A friend told me his company needed to hire someone with my skills. This was a good friend who cared about my employment, and was willing to help where he could.
His brother was the hiring manager, and I knew I had the “in” I needed.
During the interview I could tell the job was mine…. if I wanted it.
By the end of the interview I knew that while I could do and enjoy the job (I had already been pursuing JibberJobber, what would become my main revenue stream), I wasn’t the RIGHT person for it.
The right person was a guy I had just met that had years of experience in what they needed. I met him at a network meeting for professionals in transition. We talked just long enough for me to like and trust him.
And so I recommended him for an interview.
And they interviewed him, and offered him the job.
The job that would have been mine, if I wanted it, went to someone else.
I wasn’t making any money at the time, and I could have used that job, but I gave it away.
How did I feel about it?
GREAT! I felt GREAT!
Giving is a big part of networking. I never thought that meant giving someone else a job.
Other job seekers are, in a sense, competition.
What did I get from that other job seeker? Not even a thank you. Really. He never came back to me and thanked me, even though I told him about the interview. He just disappeared.
That’s okay, though. I know that I did the right thing. And one day it will come back to me. I didn’t give the job away because I wanted a “thanks,” I gave it away because it was the right thing to do.
Who is your competition in your job search, and how do you treat them?
