YOU'RE NEXT
We’d been briefed in our pre-training webinar, arrived at the venue at 7:30 a.m., slipped on the trademark blue and white uniform – creating a uniformed presence – and set our minds and hearts on the 10+ hour mission that lie ahead.
We, 10 Career Consultants – or Job Guides – were invited to participate in Indeed’s ambitious 2020 8-city US tour kick-off event in DC. Indeed, was now indeed taking job search services on the road, and our job was to create a personalized, transformative experience for each expectant job-seeker – in 15- minute blocks.
As I settled into my consultation pod, my own suds level rose. How to offer relevant tools and job search strategies in such a compressed block of time? My own one-on-one coaching sessions extended on average well over an hour. And of immediate concern – would the pound of blue M & M’s, offered in a decorative dish for the taking, stain my teeth and the teeth of job seekers over the course of the day?
I refocused my attention and planned my approach: Identify the crucial 5 W’s in the first 3 minutes for context. Next, organize around the most critical components of the job search process. Finally, ensure each job-seeker walked away from our conversation with either a tangible outcome, be it resume revision recommendations, or clarity and confidence around how to launch or better navigate their job search process. Okay, I was ready and signaled to the Indeed Job Guide’s – Guide that I was open for business and ready to receive.
As I greeted and listened to my first job-seeker’s situation, a gentleman who appeared to be in his 50’s, I thought about the origin of the word transition. The passage from one state, stage to another. Change, a development. The “here” to “there”. And all that murky, sticky stuff that often resides in between.
Themes among the job-seekers soon surfaced: “I feel stuck.” “I wasn’t ready to be laid off and have no idea what’s next.” “How will my specific skills be applied and where?” “Do I even want to remain in this same space?” One senior executive shared the positive outcome resulting from her termination, forcing the realization that she hadn’t been happy or engaged in the last five plus years. “Maybe 10, if I’m honest,” she said. “Still now what?” Others desired an aggressive resume review and revision. “It’s too long. Too dense, right?” They’d prompt. I flipped the double-sided document, front to back, back to front, attempting to get a handle on their professional brand after close to 20+ years of work history.
Theirs a collection of stories and circumstances surrounding their working identity, inspiring their attendance today. Some working in the government contracting procurement space, moving from contract to contract, until their service was no longer required. “I’m old – er now. How do I reinvent, relaunch myself?” Age discrimination conversations. Harassment. And then the gentleman who looked me squarely in the eyes and offered that he’d “…just up and quit.”
“Quit?” I asked
“Yep. Walked into my boss’s boss’s office and told him I couldn’t do this another day.” It wasn’t about the money or his sales numbers, he shared. “I could’ve stayed until I breathed my last breath, but I knew I was done. Unhappy. Burnt out.”
I sat very still and asked, “How can I help?”
“I’m not sure. It feels good to talk and hear myself say it.”
I loved that. “So, now what?” I asked.
“I’d like to be an artist,” he said.
“An artist? Do you do art now?”
“I do,” he said. “I sketch.”
“Very cool. Do you have a favorite subject matter?”
“Naked Women. Would you like to see?”
“Oops. Getting the cue to wrap,” I smiled and extended my hand. “Congratulations, You’ve taken the first courageous step. And, Jim, (not his real name) keep honoring and practicing your art.”
I had a moment in between my next client, caught my breath, stretched and took note of the snake line inching up the stairs to the resume review area, as well as the abundance of activity and attendees we’d interacted with leading into hour 9. It was clear, many were hanging out long after their consultations to hear Jose Andres, our keynote speaker bring the day’s tentpole event to a close.
This collective group of attendees – irrespective of their circumstances, age, and the things they carried from here to there in their personal and professional lives, today were vulnerable, courageous, shared a desire to be of service and make a meaningful contribution in their world. They made a commitment to themselves to find their next act, to inch ever closer to the kind of work and work culture that honored their experiences, capabilities, evolving capabilities, the type of work they could feel proud doing, respected and valued for, challenged, and invested in. To find a culture where human capital was truly valued through demonstrated actions and in lockstep with leadership’s words.
Or at a minimum, how to get around an organization’s applicant tracking system and just get hired.