Get Your Neighbor a Job
It’s difficult not to know that we are suffering on many levels in this country and around the world. Thirty million unemployed and counting. Thousands of furloughed workers who have now been laid off. It goes without saying that we are in a crisis and will have to reinvent ourselves and our country simultaneously. It might be too difficult to try to tackle the entire country and world, but we sure can help ourselves and our friends and neighbors.
I have always enjoyed scouting jobs for friends, even to the point of picking up the phone and calling a company to pitch a particular person for a position. Interesting how that can translate into an actual job for someone.
The first time I did this I was a mere eighteen years old. My mother had recently gone through the divorce wringer and was feeling not only betrayed but broke. At the time, I was working at Sears Roebuck in Denver while I was on summer break from college. I marched into the personnel office and pitched my mother for a position on the sales floor. I guess I made a good pitch or just amused them because they told me if she came down to apply they would give her a job. My mother worked at Sears for twenty years and when she was forced to retire, I got her a slot at a candle shop, where she worked another ten years. I thought it was the most natural thing in the world to do. Someone needs a job and I go and get it for them.
A few years later, when I was moving to Frankfurt, Germany, I sent a hundred letters to American companies asking for a job; only one was answered, earning me a slot at General Motors GMBH. When I arrived, my new boss, Art Novick was perplexed when he saw me. He thought he was hiring the Karen Nelson who was his former girlfriend.
After an awkward minute or so, I asked, “Should I go?”
He took a quick pause, then congenially replied, “No, you can stay.”
After a few months, GM announced that it was closing the Frankfurt site. To my surprise, Art went out of his way to find new jobs for the staff at another company. Never before or since have I experienced such generosity of spirit. For the next thirty years, I found myself following in the footsteps of Art, seeking new employment opportunities for friends and colleagues.
Now, with so, so many people on the brink of financial disaster and experiencing emotional despair due to COVID, it’s imperative to reach out and help someone. Your connection could be a lifeline for someone else. You’ll feel better and your neighbor certainly will feel better.
Just like wearing a mask to protect others, helping to find employment for those in need will help all of us manage better during these tragic times.
Get more tips about getting out of your own way in Your Self Sabotage Survival Guide by Karen Berg: https://tinyurl.com/y786t4ax