Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Typically I will use every other month to reflect on the key article written the month prior, responding to questions and comments from readers on the previous issue.  I recently strayed from my normal format by writing back to back articles on “Seeing Beyond Barriers to a Person’s Possibility”, and hence, have received some great questions and comments from both articles.  In the spirit of keeping these articles to a reasonable length, I used last month and this month as follow-up issues in order to field as many of the questions as I can.  For those who haven’t read them, you might want to go back and read the original articles from April and June which prompted these queries.

Are we “playing with fire” or “working with fire” - Revisited

The reader I am replying to in this issue wrote in response to the following question and answer published in last month’s issue.  Because it is brief, I thought we might revisit the original text to which this month's reader is responding.     

Reader Response:  Denise, your response to this question in the July newsletter was off base.  Your belief that ignoring the job market-especially in our current economy, is rather foolish.  Are you saying that EVERYONE should pursue their dreams, and ultimately they will reach their vocational goals, regardless of external factors?  I would love to do something more creative, and more fulfilling, however doing so would mean losing a significant portion of my income.  Not all dreams are made to be met by vocation.  Whatever happened to pursuing your joys as a hobby or volunteer position?  I doubt your local garbage man aspired to do that work, however we live in a society where we need money to pay for essentials-not all of our talents, dreams, and desires will lead to a job or career that can sustain us - nor should they.  What is wrong with a job for the sake of having work?  What you say sounds good on paper, but a little dose of realism will go a long way.  Why should an employer go out of their way to "carve” a position when there are 100 unemployed people out there willing to take the job without conditions?  Ignorance of economic factors and what the job market can support does not help those to whom you preach your "follow your dreams philosophy", unless they are prepared to be unemployed for quite a while.  Why does society have "regular" jobs at all then?  Some conformity is necessary and always has been-That's Life! Not all ball players will make it to the major leagues, no matter how bad they may want it or dream of it.

First of all, I would like to thank this reader for so openly and passionately countering my suggestions. Obviously this is something the reader has thought a lot about, feels deeply about, and has struggled with in helping people find work, as well as in his own livelihood.  I have chosen to respond to this letter because I think it may reflect the mindset of many professionals in our field and I believe that it is a viewpoint that deserves careful and deliberate consideration.  Because there are different questions embedded within this response, I have taken the liberty of separating them into what I see as distinct and independent issues.

Treating job market information as a window or a wall?

To begin with, I would agree with the reader that it would indeed be foolish to ignore the job market or turn a blind eye to real economic factors at work in one’s local economy.  Where we disagree is in the distinction between “ignoring” the current job market and “completely limiting” oneself to what one perceives there.  To me, taking into account what local employers say they need and want is just good, basic job development, and as such, I put a lot of attention in my book and in my training on “quality employer assessment”.  Knowing what they are asking for, however, is just the springboard for further inquiry.  Rather than treat job market information as a wall that we run up against, it should be treated as a window that we open, look out from, and lean into for further exploration.  

There is a huge difference between simply responding to job orders that employers send our way and actually entering a dialogue with employers about how best to meet their needs.  Helping the employer to uncover the essentials behind a job description and its requisite qualifications is, in part, what sets true job development apart from job placement. To me, simply taking job market data at face value without scratching below the surface is to operate as “order-takers” in a field that entreats us to perform more as vocational consultants.  Job market information is readily available to job seekers via the internet and a whole host of services and agencies.  I think what individuals need from us is to go a step beyond that so they might have an advantage over the vast number of applicants competing for the same advertised openings in the open job market.   

Why would an employer carve a position for someone when there are a hundred other applicants who would take the job “as is”?

The employer’s most basic and urgent need is to recruit the best person for the job, the person with whom there is the greatest chance of productivity, job satisfaction, and job retention.  Where do you think you are more likely to find reap these benefits – from someone with whom you have molded and shaped the job to fit their needs, abilities and interests, or from someone in a long line-up of applicants who is willing to take any job in order to meet next month’s rent? 

Ask any employer, the time it takes to carve or accommodate a position for the right person who will stay on the job is more than justified when compared to the incredibly high cost of having to recruit and then replace the employee who took mistakenly accepted the job “as is”.  Plus, when the time and attention has been invested to develop a position that works for both the employee and the employer, a partnership has been made and a path has been forged where future opportunities may be developed. Does this approach require more effort and tenacity on the part of the job developer or the job seeker in order to enter that kind of relationship with the employer? You bet it does!  But as we know so well from experience, as we sow, so we reap.   

Is conformity necessary?

With regard to this part of the reader’s line of questioning, well, I could write a treatise in response.  Instead, I will simply say that just because McDonald’s and Wal-Mart enjoy enormous consumer success, doesn’t mean that I have to partake in the fast-food culture or cease to patronize the local shopkeepers. I don’t need to argue my taste or take fault with those in the mainstream, but I can make a different choice.  I would not argue with job seekers who restrict their search to available openings, in fact, I think its’ important to consider all possibilities, including those in the open job market.  The question I pose is, “Why would you stop there when there are additional ways of expanding your opportunities?”  My first fifteen years in the work world were spent in positions that I applied for in the mainstream job market.  It worked for me just as it has worked for millions. Once I discovered alternative ways of viewing employment, however, I never went back to traditional methods.  What I am positing is not an “either/or proposition” – be creative or be traditional in your job search, but a “both/and approach” – look at your options in the available job market, and  consider exploring additional possibilities to create, shape, and expand your opportunities.   

Should everyone be encouraged to follow their dreams?

Finally, I would like to speak to the reader’s question about whether or not I would have everyone follow their dreams, regardless of, or in spite of, external factors which would require someone to take work for other purposes.  I wholeheartedly agree with the reader that not all dreams need to be met through our vocation, and in fact, I would assert that we all have dreams and desires that may only be met outside of work. (e.g., I love to cook and I love to garden but the thought of doing either for money would take much of the joy out it for me.) 

However, when a person has a dream, a purpose, or a passion which can be incorporated into a work opportunity, I would wholeheartedly urge that person to follow the pull of that desire with everything they’ve got!  Not only do I disagree with the idea that following a dream will translate into “a longer term of unemployment”, I would contest that it could drastically shorten their job search for the following reasons:

1. People who know what they want and what they are looking for have the advantage of carrying out a much more deliberate and focused job search. Their sights are set in such a way that they are not easily distracted or sidetracked from the goal.
    

2. When people are on a quest for something that has meaning and import beyond a paycheck, they are more likely to have greater energy, stamina, and perseverance in their job search.  They don’t give up easily because they are determined not to “settle” and they bring the power of commitment.
    

3. People who are following a larger dream, desire or purpose have an edge in the interview over those who are simply applying for the job because they need work – employers can feel the difference!

(Obviously there are numerous additional benefits to following one’s dreams and desires when it comes to job satisfaction, job retention, and ongoing career development, but such a listing would be deserving of its own issue!)

Aren’t there other reasons to work other than passion?

I have long taught that there are many varied motives for working, each of which can be quite profound and powerful, depending on the circumstances of the person in question.  (For a full discussion on this topic, please go to the archived issue of this newsletter from March, 2006 entitled “Nine Essential Work Motives”.)  Among those nine motives I write about a sense of purpose, a sense of security, a sense of belonging and affiliation, a sense of achievement and accomplishment, the joy of using one’s skills, the desire to increase one’s competence, etc.  What inspires a person to take and stay on a job is always multi-faceted and multi-layered and I question the reader’s assumption that the local garbage man did not necessarily choose to do what he is doing. 

How often have we seen that from one person’s perspective what may appear a most dismal or thankless job, will from another’s point of view be experienced as rich with rewards?   That is one of the extraordinary aspects of the vocational journey, the fact that it is so multi-dimensional, always experienced in ways particular and distinctive to the person depending on their temperament, their personality, their needs, desires and values, etc., and all within the context of their larger life circumstances.  No wonder we can never wholly understand another person’s relationship to their work any more than we can fully comprehend another person’s relationship to his/her mother, spouse, or next door neighbor.       

I think it behooves us to perceive the value and meaning of work in the long-term rather than the short term.  I consciously employ the term “true livelihood” in my teaching and writing for two reasons.  First, it invokes both the notions of being true to oneself and one’s sense of purpose, gifts and values; and secondly, the term livelihood is rooted in the word “life”, invoking a sense of the ongoing journey of life and work.  Inherent in any journey is its inevitable path of twists and turns, those welcome and rewarding, as well as those that are difficult and trying.   Viewed from this perspective, there are no mistakes and no time is ever wasted in a work opportunity as every experience adds to one’s personal accumulation of wisdom, experience, preferences, skills, network, etc.  What is important is the conscious awareness on the part of the worker of the goals and intentions motivating the circumstance they are in, and bringing the best of what they have to each and every opportunity. 

Wishes for the disgruntled employment counselor

The reader states in his letter that he would love to do something more creative or fulfilling but would have to take a cut in pay in order to do so.  (Oddly, most of the employment professionals I have met in the field express the opposite angst – they love the work, but wish they could make more money!)  Still, to the many people in our profession who feel less than inspired in their work and hold a similar view to the one expressed by the reader, I hold out the following hopes and wishes: 

• That you consider what it is costing you in other areas of your life by staying in a job largely for financial purposes.  While not ignoring or diminishing our economic needs, there is a high price to be paid by ignoring the need to live out one’s deepest purposes and to express one’s finest gifts.  As the reader pointed out, it is not that one’s purposes, dreams and gifts cannot be satisfied in other areas of one’s life outside of work.  In that case, may you be blessed with the imagination and fortitude to find many wonderful ways of being true to the dreams and desires that inspire you.   
   

• That you might be open to the possibility that there is work in which you could be more creative and find more fulfilling which would not necessitate a cut in pay.  If you cease believing that such an opportunity is possible, you may cease to look for it, and thus, never find it.  Be careful not to interpret as a “reality” something that, in fact, may be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
   

• Difficult as it might be, may you hold to the belief that the individuals you serve can follow and achieve their vocational dreams, albeit by a circuitous route, even if you have not yet arrived at the place in your own livelihood. 

We are all in this together – this livelihood thing – and we need the light from each other’s lamps to illumine the way when we feel lost.  And even when we begin to lose hope for ourselves, or settle for less than what our heart desires, we need to dig deep down and extract hope for those around us.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson observed, (and I am paraphrasing) -  how strange and lovely a thing it is that when one helps one’s brother’s boat ashore, he too will have reached land. 

Until next month,

~ Denise

Read Denise's previous (July 2008) newsletter...
 

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I chose this selection from the ever-astonishing Mary Oliver because she successfully expresses in these twelve lines a message I think the world needs us to heed and respond to with great heart and imagination.  I hope you agree.