A job seeker’s manifesto

As Viktor Frankl said, “When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

My formative experiences were not particularly pleasant, so I have generally avoided sharing them. I grew up lower-middle-class, with parents who were not university graduates. My father struggled to earn a living, was repeatedly unemployed, and lived with constant disparagement from my mother. From my mother, I suffered psychological abuse and developed low self-esteem. I learned early to work hard to become self-sufficient and to seek leadership roles.

As a result, I attended Smith College and NYU Stern Graduate School of Business through scholarships, campus jobs, and student loans. At the age of 28, I was a Vice-President of Municipal Finance at Standard & Poor’s.

Dale Carnegie said, “Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.”

When I resigned from Standard & Poor’s to raise our newborn and 18 month old children, that was my choice, seconded by my husband. The firm declined to let me work part-time as a vice-president. While volunteering at our local schools and for several non-profits, I decided to become a teacher to share my love of learning. After earning a second Master’s degree, I began teaching high school in the Bronx when my third child was four years old. Recession and teacher layoffs followed, and I lost my full-time teaching job. Since then, I have been substitute teaching while seeking more regular work. I have a wonderful, supportive husband.

As I learned in Leadership Westchester, a nine-month program offered through Volunteer New York!, a strong leader lives in the space of possibility and opportunity, not limitation. Fear of change is a disabling belief. Fear of failure is another. Inaction is a decision that limits opportunities.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi notes that we can choose one of two main strategies to improve our work and our life. The first is to make the external conditions match our goals. This could mean changing a job or a career. The second entails changing how we experience external conditions to make them fit better our goals. This would involve changing our perceptions, or re-defining our needs and our wants. Provided that we act in consonance with our personal mission and values, we should not worry about others’ approval of our achievements, our jobs, or our possessions.

To serve as leaders in the community, we must take ownership of our ability to interpret reality constructively and to choose action. We must find meaning and purpose in how we spend our time. Clear about our sense of mission, we leaders connect with others, upholding our values and holding ourselves and others accountable for high performance.

I accept the challenge to lead constructively, wielding authentic influence to create value. Most importantly, as I continue to search for a better job, I will try to avoid succumbing to self-doubts, instead, striving for hope, optimism, and accomplishment.