Finding the right job is basically…wait for it, wait, wait—a JOB. Sometimes, however, being prepared and receptive for what might happen next, is the key. Read on…
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[tag]5 strange things I did to get my job[/tag]

Aug 29th, 2007 by almostgotit

I always suspected that ordinary people got jobs by having the right degree, combing the want-ads and pounding the pavement, or by having an Uncle in the Business. But nothing about my own search went at all as I expected! Here’s what I did to get my current job:1. Go to church — not necessarily dressed for success.

I realize there are those who deliberately attend Our Lady of The Lexus to network between services with other powerful people. I have no idea how effective that is, because I was always too busy in the nursery or (later) teaching Sunday School or (later still) leading Bible studies, financial management seminars, and art retreats. But two of the job offers I received this past year came through non-Lexus-driving people I’d met, originally, at church.

2. Write a musical.

Monica, the executive director who has recruited me as her replacement, also attended our church occasionally, where she sometimes played the organ and helped organize a community performing arts series — when she wasn’t touring Europe with her own music. I didn’t know Monica well at the time, but several years ago she filled in on piano at a couple of rehearsals for a musical I’d written and was producing at the church. Last week, she brought up those rehearsals again, insisting that anyone can do that can also run a board meeting.

3. Say yes unless there’s a good reason not to.

A couple years ago, I met Monica again when she came to my office at The Institution That Shall Not be Named (TitSnob) bearing brochures for yet another arts series she was promoting. The series didn’t quite fit with our mission, but she’d made it so easy by bringing me the brochures that it was no problem tucking them into our own promotional material that we were distributing soon anyway.

4. Go a little overboard sometimes.

Mostly because I loved the idea (and partly because everyone at TitSnob said I couldn’t/wouldn’t/shouldn’t,) I spent a recent year putting in way more hours than my part-time, minimum-wage employer was paying me to organize, promote, and find collaborative funding for a 4-city tour for a top-notch New York performance group. That performance became a bench mark for our Institute and donations increased exponentially after that. And guess what? Monica was in the audience.

5. Love thy neighbor.

When my neighbor Betsy was dying at home, she needed 24/7 care in place in order to qualify for hospice care. As a single person on social security, that was going to be a problem for her. The only obvious thing for me to do, especially as my working days were pretty empty then, was to organize a care schedule by calling upon her vast network of friends. One of those friends remembered me… and she just happens to be Board President of the non-profit that just hired me.

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Posted in Uncategorized, networking | 4 Comments

4 Responses to “5 strange things I did to get my job”

    1. on 29 Aug 2007 at 7:33 am1rockyroadoflove

      Not strange at all … In my experience, having the right connections is the only thing that generates work. When there’s a job to be done, the person in charge most often calls someone who’s been in the back of their mind. It’s a lot like grace. You can’t push it. You can’t demand it. You might think you’ve earned it, and you do have to be good at what you do. But in the final analysis, it’s not merit that gets you the job—it’s connections.

    2. on 29 Aug 2007 at 5:20 pm2deb

      our lady of the lexus.
      now that’s funny.

      all the best!
      deb

    3. on 29 Aug 2007 at 11:49 pm3Working Girl

      Hey, you got a job???

      Here I’ve been off-line only a few days and the Big News has come and gone. Yikes.

      I am seriously behind on things bloggish. That’s because Working Girl has been working! Hope to finish tomorrow.

    4. on 30 Aug 2007 at 12:15 am4marsquat

      I LIKE those “strange things” that got you the job because they aren’t strange- they’re just a part of who you are and what you do. Sort of takes the pressure off to think that those “strange” but ordinary things that you do already might land one a job! My addition would be to be a bit bolder than you are normally comfortable with. Recently, I had the opportunity to teach a workshop and have been offered some flexible part time work at a nearby science lab- all because I asked, offered, emailed, reminded, etc. This all makes me very uncomfortable. However, I am reminded as I write this that this same BOLDNESS is what allowed me to meet my husband! Hmmmm… )“

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