It is The Best of Times



I am a Job Seeker in Transition. 

The Job Search Process reflects both the best of times and the worst of times for a Job Seeker.   

Take for example a networking meeting (quasi job interview) that I attended the other day.

I thought I sucked at this meeting, because I talked too much (the worst of times). 

Upon reflection, that was probably the best networking meeting that I attended (the best of times), because I learned something about myself.

I was asked a question “What are you passionate about?”

This is a deep question to be asked at 9:00 in the morning.  It’s asking what are you really interested in and excel at. 

After letting this question percolate overnight after the meeting,  I realized that I am really interested in and do a decent job with relationship building. 

At a previous employer, I chaired four permanent committees.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but that is one of the best experiences I had.  At our meetings I always made sure that everyone had a voice and everyone felt included.

On a personal level I am interested in engaging in conversations and connecting with people, preferably in person.  (Did you know that one of the things that can make you happy is talking with friends?)

I infuse all my relationships with kindness.  I am strongly empathetic.

I love the late Maya Angelou’s quote that pretty well describes me:

“People will forget what you said
 People will forget what you did
 But people will never forget how you made them feel” – Maya Angelou
TO SUM UP:

There’s always two sides to every coin.  If you think you failed miserably at something, there’s always something to learn from that experience.

Be who you are unabashedly.  I may have talked too much at the networking meeting, but that’s who I am and I can accept that.

The Job Search reminds me of Charles Dickens' opening in “A Tale of Two Cities”:

“It is the best of times
It is the worst of times” – Charles Dickens (paraphrase)


Originally Published on LinkedIn:  January 6, 2016
Image Credit:  Pixabay (Yin and Yang)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comfort Zone

Image
Yesterday I did something that was out of the ordinary for me.   I signed up for an 8 week improv class with the  Bad Dog Theatre Company . The idea for attending such a class was suggested to me when I attended  DisruptHRToronto  (a networking event) where I heard a speaker named Lori Pearlstein on December 1, 2016. Ms. Pearlstein owns a company called  Playworks .  Ms. Pearlstein’s company provides improv classes to corporate clients and helps people to improve their public speaking, team building and brainstorming skills. I thought to myself that improv is something that I would like to try. As is usual with me, I filed the suggestion away in my head perhaps to re-visit in the future. I was talking to a friend of mine and we were talking about food preferences. He noted that I could be more adventurous when it came to food. Point well-taken.    I wrote a LinkedIn post called “ Ham .” In this post I talk about my early foray in the world of musical
Read more

Human Nature

Image
Yesterday (June 19th) was very hot and humid in Toronto, and Environment Canada issued a heat alert. Today promises to be another hot and humid day with the humidex expected to rise to 40 degrees Celsius. When it’s hot in Toronto, we wish for winter and cooler weather; and when it’s winter, we wish for summer and warmer weather.  I suppose this wishful thinking of thinking the grass is always greener somewhere else is a part of human nature. When we’re working, we think wouldn’t it be nice if we had more leisure time, and when you’re in transition (like me), you think wouldn’t it be nice if we were working? When I was working at Combined Insurance, that’s all I thought about was work.  Never thought about stopping and reflecting on things.  In transition I’ve seen the other side (the leisure side), and I know that when I find a job, that I’d want more of a balance between working hard and pursuing leisure activities (maybe going to see a Toronto Blue Jays game o
Read more

Positivity...Let me count the ways

Image
In a previous post “ Always On My Mind ” I mentioned to job seekers to “stay hopeful and positive.” I would like to expand on how exactly job seekers (or anyone else for that matter) can “stay positive.” First I’m reminded of a  FISH! Philosophy  tenet of “Choose Your Attitude.” We can choose to have a positive attitude in a number of ways. Be nice to yourself   We can’t always feel positive (or up or cheery) all of the time. Sometimes we feel down.  I suggest that we accept that we feel down at this moment and that this feeling won’t last forever. We can think to ourselves that things will feel brighter tomorrow. Give yourself permission to feel down at this moment and take comfort that tomorrow is another day.  We can do some basic things to take care of ourselves: get enough rest, drink lots of water, eat healthy, get some exercise, etc. Other than these things, we can participate in activities that make us happy. For me, it’s spending time with family
Read more