Thursday, September 8, 2011

Happiness Loves Company

I received terrific news last night from a fellow job hunter: He landed a great new position! We'd been checking in with each other regularly, swapping leads and ideas and supporting each other when the news to share was negative. I’m thrilled to give him the boot from my job-searching group of friends. His success is well deserved, resulting not only from strong professional qualifications but persistent and smart search efforts. Admiring the strategy, intensity, and positive attitude that he brought to the job-hunting process, I’m newly motivated about my search.

Extra energized this morning, I signed up for Toastmasters, following up on a professional development goal that I set during the ASAE conference. Thanks to another friend who touched base earlier today, I put that plan in action. I also registered for another networking event and—of course—applied for another interesting-sounding job. Taking another friend’s suggestion, I also joined the Washington Post contest for a temporary work advice columnist. After all, I love to compete and don’t mind offering suggestions for dealing with office dysfunction.

Considering how much support I’ve received from people in just the past 24 hours—motivation, an invitation, a suggestion, and a nudge-- I’m reminded of how wise it is to tell others about a job search and let them help, and I’m eager to offer help to someone else. What’s the best thing that you’ve done for a friend or colleague today?

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