Today's blog post will be a brief summary of my week. I apologise for any readers who have been expecting updates daily because I was on the road without the ability to email daily. Last Sunday, Easter, my blog post was about doing good, the true meaning of Easter. I compared and contrasted both the religious aspects of Easter - doing good unto others with the more mundane part - an egg/bunny chirping device to help your children locate their eggs. There is something too easy about egg finding gimics or job finding tricks that we're continuing to explore. While some would have you believe that it's that perfect resume, it's that branded tagline, it's that strong me in 30 seconds or power statements, it may include these but more importantly it's knowing your hiring manager and offering a solution to his/her problems.
I spent a week in KC visiting family while on a job interview. I had a medical concern with a family member that needed my attention so the visit had a two fold purpose. The interview was what I would call an application of all my key messages about job finding: e.g. business research, the right dress, marketing portfolio, posture, enthusiasm, solutions to problems, thank you notes, etc. So why wasn't I offered the position? Maybe it was due to my age, maybe my lack of experience with ATT, maybe my lack of rapport during the interview, maybe not having the internal connections (2 inside candidates typically trump an external candidate). I could list another dozen maybes. While it is important to do the post mortem to prepare for the next interview, it isn't wise to kick yourself and give up depressed but to move on.
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When contacting one of my potential connections from Sprint-about a reference, he asked which Black & Veatch position I was pursuing because he knew of some others that might be in the pipeline. So instead of licking my wounds, I'll respond to the recruiter with the lead that maybe I wasn't right for the job I interviewed for but maybe I could bring to the company extra leads or work due to my prior job connections. I feel getting a job may also include follow up after the sale with other business intelligence and leads.
My return flight to Salt Lake City from KC had a connection in Portland. It was the cheapest one way flight with short notice so the extra miles were a consequence. To prepare for this longer trip, I picked up a novel to read on the flight to pass the time. From KC to Portland, almost a 4 hour flight, I was engaged in conversation with an interesting person who has run more than 100 marathons since age 55. She indicated her $50K marathon jacket had nothing to do with the number of marathons, more than one per state, but the money she has invested in this hobby/sport. It's her passion but also her obsession. She's 67 and already looking forward to running more than 1 marathon a week. I've never run a marathon, experienced a skydive or been involved on the narrow path of mountain biking. I doubt that these thrilling events would be on my bucket list. I somewhat envy those with the passion to explore these ventures, especially later in their life. Their experiences are the fodder for a screenplay or book I'm someday going to write. But contemplating the thrill of the sport, I told the lady she should blog her activities not so much from the perspective of missing flights, not finding hotels, not about finding interesting locations or enjoying the beauties nature or the long boring streches of life (I've done my share of long boring drives through Nevada and Wyoming), rather she should talk about the interesting people she's meeting along the way. She was surely an interesting person I'll never forget.
However, as I was exploring other interests I wonder if sometimes we take up these time consuming passions and hobbies to block out other aspects of our lives that we should be enjoying or enriching. When talking about children, grandchildren and family reasons for my moving to Utah she couldn't relate. She has few fond memories of children or grandchildren. So is she really running for enjoyment or running away from life? What are we running toward or away from in our life? Are we closing or opening doors? Are we looking for opportunities to enrich the lives of others? In your 50K marathon of life, is it filled with events or people? During your job search or interviews, do you recite events or accomplishments managing people or working with them and enjoying their successes along the way? How do you tell your stories and do they engage your audience?
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