Last night I was at a meeting of one of the organisations I belong to. I won’t tell you which one, since I don’t really want you to guess who this guy was. We had all just entered the pub and I sat down at a vacant table.
This guy sat next to me and said, “How is Eric.” I told him I was fine and asked how he was. “I’ve been made redundant. I have until the end of October and then I’m without a job. I haven’t been to an interview in seventeen years.”
I told him how terrible I thought the situation was and tried to help brainstorming with things he could try. He was very negative about it all. He would say things like, “there are a few jobs over here, but they’re really hard to get. Besides, they’ll probably just hire someone out of university.”
I asked if he had a lot of contacts and he told me he was trying to re-establish contact with other people in his industry. I asked if he could become a consultant, work as a salesman for offshore firms in his industry, write articles, etc. All suggestions weren’t met with too much enthusiasm.
He said he may have to move to Cambridge which would be a drag pulling his kids out of school when the only town they knew was the one they grew up in. He was very negative, but I really felt for him. I’m certain he could turn this into an opportunity if he just looked at it right.
Then I said, “Hey maybe you can find something in London. Sure, it’s a commute, but I do it every day and it’s really not that bad. You can probably double your salary, or at least increase it.”
Then, he and everyone else at the table started talking about what a terrible idea that was. “That’s an 90 minute commute each way!” “Who could never work in London, what a dump.” “Only desperate people commute to London.”
I was shocked. I was amazed. A commute I make every day and think nothing of it-and he would rather move several hours away. But more than the illogical decision was the fact that this guy had taken a very viable (probably the most viable) option off the table for his future.
I stopped offering advice. He didn’t want it anyway and I can’t help someone who won’t help himself.
Having your back against the wall is not easy. It can be horrible. I’ve been out of work more times than I’d like to admit. But the greatest benefit of being backed against the wall is that you open up to whole new possibilities about your life. You can change professions, go into business, work a fun job for less pay, determine how much money you “absolutely, positively” need and look for the job in the industry you always wanted to try.
One of the great things about being a contractor is that being out of work is always-always-on the forefront of my mind. Money has to be invested. Skills have to diversify as well as improve.