, the best measure of potential success can be discerned by the influences of the people who serve as contributors to the individual's life, prior to the application. Two of the individuals who were expressing their thoughts on the process revealed that since they had been successful in finding the right kinds of employment along the way, others ought to follow that example. To me, that is precisely what is wrong with many of the existing services along the way.
They seem to forget, every person comes to the task of discovering a job worthy of their attention has traveled a different path. Some may have graduated from the same school, have attended the same classes, even have similar GPA's, but entering a new environment, their similar backgrounds are not necessarily the better gauge of success for everyone.
As my friend Jeff Goins related in a article appearing on my computer this morning, there is no assurance, the same experiences will lead to the same results. As a basis for his article, he talked about his young son suddenly deciding to dance. He had not been encouraged to do this, he just started to dance and it was obvious to his parents, he was making a lot of the right moves. Jeff made a point of realizing, his son was not always going to be encouraged to dance. Would he eventually become a great dancer, none of us can accurately predict his future. We are always going to be subjected to differing opinions from others. That Jeff encouraging his son as a good start. It may not always be that way.
There was a time when I could not have responded to the theme of the article. I was not what either of my parents wanted when I appeared in 1929. My father wanted a daughter - he already had two sons from a previous marriage. My mother wanted to please her husband. That worked for awhile and then she was pregnant again. This time, I had the measles and so I was sent to live with my grandparents to live on their farm. My parents had their daughter and somehow, depending on circumstances I suppose, it would years before I returned to what should have been my natural home environment. That lasted for a year or so and then, my father became ill as the result of injuries incurred in a previous auto accident and I was returned to the farm. He would die as a result of his infirmity and so, I grew up without a father. I am told I was a good kid, made good grades in school and to be honest, I enjoyed the farm far more than I had ever liked city life.
I guess the first time I realized what I had missed came after joining what was then, the Army Air Corps and found myself among 1,700 other basic recruits on a troop ship headed for Japan where we would serve for two years on duties that none of us really understood until we reached our duty stations. On board, I guess I heard hundreds of stories of how the others had enjoyed their adventures with their fathers and I began to get sad, thinking of all that I had missed. But that was temporarily forgotten when I got to my new duty station and joked with the job placement interviewer, saying the only two things I knew how to do was milk cows and drive tractors. It never occurred to me to tell them I was also an accomplished grocery clerk. Anyway, I was sent to the Motor Pool to drove tractors, truck tractors. It was a good thing I was not afraid to try as I wound up as a competent and valuable air man.
Then, I was transferred to a new station with a General's suggestion that I could do better and wound up as a clerk in the Personnel Office, because I knew the alphabet better than the other guy I replaced. It was a start on a "career" lasting nearly twenty-five years.
Little did I realize it along the way, nor for years afterwards, I had little or no respect for the officers or work superiors I had reported to in duty assignments. It carried through my college years and into the "real" work world, where I would eventually discover, I really wanted a father, a loving father, and then one day, I came to the realization I had had one all along.
To me, the religious training and previous experiences in church came into focus and at my age then, nearing my 45th birthday, realizing that the One we revere as our Creator was better known to me as my Father, it changed my whole life. Gone were the days when frustration seemed to follow me from job to job, opportunity from other opportunities, and life became real to me.
I am not here to preach. I have little or no interest in trying to convince others to believe as I believe, but my whole focus is to remind my readers that finding a job worthy of your efforts requires more than just preparing a resume and showing up for an interview. It that is your goal, I can't help you, but if you are serious about creating a career, let's talk. I am available, today.
It all starts with those cards, remember? When you have gone through that practice, we will be ready to actively begin your search.
No comments:
Post a Comment