Second Military Careers - Military Times

Good luck is hard work, face to face

Claudia’s last day at her job of 10 years was on a Friday, as most last days are.

But before she packed up her desk, she already had offers to work at two other companies.

You, too, can be as lucky as Claudia.

First, you have to stop sitting in front of your computer in your pajamas sending your résumé off to job sites. Instead, put on your Sunday best and get out and see people.

That’s how Claudia got her job.

As a supervisor at a New York firm that sells Broadway theater tickets, her job was eliminated after the company acquired another firm. When her departure was announced to clients, she got an e-mail from one of them saying, “Sorry to hear you’re leaving; would you like to work for us?” They knew her because she had been developing relationships with them for years.

She also had an informational interview with an Off Broadway theater company that began with, “ ‘We have nothing now,’ ” she says. “But after about an hour, it ended with, ‘Hmm, let me think on this. Maybe I can come up with something.’ ”

When word got out that Mike, a sales representative for a California company, was leaving, he got calls from his company’s competitors saying, “Come work for us. We’d love to have you.” They knew him because over the years he had made a point to meet them. He’d start conversations with them at trade shows. He’d sit next to them at association meetings. He had lunch with them. They got to know him.

That’s how people get jobs.

In 1997, as I inched my way through a buffet line at a conference in Atlanta, I struck up a conversation with a man who was reaching for the tossed salad at the same time. We discovered we lived in the same city, and he told me how his executive leadership company was growing.

“I’ll keep you in mind for a project I think will develop,” he told me. A year later he called, and I’ve worked with him ever since. The point is you never know where a conversation can lead.

Russ Berger, president of the Russ Berger Design Group in Addison, Texas, learned that conversations “can have some unexpected business or personal consequences that are downright karmic,” he said in The New York Times segment Frequent Flyer.

About 20 years ago he was flying back to Dallas from New York. Seated next to him was a tall, long-haired guy who said he was a musician and songwriter and that his first album would be released soon. Berger told him he designed recording studios and broadcast facilities and that he’d look for his record. The musician said he’d try to record in one of Berger’s studios.

Four years later, Berger heard from a recording engineer who worked for this musician — Grammy Award-winning Michael Bolton.

“They wanted me to help with the design of a recording and mix studio at his residence,” he said.

When they met, Berger recounted their meeting from four years earlier. They went on to work together on another project and, as Berger said, “A simple plane ride home turned into something of an extended adventure. All because I took the time to talk.”

Take advantage of the moment you have when a stranger parks himself next to you at a meeting or on a plane.

And if you don’t get out much, make a point to create these face-to-face opportunities that could lead to your next career adventure. You just never know where a simple conversation can take you.

(Andrea Kay writes the At Work column. She is the author of “Life’s a Bitch and Then You Change Careers: 9 Steps to Get Out of Your Funk and On To Your Future.” Send questions to her at 2692 Madison Road, No. 133, Cincinnati, OH 45208; or e-mail andrea@andreakay.com.)