Grass Is Greener Syndrome

Back in the ’90s, my news producer friend and colleague and I talked about how we admired the status of the other. Kevin said I had a choice situation with being freelance because I could pick and choose what type of content I wanted to work. I admired Kevin because of the stability of his job. He always knew where the work was coming from, it was regular, the pay was established and paid at a regular (survivable) rate, he got to be among others in his profession and be a team member when necessary or a solo as required.

I look back on that conversation now as I reflect on situations that involved The Press in recent times. Now I have more appreciation of his words. It was quite an experience to watch The Press crowd the Board of Supervisors hearing room on the day they discussed the closure of King Hospital and the brouhaha regarding Sheriff Baca’s actions not too many days before. The corps was quite professional and caught all of the content.

But a trigger event changed everything that was happening in the auditorium. The Press was compelled to react because of the advertising dollars that would fund their air time for coverage of the “sexy” news. The more appealing (and on that day, compelling) story was the fact that Paris Hilton’s hearing was about to take place. The Press needed to go to the story and capture the footage so they would have the more timely content.

So when word came down that Paris was ready for her hearing, the corps consumed approximately 10 to 15 minutes while literally all of them filed out of the hearing room to their vehicles in order to make their way two blocks away to the Criminal Courts building.

Is the news what is important to the populace or is the news what the media determines is most compelling in order to maintain a well-informed and knowledgeable public? The call goes to which of the stories will get the most viewer eyes and therefore the higher ratings for the station. That then spells viability for the station and its business.

Kevin didn’t spell out the subtle nuances of his statement and admiration of my position as a freelancer. Discretion dictated his being quiet about the implied message and allow me to figure it out as time passed. So maybe it has been a good thing that I’ve never formally worked in broadcasting although I have as an independent.

Choices are replete when we’re trying to determine the career path that’s right for us. Unfortunately, we get stuck on those job titles that are the main headings and forget about the subtitles and related situations that could have a lot more appeal and more openings. It would be wise for us to look at the main heading and then do a free form analysis of related titles.

The longer I do this, the more I hear others offering the same counsel that I have in the past (as well as currently). One of the things I keep hammering at is check the Occupational Outlook Handbook to review not only the main job titles listed but also the related occupations under that title. It isn’t necessary to get stuck in a hopeless job search for something you ultimately discover is not what you want to do. There are quite a number of related things (or ways of doing them) that offer the exhilaration we all seek in our work lives.

Related Content:

• Identity and Selflessness
• Fortuitous Rejections

All It Takes

As if I don’t have enough to do, I have a series of meetings with government agencies the rest of this week. It seems they’ve stopped doing something very vital (paying me) and it’s causing a compromise in my agenda (paying my bills). Today’s meeting was striking because of the couple of questions that were asked asked. It was as though some angel were listening and watching and giving signals on what the job seeker should be doing during their interviews.

The precipitating questions were, “What is the highest grade you’ve completed in school?” and “Do you have any special education or training?”

In response to the first question, I answered two years of law school. In the back of my mind I was screaming and saying, “It wasn’t a grade as in high school. It was actual advanced studies.” But I just mildly responded without commentary. Commentary wasn’t necessary.

Things blossomed when I answered the second question. The litany went something on the order of:

• Mediation. In response to when, I said 1994.

• Tutoring. Literacy tutoring as well as youth tutoring. I wasn’t asked for the years in which these activities occurred and did not volunteer them.
• Disability accommodations for the visually impaired and through the Arthritis Foundation, learning disabilities, and several others that I can’t remember right now.
• Domestic violence. I’m a domestic violence advocate as well as a legal domestic violence advocate.

By that time, it was difficult to remember whether there was any additional “special training or education.” But that list that rolled off the top of my head begged the question,

“So do I get the job?”

The interviewer and I both laughed. With all of those qualifications, it was more than appropriate to ask. Yet how many job seekers do so? Scant to none is the answer I’d venture. Why so few who will ask for the job after more than qualifying theirselves for it? Perhaps modesty is the answer. Then again, perhaps it’s due to fear. But there’s nothing to fear. Fear of failure? No. With that list, there were only successes and those under one’s control who would sneak to be reunited with you in order to stay with the program and keep growing. There were not litanies of failure.

Job seekers need to rethink their interviewing strategies. Maybe all it takes to get the job is to ask for it.

Job Search Effectiveness

There are so many in the media who are more than enthusiastic about jumping on the “tight labor market” bandwagon. It seems like everyone and his neighbor is harping about how hard it is to find a job and the extraordinary lengths to which people need to go in order to find one.

Are you having trouble finding candidates who are qualified to fill your reqs?

On yesterday’s news, a guy was interviewed. He stands on a street corner everyday at 5:30 AM with a sheaf of his resume under his arm. He passes out his resume until 7:30 AM and then goes elsewhere to do other job search activities. He said he highlights a few things here and there in his resume and relies on the person who’s reading it to do some intuitive, active reading to draw lineals from one experience to another.

There’s a flaw in that thinking. Recruiters who review resumes only have about one minute, at best two, to see the matches for the job req they have on their desk. If it doesn’t jump out at them within that time, it goes into the slush pile until the next time they’re looking for that same generic job title.

The other thing this guy who stands on the street corner does is yet another of the sins he’s committing against himself. In the discussions, we’ve shared about the one-minute impressionand how that boils down into the 15- or 30-second elevator pitch. Apparently the resume distributor has those first three elements of the positive impression down pat.

But when it came to talking about what he wants, he dismally failed. The reporter was adept at asking what he’d done before. We got a vague answer about management here and supervision there but nothing we could sink our teeth into. (Maybe I wanted to go see this guy. I may have something to offer him.)

The reporter pressed on. The next question was what type of job the resume distributor wants. This was the moment. He was asking for the world and the world was at his feet. His answer was, “well, I’ll take whatever is out there at this point in time.” After going through all of the efforts, he had no specific job he is angling to get.

I have to wonder how his resume points anyone to the precise thing they want let alone what he wants. No matter what shape our economy is in, there are certain things that are just basics. They have to be there in order for us to get started on a good job search. The resume distributor has put together a job history on paper and made thousands of copies of it which he diligently gives away to every passerby. But he hasn’t done any type of evaluation of this document nor attempted to tailor it to his search. In fact, he hasn’t even shaped his search!

Resume Distributor had the opportunity of a lifetime dropped into his lap. The reporter for statewide radio news asked him what type of job he wanted. His 10 seconds of fame and opportunity were there. All he could come up with was “I’m open to anything right now.”

Maybe he should have said, “. . . anything related to XYZ industry.”

I’ll bet I could have gone to the Occupational Outlook Handbook and found at least a dozen job titles that are related to this guy’s last job. From there, we could have worked on finding some things that are good matches for his personality and background and started a job search for him.

Since Resume Distributor didn’t give any clues about his background, let’s choose a generic job title and see if we can brainstorm some related job titles.

Accountant
bookkeeper
tax preparer
auditor
financial analyst
financial advisor
IRS agent
inventory taker
stock clerk

It might be fun to try some other job titles and see what alternates come up. At least we’d have some things to think about in case, during these times of change, some categories are simply being phased out.

Options for Good-Paying Jobs

PayScale puts out a monthly newsletter that has some good, relevant articles. The reason I point this out is not for the sake of promoting their newsletter. The reason I point this out is because they’re featuring several articles that provide food for thought and encouragement in this seeming shrinking employment world.

First, you need to know that it isn’t necessary to get an advanced degree in order to earn big bucks. In “Best Jobs with 2-year Degrees,” ten different occupations are highlighted. What I want you to do is take into consideration the different industries that are represented by those ten occupations. They are

• health
• entertainment
• construction
• IT
• medicine – for animals
• electronics

Stop and consider that these industries represent something I spoken of several times in the past as enduring places for employment opportunities. They are in industries that are necessary for daily life. It’s surprising that food and food handling isn’t among these titles but veterinary medicine is pretty close.

Another thing I recommend as you pore over this list is to get a copy of the Occupational Outlook Handbook in sight so that as you look at these occupations, you can get a good idea of some job titles and occupations that are very closely related to them. In that way, you’re not stuck in yet another glutted market and nowhere to turn. With alternatives, the options can be limitless.

The Women Focus

PayScale’s focus is pretty savvy. They are fully aware that women have been striving for decades to achieve income parity in high paying occupations.  So it shouldn’t be surprising that in this month’s newsletter they feature the “Best-Paying Careers for Women.”

Not only do they discuss the options that are family amenable for those who have not yet started raising families, they also talk about things to consider as you make those choices. It’s no longer an “all or nothing” or a “his options or nothing” consideration. It is now possible for women to have a good sounding trumpet in the choices available.

Additional Topics

There are a couple of other related articles in the newsletter that talk about high-paying green jobs and how to choose a career path. Unfortunately, the green jobs they discuss are all C-level titles such as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Information Officer, and so on. And there’s not a lot of detail provided about being a greenie. I’d recommend you pass on that article.

Likewise, the piece that discusses choosing a career path is done in broad (but useful) brushstrokes. There are no recommendations for evaluative tests to identify interests and strengths. Instead, they rely on personal history for failure and success. These do have some merit and for that reason I would say take a glance at “Expert Tips for Choosing a Career Path.”