Finding Work When There Are No Jobs
Stop Networking. Tell Your Story. Start Thinking Differently.
By Roger Wright
The numbers vary widely, but even the variance is part of the sad story. Of this we can be sure: millions of Americans are unemployed or underemployed and many have long ago given up on finding jobs. That means millions of people don’t have the opportunity to contribute needed skills to the workplace or receive any of the benefits of work, financial and otherwise. The prolonged slump is taking its toll in myriad ways on individuals and society as a whole. Experts have always been part of the job search market; they bring books and programs and road maps that, if followed, are often falsely guaranteed to lead to Career Nirvana. Unfortunately, after weeks, months, or even years of following these supposedly foolproof systems, too many people are where they started: no work, and no glimmer of hope for work.
Roger Wright, author of Finding Work When There Are No Jobs, takes another route entirely. There are few must-do’s, and he makes no bold promises about where the process he recommends will lead. He does so with this in mind: the current systems for finding work are broken, and the landscape has changed so profoundly in the past few years that there really cannot be a one-
size-fits-all prescription for solving the problem. “This book isn’t written for the masses,” he says. “It’s written for the individual.” Its goal is simple: to prompt each individual to chart their own unique path to finding work.
The Five
Finding Work uses an age-old method to make its point: stories. The author weaves stories throughout the book to create a conversation around “The Five,” five simple principles that can lead to finding work, even in this rough and tumble economy.
Tell Your Story - and that doesn’t mean writing a good resume. Resumes are necessary to outline your work history and list your skills, but the greatest resume in the world can’t tell people who you are.
Add Music - Use the elements of music-rhythm, harmony and melody to prompt new ways of thinking about how to differentiate yourself from the rest of the world.
Communitize – Stop networking. Start communitizing. Weave yourself into the fabric of every community you can. You’ll find out where you can fill a need from the inside, as a community member. Not as a networker.
Solve a Mystery - What is it that you can do with such ease that others see as a mystery? Mysteries always indicate a need for a solution. What if you could fill that need, solve what appears to be a mystery to others - and get paid for it?
Practice Stewardship- Take care of something bigger than you. Find a way to build a legacy in real time.
Each of the five principles is demonstrated using powerful stories, followed by a Connecting to Action section that asks questions for each reader to ponder as they pave their own unique path to finding work.
Roger Wright’s goal here is simple: to prompt individual and original paths to finding work, even when there are no jobs.