I am a big believer in divine encounters. And for some reason transportation plays a role whenever I recognize God’s heavenly setup.
Happens a lot when I am riding around in a cab while traversing a new city. My cab driver tells me his whole life story and I come away with incredible knowledge about another who holds amazing hopes and plans. Sometimes there is even prayer and a feeling like the time was well spent.
And it often happens when I am driving my car in for repairs at my local dealership.
Several weeks ago, I had to get some major repairs done on my car and wasn’t relishing plunking down the big cashola to get the necessary issues fixed.
Though I had the money in savings, spending my reserves made me nervous, especially without a job. Dave Ramsey might say, “Well, that’s what your emergency fund is for!” But then again, that emergency fund is running my life right now. So, in essence, anything and everything can be an emergency.
While waiting for my ride on Thursday morning, I began chatting with a man at the dealership who seemed a bit exasperated. It turned out that this same guy was a commercial real estate agent who was using those precious morning hours to pay company bills. As we talked further, he revealed that he used to be a job recruiter.
The wheels in my mind started turning. Ding! Ding! Here is another possible divine moment. Pay attention.
As I have been walking out my Christian faith, I have been learning to recognize these God moments in my life. If I am busy or stressed or self-absorbed, I tend not to see them – even though they are there.
Had I been furiously clacking on my laptop, as I used to do quite often when I was working like a crazy woman at my job, I wouldn’t have bothered to recognize the wealth of knowledge that this friendly, ball-capped gentlemen next to me possessed.
But when you are jobless, you are looking for signs of life somewhere, so I was ready to listen to what he had to say.
I can’t recall his real name, so I will refer to him as Auto Pilot. He instructed me well, pointing me in the right direction at the car dealership, so I think the name fits him.
OK, here is Auto Pilot’s wisdom, in a nutshell:
- It’s not personal, so don’t stay depressed and discouraged. You will be wasting precious energy.
- You can think tons of people will want to hire you because you worked for a big-name company or you had years of experience. Guess again. You can’t necessarily ride on your past reputation.
- It takes longer than you think to get a good job. Persistence and digging for jobs is key. Keep at it, and the job will come.
- If you can create more than one resume on Web sites like Monster, do it. The fresher the content, the more likely your resume will get seen by potential employers.
- Look objectively at your resume from an employer’s perspective and make changes as needed.
- Expand your job search to include government jobs or entry-level jobs that might promote quickly. Try to think outside of the box when looking for work.
Hope all this helps. Keep on keeping on.
– Laura J. Bagby
