Sometimes You Just Need a Little Help

Sometimes You Just Need A Little Help

by Robert Hruzek of Houston, Texas, and MiddleZoneMusings

I’ll tell ya folks, the weather was absolutely spectactular! A warm, friendly sun was shinin’, the birds were chirpin’ merrily, a soft breeze whispered sweet nothings in my ear, and it was another day happily moseying along my favorite sidewalk. Yep; it’s a typical Winter day here in Houston, Texas. (Eat yer hearts out, y’all who live up there in the Frozen North!)
Despite the beautiful weather, I did come across something that always causes me to recall some of the, er, entertaining events from when Hurricane Ike tiptoed traipsed tromped across our neck of the woods back in September of ’08. If you don’t live around here, or weren’t directly affected by Ike, I can understand if you’ve forgotten it. But around here, there are still a few reminders that just keep hangin’ on.
Take, for instance, this tree…
Need a Little Help, Here!

As you can see from the photo, here’s a small tree that kinda, y’know, needs a little help. I’ll tell ya; this was a pretty common sight after ol’ Ike left the area. In fact, this particular tree is actually one of the lucky ones – it’s a survivor. Way too many others came crashing down forever, I’m afraid.
But with a little elbow grease, a couple of metal poles, and some cool stretchy rubber thingies, this little fellah is standing upright once again, ready to take on the world!
You can’t see it too well, but two of the poor fellah’s roots are still exposed. Once the landscape folks stood it up again, they managed to get most of the roots back in the ground where they belonged, but alas, some of ‘em just wouldn’t go back. Oh, well.
I’ll tell ya; you could almost imagine the sigh of relief from this little tree as its world was put back to normal again, and in a funny kind of way, it sorta reminded me (which will doubtless come as no surprise to you) of something that happened to me as well…
Hunting for a Job
It was the summer of 2002, and I’d lost my job about a year earlier. After trying all the usual things without any success, a friend of mine mentioned a job-networking group that met at a church up in the north Houston area.
Now, my first reaction was something along the lines of, “Well, what can they do for me that I can’t do for myself already?” (Note: They say the first step in resolving an issue is admitting there’s a problem. Unfortunately, I hadn’t yet reached that step. *sigh*)
I mean, I knew what had to be done. After all, I’d been in this situation before, and knew (probably better’n most) that if you did certain things – and, y’know, did them enough – it would inevitably result in a new job. Like many other endeavors, it’s a numbers game, right?
I said to myself, “Hey, it had always worked before!” After all, I had no reason to believe otherwise.
Alas, the days slowly transmogrified into weeks, the weeks turned into months, and eventually the months turned into years. Obviously what always used to work – well, it inexplicably didn’t work anymore. There finally came a day when I decided, what the hey, and decided to attend one of those job-search-group meetings.

I must admit; it was an amazingly well-organized group. I mean, they had a pile of great resources for job-seekers of all kinds, their own Yahoo Group that kept us up to speed on job leads that members sent in, and even an operating budget from the church whose facility we used! I’m tellin’ ya; it was the best jobs-networking group I’ve ever seen.
Back to the Future Present
As a matter of fact, that unfortunately long drought taught me a few very important lessons that hopefully I’ll never have to learn again. Well… I’m sure I’ll use these techniques a time or two – the job market and that thing we laughingly call “the economy” (sound of heartfelt sobbing) bein’ what it is these days – I just won’t have to re-learn them again, if you get my meanin’.
• Understand What Happened – Now, when you find yourself behind the unemployment 8-ball (according to most experts these days, 1 out of 3 folks will be affected during the current downturn), the first thing to understand (as best you can) is what exactly happened that caused you to lose the job in the first place. In my case (since I was a contract employee) it was pretty obvious why I ended up on the street – I’d finished the job! However, there were also factors at play that caused my former employer (or any other employers for that matter) not to need me for, y’know, the next project: it turned out there was an economic hiccup goin’ on, and capital spending was pretty much dried up.
• Stay Connected – One of the things I realized right off the bat was that up until that long period of unemployment, I had gotten pretty complacent about keeping in touch with the rest of the world – most notably the part of the world I’d known at previous jobs. As a result, when it came time to start calling everyone I knew (an exercise we like to call networking), well, it turned out to be a pretty short list! Big mistake, I’ll tell ya! From then on, I’ve kept tabs on pretty much everyone I’ve worked with, because the fact is, you never know, y’know?
• Tap Into Every Resource Available – One thing that experience also drove home for me was rather sobering, to say the least: What used to work – won’t necessarily work any more! Yep; I know it’s a pretty simple lesson – but it’s a hard one to learn, lemme tell ya! Fact is, I coulda joined up with this job search group far sooner than I did. Eventually, though, I realized the old ways weren’t workin’ anymore. (Hey, I may not be smart – but at least I’m slow!) But even an old dogs like me can still learn a trick or two. (By the way, one of the greatest resources I’ve ever seen is LinkUp, and I’m not just sayin’ that because GL invited me to guest post over here! It really is. If you ain’t usin’ it, well, you may just be disproving that “old dog – new tricks” expression. I’m just sayin’.)
• Be resilient – OK; listen to Dr. Robert here, y’all: I can tell you from personal experience that the most useful personal trait you can cultivate during your “off” time is resilience. Sure, things’ll set you back now and then – like when they give that plum of a job to someone else! I’ll tell ya, Bubba; that hurts! But your resilience will always give you the ability to bounce back when you get hit between the eyes.

• Work while you wait – Sometimes, no matter how critical your target company’s need, it just takes time to get your application, interview results, etc., through the labyrinth of approvals needed for you to get the job, y’know? The bigger the company, the longer it’s gonna take, too. And sometimes… you end up waitin’… and waitin’… and – well, you get the picture, right? Whatever you do, even if you get a job, DON’T STOP SEARCHING UNTIL YOU START THE ACTUAL JOB!
OK; before I go, I gotta elaborate a mite about those last two.
I remember one time, I had three phone interviews with the same company. But at the end there, I finally landed the job! (sound of cheering) And what a job: More money than I’d ever had before, an exciting job description, and a great company. I was fit to be tied, I’ll tell ya! Now, during that final interviewer, my soon to be boss told me HR would call me the next day (he was traveling at the time). So I waited.
Next day… nothing. I tried calling him back, but couldn’t get through. Tried again the next day – several times – but alas, no joy. (Needless to say, things were gettin’ a tad frantic around our house by then.)
Finally, I managed to get the fellah on the phone (probably forgot to screen that particular call) and that’s when he lowered the boom on me: By an remarkably poorly-timed coincidence, the company had announced a hiring freeze the very day he’d hired me! (sound of wet splat – which was my heart dropping down to the bottom of my shoes)
Man, talk about gettin’ kicked in the, er, nether regions! I’d felt better the day my dog died – at least I knew he’d gone to a, y’know, better place.
But as Mrs. MZM will tell ya; I’m a fairly resilient person. After cryin’ in my boots for a while, I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and got right back on that horse. Eventually, a job came along that, y’know, actually let me make it in the front door.
Anyhoo, my point is, there’s lots of help out there for the job hunter these days. Don’t be like me – afraid to even admit you could use some help. Jump in with both feet, keep at it in a systematic way, and for cryin’ out loud, don’t forget the friends you make along the way!

Ed Note: Robert Hruzek is an ordinary fellow with an extraordinary sense of the absurd. Apparently back when talent was being allocated, he missed his helping of propriety and ended up with a double dose of a sense of the ridiculous. Fortunately (and before his head exploded) he found relief from the dreaded SHINE (Seeing Humor In Nearly Everything) Syndrome through his writings at Middle Zone Musings. Don’t worry ‘bout a thing, folks; he’s feelin’ much better now.