A Practical Guide For The Recently Unemployed

It has happened to virtually all of us at one point or another in our career - we find ourselves unemployed one day. Sometimes it comes as a shock, and sometimes, we probably saw it coming, but either way, it never gets any easier. But, if I have learned one thing over the decades, it is that each time we find ourselves unemployed, we have actually been handed an amazing opportunity to better our careers and ourselves.

Three years ago today, I found myself in just that spot and I used what life threw at me that day as a catalyst to improve a number of things in my life, including my career path. I’m not saying that I have all the answers, nor am I saying that my advice is the only advice you should listen to when you find yourself unemployed one morning, but I thought I would compile the lessons I learned being let go to perhaps help someone else out there who ends up in the same situation.

So, take a deep breath, know that everything is going to be OK, and whether you were let go from your job today, last month, or know that it might be just around the corner, I hope at least some part of my experience will help you on your journey.

Click here to read A Practical Guide For The Recently Unemployed.

"Can't Someone Else Do It?"

I walk for an hour early in the morning before work everyday in a big, sprawling parking structure. It gives me a chance to counteract all of the snacks I am going to eat that night, provides me with an hour of quiet reading and reflection, and inadvertently, also gives me the chance to witness something very few people who work in a business complex see...an actual person picking up all of the trash that gets left on the concrete floor of the parking structure.

I've been walking in that parking structure every weekday morning for about a year now, and I have seen everything from a rotting banana to a single Cheez-It, to more than a few used Band-Aids, and items that have ranged in size from a paperclip to a stack of empty boxes and packaging material six feet high. One morning, there was even a discarded and obviously used condom. And what amazes me, yet fails to surprise me each time I walk past discarded items like these, is that a member of the human collective - someone who most likely is educated, has enough of a work ethic to hold down a job, and perhaps, like me, began their career in a service job - made the very deliberate and at least somewhat conscious effort to leave that item on the concrete floor of the parking structure and then drive or walk away.

I’m often also amazed at how close some of these items are left to one of the two trashcans that are on every level of the parking structure. While I don’t accept the excuse, I do at least slightly understand the frustration one might have at walking a couple hundred feet to a trashcan, but you’d be surprised at how many of these discarded items are literally within a toss-length of those trashcans.

Seeing these discarded items oft reminds me of that venerable episode of The Simpsons where the haphazard and lovingly ever-clueless embodiment of the stereotypical American, Homer Simpson, runs for Springfield Trash Service Commissioner under the slogan, "Can't someone else do it?" Homer runs on a whim, driven by completely controllable circumstances that spiraled out of control due to his own laziness, driving him to seek revenge by dethroning the sitting Trash Service Commissioner instead of holding himself accountable for his own actions. Homer’s slogan and promise that everyone in the town will no longer be responsible for picking up their own trash thanks to his garbage men naturally get him elected in a landslide victory.

In fact, just about every time I have walked past one of those discarded items on the parking structure floor, I have laughed a bit to myself and asked in my best Homer voice in my head, “Can’t someone else do it?”

I sometimes find myself wondering if the people that leave these items lying there on the floor, whether dropped out of their car while sitting, or dropped before or after getting out of the car, realize that at some point, another person is going to have to come along and pick up their garbage for them. I wonder if they think, perhaps, that the garbage is not picked up by a person at all – that maybe there is one of those magic parking-lot-cleaning vacuum trucks that does all the work. And then, of course, I wonder if perhaps they don’t even think about it at all. It’s just trash, and trash goes on the ground, and they don’t care one bit what happens to it or who it might effect.

Maybe it’s the fact that I spent my formative teenage years working thankless service jobs that ranged from bagging groceries to making cookie dough, to selling children’s clothes, to loading delivery trucks by hand, or the fact that at some point in each of those jobs, I was the one picking up the trash, but I can’t say that I have ever simply tossed trash on the ground and just walked away. I definitely have never thought there wasn’t someone that was going to have to come along and pick up that trash at some point. I’ll spare you the environmentalist lecture on the side effects all that trash has on our environment, but will still lightly touch on the fact that the people that discard these items have to at least realize all the trash lining our roads and highways most likely came from folks like them.

The bottom line is that I have always been aware that whether being picked up by hand or picked up by a vacuum truck or other machine operated by a person, there was in fact, a person out there that would be the one who had to pick up my trash if I just left it lying there on the ground. And I simply cannot figure out why it seems there are so many people out there that do not share this understanding.

I really wish each and every one of the people who toss their garbage on the floor of that parking structure could be there early in the morning when I watch a living, breathing human being have to bend down, take other people’s trash into his own hand and repeat this over and over again. I wish they could see this person who still somehow manages to greet me with a smile each morning being the “someone else” in “Can’t someone else do it?”

4th Of July: A Time To Celebrate Hard Work

Every 4th of July for the past 12 years, at about 8:30 PM, you would have found me standing up on the sidewalk above our neighborhood, waiting for the City of Aliso Viejo fireworks display to start. There is this perfect spot right there on the sidewalk where not only can I see the fireworks display from my city, but also no less than six other fireworks displays across the valley. While the trees have grown over the years, blocking more and more of the fireworks each year, and the length and size of the displays have grown and shrunk with the ups and downs of the economy, each and every single year has still been a sight to behold.

Some years, I’ve been up there in shorts and a polo shirt, sweating because it has been so hot, and other years, I’ve been up there in pants, a polo shirt and a jacket, and still been cold. But, one thing has remained constant year after year - each and every time I stand there waiting for those fireworks to start, I am grateful to the people who made this nation in which I live possible, and each and every person who has touched my life in some way, leading me to that very moment, standing there on that sidewalk.

The people I think of the most as I wait for the fireworks that honor the struggles of our nation are the people who taught me that with hard work and dedication, technically, anything is possible. Each time I stand there, I look back on each and every previous year, and I find myself better off each year than I was the year before. And to what do I owe this continual betterment, year after year? You guessed it...hard work.

Two of the hardest working people I have ever met in the course of my life are my grandparents, who despite coming from big families that did not have much, managed to work hard all their lives, raise two children, three grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and to this day continue to help, guide and inspire a whole mess of other kids and young adults whose lives they touch. They are two of the most giving and generous people I have ever encountered, and while still from humble means, give more than could ever be expected of anyone. And their ability to give has come from, you guessed it...their hard work.

And the benefit of hard work is the lesson they continue to teach each and every one of us, every day. In fact, my grandparents have a wonderful poem about hard work hanging on their kitchen wall right next to their pictures of all of us. It was given to my grandmother by a friend, and she has always taken great pride in not only displaying the proverb, but sharing its message with us.

I recently set out to find the origins of the poem which has appeared in numerous publications over the past hundred years and has been attributed to more than a few sources, including an Indian self-help guru, a Norwegian magazine editor and an author that to the best of my knowledge never actually existed. Even though I could not pin down the poem’s actual and true origin or it’s original title, I wanted to share it with you exactly as it has appeared on my grandparents’ wall for as long as I can remember:

Work. Work. Work.

If you are poor, work. If you are rich, work. If you are burdened with seemingly unfair responsibilities, work.

If you are happy, continue to work; idleness gives room for doubts and fears. If sorrow overwhelms you, and loved ones seem not true, work. If disappointments come, work.

If faith falters and reason fails, just work. When dreams are shattered and hopes seem dead – work. Work as if your life were in peril, it really is.

No matter what ails you, work. Work faithfully, and work with faith. Work is the greatest material remedy available. Work will cure both mental and physical afflictions.

So, this 4th of July, at about 8:30 PM, I am going to be up there on that sidewalk, waiting for the fireworks to start, remembering all of the hard work that got us to that very moment and anticipating all of the hard work that is going to guide our lives over the coming 365 days until I find myself in that exact spot again next year. I hope you will join me today in not only reflecting on the hard work and dedication that went into the birth of this nation, but also in not forgetting that it is hard work and dedication that makes so much in our lives possible.

Hard Work vs. Panhandling

I know in today’s modern, progressive American society where every child gets a trophy and they are all “#1”, we’re not supposed to compare people to each other, but I recently experienced two very different spectrums of humanity over the course of a week that I just had to share.

As many of you know, we have been involuntarily re-piping all of the water pipes in our house thanks to the perfect combination of the bureaucracy that put way too much crap in the water that comes into our house and the regulatory bodies that made it perfectly legal to build my house with only the second highest grade of five possible quality grades of copper pipe. Naturally, corrosive water and cheap pipes resulted in an unbelievable amount of water leaks in our neighborhood, including six in my home over the course of a year.

As part of this re-pipe project, during a walk-through by the construction company overseeing the work crews, I was instructed to cover just about everything in the entire house in plastic tarps to save it from being covered in a very fine, but very difficult to remove layer of drywall dust. We took all the pictures off the walls, boxed up every knick-knack in the house, and then, the evening before the re-pipe was to begin, planned to cover every piece of furniture and anything not in a box in plastic.

Being the frugal individual you all know me to be, I proceeded directly to the closest Walmart to get the plastic tarps I would need to cover all of my earthly possessions from the impending, menacing drywall dust.

So, this is when I found myself leaving the Walmart parking lot, as I so often do, after a full and long day of working, prior to heading home. Plastic tarps...check! Having to go home and spend hours prepping the house for the re-pipe instead of relaxing after having worked all day...check!

Now, if you’ve ever visited the Walmart in Laguna Niguel, California, you also will have noticed that nine times out of ten when you leave the parking lot, there is a member of our not-so-transient homeless community sitting at the exit with a sign, asking you to part with some of your money on your way out of the parking lot.

You can call me heartless and selfish and so many things worse, but you will never see my car stop to hand these folks some of the money that I have earned by working day in and day out for the past 25 years. Call it a personal choice. Do I give to charity? You bet. Do I also part ways with nearly 30% of the money I earn each and every year and send it to the local, state and federal governments, which provide programs that help the less fortunate? Guilty as charged! Do I put icing on that cake by handing more money to the folks asking for it around town? No, I do not. Bless those of you that do, but I’ve made my decision and I’m sticking to it.

But this particular evening, I did slow down a bit as I passed the person manning this corner on which there is always someone with a sign, soliciting donations to their own private cause because he definitely did not fit the mold of the usual types of folks manning that corner. I was in disbelief. There, sitting on an empty milk crate, was a young man, easily older than a high school senior, but definitely not much older than your average college graduate; a good-looking guy, about 6 feet tall, fit and overtly muscular, though he was wearing a loose-fitting jacket.

So, let me get this straight...You are younger than me...you are taller than me...you are definitely in much better shape than me, yet I worked all day, and here you are, not working, asking me to give you some of the money I worked for today.

Now I hear all you voices of reason out there, coming down on me for not knowing this man’s circumstances and all of the reasons that he was on that corner with that sign, but as someone who has worked every type of job from manual labor to sitting at a desk as well as managing teams in both types of jobs, trust me when I tell you I think I am a pretty good judge of character of who is physically and mentally capable of working, and this kid was a Soviet propaganda minister’s dream.

Now that we have established the first point of my comparison, let me flash forward a few days for you. I spent that evening covering everything in plastic and prepping the house, and then spent the next two days working from home, holed up in one of our spare bedrooms while the re-pipe company’s hard working team ripped apart my drywall, pulled out my horrible copper piping and replaced it with brand new non-metal piping that is supposed to still be leak free long after I leave this world. While I had these teams of hard-working, polite and very respectful gentlemen working so hard on my house to fix my plumbing, I could not help but think back to the kid with the sign asking for money on the corner. But, that’s still not even the hard-working counterpoint in my comparison.

The locking doorknob and that leads from the house into the garage has been giving me trouble for some time. It’s original equipment from when they built the house back in 1997, and while I had the innards rebuilt and rekeyed back in 2002, it was very safe to say it was time to replace this lock. I gingerly locked and unlocked it each day, prolonging its life as best I could. You remember that part about me being frugal, right? But, with all of the in and out, opening and closing of that door through the first two days of the re-pipe project, by the time I was closing up shop that second afternoon, my lock was done for. There would be no more ginger-ness - it was time to replace it.

Wanting to keep the same keys, I did a Google search for a locksmith and the top search yielded a small, local operation that had some really great reviews. The reviews all said that the proprietor of this locksmith company was a young guy, but that he really knew his stuff. My Friday afternoon call to this locksmith was promptly answered and I set an appointment for Monday afternoon, following what would be day five of the six-day re-pipe project.

The locksmith did ask that I go ahead and purchase the locks I wanted him to install, but he was able to tell me over the phone the exact replacements I needed because my locks were no longer made. In fact, he was a little surprised I was still using locks that old, but said he could make quick work of rekeying the new locks to my existing key.

So, Saturday sees the first day of drywall repair, Sunday sees a day off from home refurbishment, and Monday sees me working from home in my holed up spot again. Then, Monday afternoon, just as scheduled, there is a knock on the front door, and standing there is a skinny, scrawny little guy that looks like he could still be a college student, with his locksmith license in a lanyard badge around his neck, wearing shorts and a T-shirt that says “Locksmith” on it. If you had seen this kid walking down the street, you’d have thought he was going home to do his homework.

I invite him in and after some small talk, he sets to work on rekeying the locks I had purchased. Just as he said he would, he made quick work of it, explaining to me that he installed the new locking doorknob and deadbolt I purchased, but did not swap out the strike plates in the door frame because with the door frame being sheet metal, the strike plates I already had were a much better option than the ones that came with the knob and deadbolt. He showed me how the deadbolt was hitting the strike plate a bit, but said he would modify it as needed so it would be a much better fit.

After modifying the strike plate and reinstalling it, the job was done. It took a little over half an hour, and I was amazed at how well this young tradesman had breezed through the work. I asked him what I owed him, he produced a price list, and then quoted me a price that I thought to be very reasonable and fair for the job he did. I paid him cash, told him to keep the $5 in change I was due, and he then proceeded to tell me that since he had some time to spare before his next call, if I wasn’t too busy, that he would show me something about my front door lock that I should be concerned about.

He then proceeded to show me that my front door lock, being almost 20 years old now, predated a security feature that prevents a thief from making a make-shift key that would unlock my front door with just this key and a quick, carefully placed tap. He demonstrated the maneuver for me on a spare lock he kept just for demonstration purposes as to not do any damage to my lock. And after showing me this extremely easy trick that someone could use to unlock my door, he offered to fix it for me for free since he had the time and I had been such a good customer.

This young tradesman not only put in the security measure necessary to keep my lock from opening with a makeshift key, but also proceeded to tell me that when he was cleaning my front door lock, also free of charge, he noticed the original construction pins were still in the lock. He said that this was a concern because somewhere out there could be a storage facility from the original builder of my house that held a key that would open my front door. He then told me that I no longer needed to worry about that, though, because in addition to adding the new security measure and cleaning my lock for free, he also removed the construction pins as well. He said the chances of the original construction company key surfacing were low, but even if it did happen now, the key would no longer open the door. I had a very experienced commercial locksmith out in 2002 that rekeyed that very same lock for me and never mentioned any of this to me.

With my front door lock cleaned and refurbished, as well as more strongly secured than when he arrived, this young tradesman thanked me for my business and went on to his next call. As I closed the door and began to clean up the house from that day’s re-pipe work, I could not help but think back to the guy with the sign – who was bigger, stronger, taller, and more fit than either me or my new locksmith friend, though the locksmith and the guy with the sign definitely seemed to be about the same age.

Two young Americans – one already an experienced tradesman, knowledgeable and a credit to his profession who was running his own business – and one sitting on an empty crate on the corner of the Walmart parking lot with a sign, begging for money. You say that I am not supposed to compare these two young men to each other, and I say not comparing them does the biggest disservice imaginable to this country, our people, our children, and these two young men.

Photo via Pexels

When Something Remarkable Happens

Two years ago today, something remarkable happened. A job that I held for a little over seven years came to an end. The remarkable part, however, is the blessing that job ending turned out to be.

When we become unemployed, we are naturally faced with the uncertainty of how long it is going to take us to find that next job, and if we’re living paycheck to paycheck, even with a little severance pay and some stored up vacation time pay, it has the potential to be a really nerve-wracking experience.

But like I said, something pretty remarkable happened that day. When I walked out the lobby door of the building I had worked in for over seven years straight, I found myself walking to my car with a smile on my face and a sense of relief. Granted, I had planned financially for just this type of eventuality, so my cushion was there, but money aside, even in that first hour of being officially unemployed, I felt a sense of opportunity and freedom.

That is because every time in life a journey ends, a new journey begins, and it is important for us to remember that. No matter how bad an experience, no matter how shocking (or anticipated) an unexpected event can be, if we’re still breathing, then there is still a chance to turn a potential crisis into an opportunity. And if we play our cards right, we can turn that unexpected event into something really positive.

In my case, this job ending afforded me the opportunity to reflect on the past seven years with ample time to really look into what was positive and what was negative about the experience. The wonderful thing about life’s potential challenges is that they provide us with crystal clear insight into the lessons each of us is supposed to learn.

By taking the time necessary to reflect, analyze and gain an understanding of this remarkable event, I was able to truly know what I wanted my next move to be, and what I needed to do to accomplish it. I also was able to analyze and understand exactly what it was going to take to ensure I re-experienced the positives of this seven-year stint as well as ensure I did not re-experience the negatives. This reflection allowed me to conduct a job search over the next two months that put my career and so many other aspects of my life on an even better trajectory than it already had been.

So, when faced with a change, it is important that we stay calm, not only look at the positive, but also gain a true understanding of the negative, so we can learn from both, and above all, remember that just because one of life’s journeys has come to an end, a far better journey may be just around the corner.

"...How That CAN Work For Me."

You’re reading the latest article by your favorite life coach, business coach, or some other expert. You believe this person has the expertise in a subject you want to learn more about. You plug through the intro and are feeling great about what you are reading. Either you already know this person knows their stuff, or you’re coming to know that fact quickly as you read.

Then, it happens. You’ve finished reading the part in the piece that provides the instructions you should follow and it’s time for you to take action and implement the expert’s advice in your own life. You trust the person knows what they are talking about and you know their method has worked for them, but as soon as that guru tells you to try the same exact thing, your mind instantly drifts to “Well, that worked for you, but there is no way that will work for me.”

It’s hard not to think that someone’s advice based on his or her own experience with the subject will never work for you, so you are not alone. Especially if you have tried similar things in the past, but did not achieve the promised results. And while you’ll soon see that I make this statement with tongue in cheek, I am here to tell you that you are 100% correct! In most cases, the same exact thing this expert did WILL NOT work out exactly the same for you. That is because you are a different person (each of us is unique, right?) and your circumstances, while possibly similar, are not exactly the same as their circumstances.

That being said, the point of this piece is not to discourage you by telling you that you are right in thinking someone’s exact advice will not work exactly the same way for you, but to tell you that you can still heed the advice, but first, must modify that advice just enough so that it becomes practical for your own personal scenario. Don’t just throw your hands up in the air and say “Well, that will never work for me!” but instead, pause for a moment and say, “Let me see how that CAN work for me!”

The shortest route from point A to point B is a straight line, and while that may be true, when you are driving, the route that takes the least amount of time from point A to point B can change based on the driver, the type of car they are driving, their personal driving style (and speed at which they are comfortable driving), traffic patterns at that time of day as well as the influence on the route by other drivers, such as the impact caused by an accident. And just like driving from point A to point B, you should keep in mind there is more than one way to get where you need to go in life, and the shortest amount of time to traverse life’s journey can boil down to the individual making the trek.

So, instead of immediately stomping your feet and saying there is no way the route that person took will ever work for you, keep an open mind, observe, contemplate, and then apply what you already know about the subject and yourself. Factor all of this together with the knowledge their exact route to success will not work exactly the same for you, but then apply their advice to your own situation, again by thinking, “Let me see how that CAN work for me.”

Photo via StockSnap

A Guide To Constantly Working

Are you the member of your family, group of friends and league of associates that is constantly working, and constantly deflecting the notion that working too much is unhealthy for your body, mind and relationships? While I have been fortunate enough to not run into this too much in my life, I know a lot of you so-called "workaholics" may run into a lot of flack for "working too much". So, to help you out, I've created a guide based on some principles that have allowed me to keep constantly working while maintaining my health, sanity and personal relationships, and also, still live a happy, balanced life.

Click here to read A Guide to Constantly Working.

Photo by Ruslan Burlaka via Pexels

How To Trick Yourself Into Making The Leap To Your Next Job

I recently read a great annual recap post from a successful entrepreneur that asked, what has been your biggest take-away or key learning this year? I responded to the post by stating my biggest take-away for 2015 was that we should all make a leap we might be a little afraid to make, whatever that leap might be. Win or lose, we’ll be better off for having tried, and when it turns out to be a fantastic move, even better!

My comment stemmed from an actual event in my life in 2015, a job change that turned out to be an absolutely fantastic move. Without getting into too many details, I had a job I truly enjoyed, was working with a great team made up of a group of folks that I loved working with (and spending time with), but sadly, was also at a place that didn’t really align with my values. Ultimately, it just wasn’t the right place for me.

While I thought about leaving, my commitment to finish the job I started, the desire to continue working with the team I had grown to love, and that natural fear we all have of changing jobs, kept me from looking. It wasn’t until I was lucky enough to hear about some changes that were going to effect me that I finally decided to start my job search.

Fortunately, by the time those changes were put in place, I had already secured a great new job at a great new company with a great new team. But, I’m not just spinning a yarn here, folks, I have a purpose. See, I’ve changed jobs twice in the past two years, following two seven-year stints in a row, and on each occasion, when looking back, I probably should have changed jobs sooner than I did. Now, while I believe everything worked out perfectly for me, I can also sympathize with all of you out there who might not be working the job you really want, or working for the right company, but find yourself in a spot where you are afraid, or maybe just reluctant, to make the leap you know you should be making.

Trust me, you are not alone. I know a lot of great people who aren’t necessarily happy with the job they have, but share that same fear of beginning a job search, especially if they worry an employer getting wind of their decision to leave might retaliate in some way. Fortunately, though, I have a little exercise that might help.

The last thing anyone working a full-time job wants to do is take the time to find another job after working all day, but we all know it is much more beneficial on many levels to conduct a job search while still employed. Though being unemployed provides much more free time to conduct a job search, it can also negatively impact confidence and even result in job seekers accepting a job offer that might not be right for them.

So, here is what I propose you do to find the motivation to conduct the job search you might be reluctant to start. Go to work next Monday and work a normal day. Do your job just as well as you always do, and when you walk out the door to go home that night, pretend your boss just took you aside as you were walking out and told you he or she just discovered you are going to be let go in six weeks.

Think about the scenario for a second. If this actually happened to you, what would you do? Would you go home and lounge on the couch in front of the TV, or would you get to work finding a new job?

I understand this might take a little effort and almost seem silly to convince yourself this mock layoff warning has occurred, but I promise you this – if you can truly take this little ruse to heart and pretend you have just six weeks until you’re out the door, you’ll do what you need to do to ensure you find that next job!

Start by updating your resume, portfolio, website and LinkedIn profile, and asking colleagues for recommendations. Ask past employers and colleagues to serve as references. You’ll be surprised how quickly you can get everything for your job search lined up once you actually get over the fear of making that leap and start these tasks.

Go to work every day and keep doing the amazing job you’ve always done, and every night, every weekend, every lunch break, look for the job you really want – with the commute, salary, culture, company and team that will make this move a fantastic one!

If you have been contemplating making that leap for some time, but have been reluctant for whatever reason, this little “six week fire drill” might surprise you! If you really buy into it, put your nose to the grindstone, and work the job postings and your network, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the progress you can make in those six weeks.

With the average job search taking two months, by the time you reach the six week mark from that imaginary layoff warning from your boss, you might just be well on your way to a couple great job offers. In my case, by the six week mark, I had already turned down an offer for the salary being too low, was in the final round of interviews for a job I knew I would love, and waiting on a job offer from the fabulous company I’ve loved working for over the past four months.

Make that leap, my friends! Win or lose, you’ll be better off for having tried.

Screen capture by William L. Savastano