I’m still getting into the swing of these more personal blogs. I faced a bit of a block about what to write about, when it occurred that I’d experienced a number of the stupid things that just about every job seeker has to endure: the job counselor, the human relations office from hell and of course the unemployment office.
And, of course, I had each of these experiences in a single day.
So, let’s go into the day of hell…
I’m disappointed and angry that the Tribune Co. provided virtually no severance package. If I sign off on a waiver of all their possible wrongs, then they’ll throw me a bone, consisting of outplacement services and also about five weeks of regular pay towards my retirement account.
That seems like a high price to pay, so I arranged to return to a placement service I’d used in the past, the Jewish Vocational Service (JVS). Years ago I’d worked with Hunt Unger at JVS and before that with Bill Frank, a Denver counselor. Both of these counselors had worked using the “What Color is Your Parachute” technique of attempting to recognize your interests, and then locating similar activities in the workplace.
WCIYP demands a lot of time and effort. Frank once said that I was the only person he knew to complete the entire exercise.
While I was able to identify the field I wanted to work in, business journalism, I was never able to successfully transition to the career. So, I plug along, doing other things and writing in my other blog about the financial end of journalism and media.
Unger was a Holocaust survivor and had a lot of miles on him when I first met him at the JVS years ago. No one there seems to know who he is anymore. But then again, the woman I’m currently dealing with was probably still watching Sesame Street when I first met Unger.
Now that’s a mean thing to say about Jennifer Dolan, the new career counselor. I don’t mean to write it as a comment on anything other than her age. She’ll be the third or fourth career counselor I’ve worked with in my life. I hope she is the last counselor. It will be a great day when I’m finally transitioned into a new job or career.
Now at the age of 51, I probably should be worried about age bias. I’m fortunate in that I do look very young for my age. It may come to pass that I’ll need her advice on working against the bias thing. Plus, of course, there is Jane’s health issue, which if any employer finds out about, then I’ll be moved down the list of candidates.
Combine all this poor fortune with the loss of benefits at Tribune and you can see a potential storm on the horizon.
What I need at this point in my life is a career coach, a person who encourages me to get my work done and continue to progress towards my goals. That may mean a change in careers, or it may mean continuing down the path I’m on. There is enough time and energy to explore both changing careers and the current career. And, I’m confident in my ability to do everything but write those introductory letters. Back to that in a moment.
What you lose as you transition out of a job is the structure of a day. I had developed habits or reviewing and returning e-mails, phone calls and making appointments at certain times of the day. I reviewed my corporate credit card on Monday each week. Prepared the cartage payments on a specific day, the expense report on a specific day…
All that is lost. So, Dolan’s job will be to impersonally ask what the hell I’m up to. If the goal is to move to another job, then there are things that need to be done. I need to contact everyone I can in my past and begin saying, “Hey, I need to find another job. Here is what I did previously…”
That’s where the blog comes in.
About the JVS; the JVS is open to anyone. It is a United Way Agency. There’s always a lot of security in the office. You are separated from everyone but your counselor. They also, in this office, offer services to immigrants. Perhaps that’s why they have such tight security. But at a time when you need human interaction, they are holding you back, keeping you at arms length. It is something I would reconsider, if I were them.
“Welcome to America… now keep back!”
Now, as to the letters, I’ve tried to follow the same sort of introduction I used in the takeovers of the interviews, so far without success. Basically, attempting to start a small story about something, then lead into why that well-known story is applicable to the hiring situation and why we should take the next step, a meeting (that I’ll take over, if I can).
For example here might be the basis for one of my current letters:
“Charles Howard was a key distributor of Buicks in the Western States prior to World War II. However, that isn’t what he was best known for. He spotted talent in a quiet horse wrangler named Tom Smith and hired him to watch his horses. Smith had been selling mustangs to the British Army for the Boer War, then when the British no longer needed horses, he had worked a Western ranch, keeping ponies in shape for the cowhands.
“Smith had a knack for taking broken down old ponies and keeping them going on the ranch. It was his way with animals, they said, that the animals trusted him and loved him.
“Smith saw a future in a horse that was losing some claiming races on the second-tier of the racing circuit. A knobby-kneed horse, it was unable to win races, it was lazy and angry. Smith believed the horse, in the right hands, would challenge one of the great horses of the century, War Admiral.
“He found those hands in a pugilistic young jockey named Red Pollard, who wandered into the stables, drunk and dirty one afternoon. Pollard was winning just six percent of his races and was believed to be finished. But, sometimes great talent does just walk in at just the right moment, looking all-wrong.
“The horse was Seabiscuit.
“Now, I’ve just had a great quarter for my former employer. I’m not Red Pollard in temperament or appearance, nor am I the angry and lazy Seabiscuit. I’m more like Tom Smith, transitioning from a broken industry, newspapers, into something new. I hope you see what I’m driving at. Great teams are sometimes cobbled together and recognized by great managers…”
Then, I follow-up with some of my recent accomplishments, and ask for a meeting. I think it might work with the right person. Maybe, it will only work with someone I can work with.
Frank, who I’d worked with earlier in my life, wrote a book for Ten Speed Press on great interview letters. I guess he wouldn’t approve of the way I wrote this fictional letter, but I won’t know unless he responds to a “Hey you!” e-mail.
From the JVS I moved on to the Chicago Public Schools Human Relations Office on North Elizabeth Street. My mother had been the receptionist in the old Teacher Personnel Office at 120 N LaSalle St for more than ten years, retiring there in the mid- 1970’s. I had even worked there as my first job in high school.
I’d discovered the private personnel files of the teachers, and had diligently searched through the records reading the contents of teachers who I knew in high school. Not only was I a bad clerk (they liked my work ethic and offered regular employment, not knowing of my spying on the teachers.), I was a sneak too!
So, I greeted the woman at the desk with this information. Gina replied “uh-huh. Are you applying for a teaching job?”
If I ever had any intention of working with CPS, it was quickly evaporating under Gina’s cold care. I explained that I was looking to join my wife’s benefits package as mine had been terminated with my employment at the Tribune.
Now the fact is that I cannot recall ever getting a job through a job application. Ever. So I’m not impressed by the power of clerks in HR offices. The only thing they can attempt to say is “NO!” But even this is suspect as most jobs are filled through reference and networking, not a blind application.
Plus, as I’d worked there, I knew that this was the busy season for these poor clerks. What you need to remember in these situations is that the clerk is probably not where they want to be and that it isn’t about you in any case. Gina gave me the information I needed to apply for Jane’s benefits and I left.
Did she ever have any interest in me as a human needing help getting through the bureaucracy? I don’t think so.
On to the unemployment office…
They are unreal places probably designed to discourage people from applying for unemployment. I had used the on-line system to apply and be certified. But I am still trying to understand some things about the system, so it was another part of the experience.
I’ve always hated these offices. But, with specific questions about the EFT deposit to my account, my daughter and the effect of part time employment during the unemployment period, I needed some answers. Those three questions only took a moment for the clerk to answer, but I had to wait in line for an hour to get to see the clerk.
Inevitably there is always a baby crying its eyes out in these places. I think children have a gut feel that there is something wrong with the unemployment office. It is not really a place to go find work. It is a place to get money to survive while not being employed.
The poor overworked clerks are just trying to get the money for you and move on to the next poor soul.
In essence, I think that while there are some places in the city blessed by a spirit of place that is positive and wonderful, there are also places like the unemployment office and the HR department that are cursed.
I should blog about one of the most sacred places I’ve ever seen in the city, but that will wait for another day.
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