Reach Out

I was reading an opinion piece by a small business owner the other day, and afterwards I girded my loins and read the comments. I usually go out of my way to avoid reading comments, because life is too short to seek out haters, but I was feeling kinda feisty.  I found one comment in particular fascinating; the writer, long unemployed, said that in our “newly” class-conscious America, the unemployed were going to remember which individuals and companies had treated them badly, and not patronize them or their business anymore and in fact start doing everything at home, on their own. One woman even wrote that she’d be framing her own pictures from now on. (Testify, my sister!) 

Um. Okay. First of all, let me make it a hundred, no a thousand percent clear that I have nothing but empathy for people who are unemployed, who have seen their previous way of life gutted. To be unemployed is to feel you have lost not only your lifestyle, but your independence, your value, your friends, etc. We live in a society in which the unemployed are treated like lepers, like third-class citizens, in which it’s easier to discuss being diagnosed with cancer than to admit you’ve lost your job. So, I don’t blame people for being angry. If being angry is going to make people demand long-overdue and necessary changes to our socio-political climate, bring. It. On! (Grrr!)

On the other hand, the idea that any one person can do everything on his or her own, that you don’t need society, that you’re going to punish society…seriously? No one ever did anything on her own.  That’s just one of those popular fictions that we all pretend to believe, like Jennifer Lopez is no longer a soul-sucking diva or that Madonna is totally fine, totally at peace with aging. (Ha.) We live in an time wherein life and opportunity is dictated by social media and our connectivity to each other.…but some people think they can ignore all that and live entirely on their own? Okay, enjoy churning your butter and sewing your own clothes, and I suppose bartering for whatever other goods you need. The cats and I will remain in…well, I suppose Queens technically counts as a form of civilization. I’m going to keep reaching out to others to help improve their lives and, at the same time, my own.  

Doin' What Comes Naturally!

When working with unemployed clients—whether they’re recent grads, or people with established resumes—one thing I’m obsessed with, is helping them start to see themselves differently. I help them start to consider how they're going to market themselves. Because, let’s face it, the economy is brutal; it’s like living inside a 3-D episode of “Shark Week.” I have clients who, in a functioning economy, would be profiled lovingly on some CNBC show celebrating garish, obscene wealth and why it makes people happy. (Discuss.) Instead: they’re “consulting.” (*cough cough*)

Eventually, we’ll probably all end up bartering goods for services and growing vegetables on a commune in Montana… but in the meantime, the bills are still due and  it’s crucial to see yourself from a potential employers’ POV: why should someone hire you? What “value” do you offer? I’m using the term” value” only insofar as it relates to a paycheck, by the way. What knowledge, in the sense of relevant and up-to-date skills, industry experience, and rain-making connections do you bring? Why would it be worth an employer’s time and money to hire you, and thus have to invest company resources in you? What return-on-invest can an employer hope to reap from your employment? The focus here being your concrete skills, not your grades or degree.

How do you figure out what your professional value is? Think back on your professional career, or when you were in school; think about your internships, volunteer positions, the odd-jobs you held: what were you good at? When did you excel? Were you talented at getting information?  Analysis? Writing? Crunching numbers? Are you detail-oriented, or a big-picture type of person? Are you good with people, or did they keep you locked away from humanity? The more specific your answers are, the easier it will be for you to envision a good professional match.

For example: when I was brainstorming my business, I kept thinking of the period when I had been happiest in my previous career in TV news: deadlines. (Because, unfortunately, it does not appear that anyone will pay 

me for my ability to scream and throw phones at incompetent TV writers. Alas.) I absolutely loved it when I had to get results under tremendous pressure. When the clock was ticking, and I had to use all my skills—researching, writing, interviewing, analyzing, for example—to problem solve and make air. Kind of like what I do now with clients, except without this…http://youtu.be/WrpaCOb_BGk