Here's a sad national fact, as I sit here in the Spring of 2012: if you are reading this, it is overwhelmingly likely that someone you know is under-employed or unemployed, has been so for awhile, and that someone may even be you. Our resources become more and more depleted, while our politicians are getting nowhere with bringing quality jobs to needy Americans. While the Dems rally to try to hold on to the White House this year, the G.O.P. are busy being hyper-focused on the morally-proper usage of vaginas and wombs -- a cruel and destructive distraction tactic that forces opponents to try to put out those fires rather than point out that the Republicans have absolutely no workable economic gameplan. While clowns and saints and cynics blue-suit up and play their tugs-of-war, every day more of our citizens go into bankruptcy, lose their homes, and lose their hope that things will ever get better for them. It's overwhelming to think about.
But I'd like to make a modest proposal to you, and if you like the idea, I want you to join me and spread the idea around. Let the Big Boys and Girls duke out budgets and taxes in a corrupted system -- I think you and I can do something to help, now. I propose this:
I'm excited by this concept, so let me explain it a bit. It is my belief that people are at their best when in honest and selfless service to others. You know what I mean -- it's often so much easier to look at someone's else's set of problems or challenges and see immediately all the things to do to solve them, right? I've seen this over and over when I work with people on their job résumés -- talented, experienced, bright people often cannot identify their skills to save their lives, or how to analyze the things they've done that would be valued by others. We can see so much potential in others; it's harder to recognize and celebrate our own worth, and we often will work harder for others than for ourselves. So, with this in mind, what if each one of us took the first Saturday in May to try to help someone else find a job? How, you ask? There are so many ways! Here are a few:
1. You -- yes, YOU -- are a Networking God or Goddess. You know folks, and those folks know folks, and there are jobs just waiting to be filled by the right person, if only the right person and the employer could find each other. That's a fact. So on May 5th, start talking it up -- make the effort to talk to your friends and family members that you know are looking for work and find out what they do and what they want to do. I bet in one of those conversations, a bell will go off in your head: "You're an electrician? My friend Joan's cousin is looking for someone to start work on some condos next month..." or "My sister-in-law the preschool teacher just found out she's pregnant and she's planning to stay home with her baby, so her job will be open in August..." or "Dave mentioned there's going to be a restructuring of his department, so five more software development positions will be coming up within a few months." Put people and jobs together, put in a good word, and I bet you yourself can put at least one person back to work.
2. Give someone a job. If you are an employer with a 3000-person workforce or a mom that could use some more help around the house or anyone else in-between, look at your needs and budget. You might be able to make room enough to provide a full- or part-time income to someone who could really use it.
3. Help someone else get the skills they need for a job. You know how to do something, I know you do, and there's something you probably know how to do pretty well. What if you could take a day and help someone to begin to develop a new skill set and get them well on the road to employment? Are you proficient at Office or Photoshop? I cannot tell you the amount of times I have worked with job seekers who fret that their computer skills are poor or outdated, and their confidence to apply for jobs because of this suffers. Working one-on-one with a senior or teen or job changer to pump up their proficiency there is powerful. Are you a talented gardener/landscaper? Did you work as a whipsmart waitress all through college? Fluent enough in Spanish to teach someone the basic phrases to communicate with phone or retail customers? Even a day can help someone get on the right path. Mentor!
What if, on May 5th (and in honor of International Workers' Day May 1st) we took a day and it changed someone's life? It can happen, because all of us can do this. I'd be thrilled to hear what you think.
And, after putting in a good day's service? Hey, it's Cinco de Mayo, too!
© Copyright 2008- Marianne Spellman