A minor insight
The listserv of an area networking group I frequent, and several LinkedIn groups I'm in, have a certain monotony to their topics. In several previous comments, I've noted that the advice of most job-hunting pundits had grown a bit stale. That's me; I've lost more jobs than any three other people in any of these groups. After a dozen or so of these experiences, one has heard nearly all the ideas. It would be nice to hear something new, but the business of hawking stale job-seeking advice relies upon the innocence of large number of people (of all ages, genders, faiths, etc.) who have never been laid off or fired.
I'm beginning to see that here's more to it than sharp pundits and inexperienced job seekers. Many of today's professionals bring a set of entitled expectations to the job search party. A great many of those looking for work today led very fortunate lives until the HR person with the cardboard box showed up at their cubicle. No one has ever said no to them; anything they wanted they could have; their expectations were only going to get better. The average credit card debt in the USA was reportedly $11,000 going into this recession, and I expect I've been seeing some of the people above the 50th percentile. I meet these people every other week. Sometimes old faces by now, sometimes new: for some of them, interruption or loss of unemployment benefits could mean homelessness in a Brooks Brothers suit. This is a stunning fall for them. I was stunned once, but that was nearly 30 years ago: and I was never so deeply in debt or in shock as to be threatened with actual homelessness.
One never knows where one may find wisdom. At the moment, I've been finding wisdom in the legacy of a troubled childhood. I've found it in Navy service that didn't make me a hero but showed me how to endure. It's available in many years of public sector, non-profit work and writing, for incomes that would appall many of today's unemployed professionals. There's even wisdom in the old saying that just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they are not out to get you.
Long ago, I had bouts of jealousy, wishing I had been born more privileged. Now, not so much. I have not liked everything I experienced, but it's made me better able to put up with hard times. It's made me able to mock the foolish aspects of the job-seeking process rather than be eaten away with anxiety. I would be able to muster more compassion for what I've been seeing if I were not so surprised at the childlike helplessness of so many unemployed professionals.
As the song says
Nobody's ever taught you how to live out on the street,
Now you're gonna have to get used to it.
I'm beginning to see that here's more to it than sharp pundits and inexperienced job seekers. Many of today's professionals bring a set of entitled expectations to the job search party. A great many of those looking for work today led very fortunate lives until the HR person with the cardboard box showed up at their cubicle. No one has ever said no to them; anything they wanted they could have; their expectations were only going to get better. The average credit card debt in the USA was reportedly $11,000 going into this recession, and I expect I've been seeing some of the people above the 50th percentile. I meet these people every other week. Sometimes old faces by now, sometimes new: for some of them, interruption or loss of unemployment benefits could mean homelessness in a Brooks Brothers suit. This is a stunning fall for them. I was stunned once, but that was nearly 30 years ago: and I was never so deeply in debt or in shock as to be threatened with actual homelessness.
One never knows where one may find wisdom. At the moment, I've been finding wisdom in the legacy of a troubled childhood. I've found it in Navy service that didn't make me a hero but showed me how to endure. It's available in many years of public sector, non-profit work and writing, for incomes that would appall many of today's unemployed professionals. There's even wisdom in the old saying that just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they are not out to get you.
Long ago, I had bouts of jealousy, wishing I had been born more privileged. Now, not so much. I have not liked everything I experienced, but it's made me better able to put up with hard times. It's made me able to mock the foolish aspects of the job-seeking process rather than be eaten away with anxiety. I would be able to muster more compassion for what I've been seeing if I were not so surprised at the childlike helplessness of so many unemployed professionals.
As the song says
Nobody's ever taught you how to live out on the street,
Now you're gonna have to get used to it.
Labels: job searches
posted by Uncle | 00:03
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