is the owner and operator of an outplacement firm in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. He shared some of his insights on job identity with field editor
FEAR IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE for people who find themselves in involuntary job transitions. They're afraid they won't be able to find other jobs, or at least not one of the same stature. With men, especially, but also women, the fear has a lot to do with self-esteem. Being out of work can feel like a degrading experience, especially if you're the sole or primary breadwinner for the family.
I try to get clients to understand that their job wasn't their identity. Therefore, being jobless isn't their identity either. I go through several exercises with each person, identifying the qualities he or she brings both to work and to everyday experience. Then we gather that information together and recognize it as the expression of that person's individual identity.
I don't say this to people, but our identity comes from God. It's our oneness with Him. The more we recognize that, the more we progress in our lives. I never talk about these points explicitly at the office, but I definitely have a spiritual perspective that guides me in my work. Before I meet a client for the first time, I pray not to make judgments based on the person's appearance or on whatever the company refering the person may have told me about him or her. Instead, I try to see the Christ when that person comes through the door. By that, I mean that I try to see God's likeness, which is the true identity of each and every one of us.
I work diligently to see the many valuable qualities clients possess, and then to help them recognize and express those qualities. I also encourage them to disregard what conventional wisdom says makes or breaks a successful job search. One interesting result of this is that I rarely have a sense of how old people are—and I don't try to figure it out. I honestly don't believe age can keep a person from doing the work he or she is meant to do.
Each of us is valuable and has a place in God's plan. Each of us is needed and will be able to fulfill whatever is required of us. We should expect our work to be fulfilling both in its reward and in its potential for personal growth. Jesus said, "The labourer is worthy of his hire," so I encourage job seekers to expect an outcome that's worthy of their abilities. Luke 10:7 .
Working with clients to identify the qualities they bring to their work and their lives helps them approach the job-search process from a higher perspective. It also helps them avoid getting caught up in the conventional wisdom that says you can be too young or too old to find a job easily. Or that women find jobs faster than men but don't get paid as much.
It's typical for outplacement firms to have people fill out forms that identify them by labels such as age, family status, ethnicity, and so on. It all sounds practical, but I don't want clients to focus on those things. I want them to zero in on the qualities they possess. Doing this frees them from thinking of themselves in terms of labels. And, almost always, that results directly in finding jobs.
JUST ABOUT EVERY CLIENT I've worked with begins to get job offers when he or she becomes comfortable with this quality-constituted view of his or her identity. Frequently, the things people thought would be impossible for them to do turn out to be very possible. Opportunities they didn't recognize early on suddenly become clear to them. It happens over and over again. Often, people end up with two or three job offers to choose from.
One of our regular activities is to have each job candidate describe his or her ideal job, including the tangible and intangible aspects of it. I ask candidates to list all the elements they would like in a working environment, and I tell them not to worry about whether this job description makes sense or even exists. My only requirement is that they already have the qualifications to do the job or can become qualified in a relatively short time, or that they have the resources to carry them through a longer reeducation process if necessary.
A WHILE BACK I had a client whose career path included extensive experience on Wall Street as a securities analyst. He had an economics degree and other experience in finance and administration. So, naturally, when he was in a job transition, he was looking for work along those lines. But when he looked into his "heart of hearts" for what he really wanted to do, he came to a surprisingly different conclusion. He wound up opening an art studio!
I learned of his early interest in art and illustration as we were preparing materials for his job search. When he had first entered college, his goal was to obtain a degree in fine art. But his college experience was interrupted by a four-year hitch in the military. By the time he was discharged, he was a husband and father, and his priorities had changed. Instead of returning to his original liberal arts school, he enrolled in a business college and pursued a career in finance.
We're not victims of fate. I see God's hand in our being.
After several weeks of looking for a position that conventional wisdom deemed logical, my client met the owner of an antique shop. The shop owner was on a quest for someone to repair several antique paintings and their frames. My client recognized this as an opportunity to demonstrate his abilities, even though he had never undertaken anything like this in a professional capacity. The shop owner agreed to let him try his hand at the repair work. The results were outstanding. That project led to a business relationship with the shop owner that quickly spawned a small studio specializing in art preservation, conservation, and restoration. Since its start-up, the studio has moved to larger facilities three times because of increased business. And recent assignments have broadened the scope of the business to include the creation of original art and illustration.
IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, I'm aware that prayer was involved in this man's job search. To me, prayer means being alert to our real spiritual essence, or identity, instead of getting boxed in by what we feel our experiences are dictating. I don't talk with clients about prayer, but the exercises I give them foster this kind of alertness.
I don't think we have an option about whether we express God or not. Ultimately, that's what we have to do, because that's our innate being. Sometimes we get in the way of our expression of God by adopting labels that limit us, but those labels don't change who we are. Underneath, we're still expressions of God. Being that expression is our real employment. That's the job God has "hired" us to do—forever. We can't avoid it or retire from it.
I often get people as outplacement assignments who tell me that they are considering retirement as an option. We still go through the outplacement process. They still need to have a feeling of purpose. They still need to understand that they have value and are needed. Maybe they won't wind up going to the office every day and getting a paycheck, but they'll still be using their skills and pursuing their interests. So, whatever it is they go on to do should be as close to their ideal job description as possible.
It's understood that no single job will perfectly match anyone's absolute ideal. But keeping the ideal in mind helps in negotiations with potential employers. Also, in lots of cases, people are hired for jobs that haven't yet been fully described. There's a phrase I've coined called "job in the mind." By that I mean that there's a need for certain kinds of skill sets, attributes, and/or levels of experience, but the employer hasn't yet identified those needs as an actual position. When the candidate comes along who fills those needs, a job often springs out of that.
We're not victims of fate. I see God's hand in our being. We are impelled toward things, sometimes in spite of ourselves. Going back to Bible times, Paul didn't set out to become an advocate for Jesus. On the contrary, he persecuted Christians. Then, suddenly, he was struck blind and had to reexamine his direction in life. He went on to become one of the most significant religious leaders of all time. I think many of us are stopped in our tracks at some point, which gives us an opportunity to open our eyes to who we really are and what we're really supposed to be doing.
That's what makes my job so much fun. I get to witness people discovering who they are—and really liking the self they discover.
