Pounding the Pavement Pays Off

“It’s not what you achieve, it’s what you overcome. That’s what defines your career.”

---Carlton Fisk

Ah, a quote from a Red Sox icon, Carlton Fisk. He was always my second favorite player, right after Fred Lynn. I loved watching Lynn bounce himself off the Green Monstah when he made a catch, and from my father’s season ticket seats on the Red Sox dugout, I would wave at both Carlton and Freddy when they came in from the field. One day, Fred waved back at me, and I am pretty sure I swooned. I'm still waiting for Carlton to notice me.

The careers of both of these players were epic and made our team and our city a better place. I’m no athlete, and my career has included precisely zero home runs, diving catches, or stolen bases, but it’s been quite a ride, especially lately. My career path since graduating from college has been similar to the old Family Circus cartoons, where the little kid goes to get something in the house and takes the most circuitous route possible, stopping at every little distraction. 

My father called me “Brenda Starr, girl reporter” because I had red hair and green eyes like the comic strip character, but it wasn’t until I hit my 40s that I actually became a journalist. With the demands of raising my kids and still making sure we can, you know, eat and wear clothes, there have been very few opportunities to earn money that I haven’t explored. Hollywood has yet to call, I can’t sing, or dance and math remains a mystery to me, but I’ve made a decent enough living so far. For the last ten years, it’s been all freelance. Working remotely from home has served me well, but it’s a challenge to stay on task some days. Recently, one freelance gig ended, and another blew up in my face, and it was back to pounding the pavement. Fortunately, I found something, but it’s been yet another “whole new world” for me.

In my early career, I was a Boston commuter. I had Reeboks that matched my big shouldered 80s business suits, a briefcase for my fancy shoes and my not so fancy brown bag budget lunch. I knew the best place to stand to get a seat on the Blue Line, I knew the cheapest bars to go to after work for happy hour, and on my lunch break, I knew where the hottest construction guys were. Knowledge is power, my friends. When the Big Dig was in full swing, I was happy to leave the commute behind and be at home for a while, but I’m back to the Boston trek and boy have things changed.

Subway tokens? They don’t exist anymore. Now it’s Charlie tickets, train passes, and bar codes. I’m a reasonably tech-savvy person, so I got the MBTA app, found the right train and only needed the help of one conductor and two fellow passengers to figure out how to pay for my ride. Which, not for nothing, is way more money than it used to be. City foot traffic is different too. I can navigate a crowd quickly, but I stepped off the train at North Station to walk to the new office and was nearly run over by some slouch capped hipster zipping around the station on a longboard. Seriously, he was a full-sized adult and everything, grow up and walk like the rest of us, hippy freak! OK, he was probably a lovely person, and I saw three more boarders that day, so apparently, it’s a thing.

It wouldn’t be a true Brenda experience if I didn’t have a wardrobe crisis leading up to it. What is appropriate office attire now? It’s definitely not suits and sneakers. It’s like the first day of high school; do you go all “jeans and kicks” cool or do you dress up? I could have asked the person who hired me, but then I’d look like a dope, and I usually try to keep that from happening until I’ve been somewhere for longer than 15 minutes. Worrying about it was a waste of time, that I know of no one at the new gig pointed at my slacks and sweater and laughed at me, so that’s a win.

 

The new job involves marketing and knowing lots of buzzwords about retail analytics, brand awareness and “verticals,” and it’s quite something to learn new skills and work in a different environment than my home office. Going into the city won’t be required every day, but I’m looking forward to more adventures in the work world. Oh, and the modern office has changed too. No more cube farms. It’s about collaboration areas, quiet pods, and a fully stocked snack kitchen. All that and a paycheck too? I’m a happy girl in this new adventure. I may still need a little technical assistance since I somehow managed to lose the parking ticket for the train station garage and the guy in the office had to come out to my car and lift up the bar so I could exit, but other than that, it’s going pretty well. The bumpy road of the last six months seems to be smoothing out, and I’m ready for the next big thing, bring it on!

Writer For Hire

Careers, like rockets, don’t always take off on time. The trick is to always keep the engine running.”

— Gary Sinise

Full disclosure, this quote has appeared in this space before, however, it remains true. Back in the day (and ‘the day’ is a moveable feast depending on your age) it wasn’t uncommon for a person to stay with the same company for decades. If you found a good job, you stuck with it. It’s not that way now. Some people plow through jobs like their career path is an all-you-can-eat buffet. They try everything. Nothing wrong with that if you can manage it financially or otherwise. 

There are also layoffs and downsizing. Some employees get walked out with a cardboard box of their things on a random Tuesday, and they are shellshocked and not sure how to continue. This career strategy is a tough gig. If you don’t have a winning lottery ticket, chances are you have a job. Think about so many of the federal employees who are on the job now, without pay. I’ve been a federal employee; it’s not all service and sunshine. Most of the furloughed employees cannot just turn around and get another job. Security clearances, conflicts of interest and the like prevent some workers from moonlighting while they wait for the toddler wing in Washington to get its act together. I’ve been in their shoes, and my heart is with them because it has to be awful.

Recently I had a reasonably good shot at a new job, that was going to be in my same field, but more travel, more money, more challenges. It was a near lock. Emphasis on “near.” I left the job I was in, and, almost on cue, the new job bonked. Kind of like the Charlie Brown and Lucy football scenario. I finally got up the nerve to make a move and AUUUUUGGGGH; I was on my keister. 

It happens. Normally the resumes would be flying out the door immediately, and the pounding of pavement would start. Except that a few family things got in the way; my children lost their last remaining grandparent, so the search had to wait. It’s back on now though, and it’s been…interesting. The first instinct is to be all “OMG; I will take anything, I need a job.” 

That is the financial panic talking. Given that since graduating from college my career path has included what seems like 700 jobs, there are very few career positions that I haven’t looked at or done. Everything from waitressing, to office administration work, to travel, Internet start-ups, social media, journalism and online media marketing have been a part of paying my bills. Some of those jobs were awful, so at least that’s a start, understanding what kind of work isn’t for me is valuable knowledge.

So, what now? How do we market ourselves? How do we convince an HR manager, a company owner or a recruiter to “pick me, pick me?” While we all like to believe we are special and unique, there are hundreds of people out there with the same skills I have. No hiring manager is looking at my resume and saying, “You are familiar with Word, PowerPoint, and Excel? That’s incredible!” My kids could use those by the time they were in 5th grade. I am, at my core, a writer, so it would seem like a no-brainer that describing my skills would come easily. Nope. Not even close.

So, asking around is good, right? Networking and getting out there and informational interviews are the way to go. Well, yes, that’s a start, but everyone you speak to has a different idea on strategy, so you wind up with a thousand opinions and still no job. Well, like Winston Churchill said, “If you’re going through hell, just keep going.” It’s true. It’s mind-boggling sometimes, but eventually, we all land where we are supposed to be.

I’m learning a lot from the job search. It’s made me remember my last months of college when it was all about buying the first business suit, writing my first resume and going on interviews trying to sound coherent. With the many years behind me of work, jobs, and experience, it’s a very different process but stressful nonetheless. 

I’ve been so grateful for friends who have advised me, tossed some work my way when they could and just been there. It’s never easy to pick up the pieces when a plan goes awry, but it will happen. On the bright side, I’ve become really creative with my spending habits, and if the Marie Kondo bug ever hits me, I could have an outstanding yard sale with some of the stuff I have jammed in my closets from days gone by. 

Yet again I’m figuring out what I want to be when I grow up. No, wait, scratch that. I’m already a writer and an author and a parent. Not too shabby, right? The next opportunity will come and then who knows where it could take me. I might not have taken off for the stars yet, but the rocket ship is a go for launch, engine running.