As I sit here in the suburbs of New York City composing this
entry, a record in time on a blog that ordinarily would be featuring news of
today’s job market, or perhaps staffing opportunities currently offered by some
of our clients, I have to remind myself that we are, still, only hours and days
removed from experiencing the full brutal impact of Superstorm Sandy.
Even now, with only the soft flickers of candles to break
the darkness, my family has no power, no water, no phones, or computers or
televisions. No cell phones chirping; refrigerators humming; dishwashers
churning, washing machines swishing. It is peaceful. It is serene.
It is……quiet.
In moments like this, when the noise of the day is silenced
into submission, and we sit huddled together as families have done for hundreds
and hundreds of years, we take solace in the idea that we are still here to
share our stories, and offer support to those in need. We think about those in
less fortunate circumstances, who have lost homes, and cars, and livelihoods,
and for some, who have lost loved ones in harrowing ways. Unlike throwing our
daily routines into tumult for a few weeks, the lives of those families have
been altered forever. For so many of us, these sorts of miseries have until now
been confined to far away shores. Tsunamis in Japan. Hurricanes in New Orleans.
Wildfires on our left coast. Always, just a click away with our remotes, but a
world away from personal impact.
No longer. We here in the NY tri-state area have now,
unfortunately, gained access to the semi-exclusive club of catastrophe on a
grand scale. It’s not something that I relish. But in this case, our membership
was not by choice, but by design; the design of the forces of nature, reminding
us, yet again, of just who is in charge of things around here.
As a professional recruiter for almost 20 years, my primary
function has always been to assist my clients by providing the type of top
shelf talent that will help them sustain their growth over the long haul. Similarly, my function is also to work
ever-so-closely with dynamic candidates who share a common desire to simply
better their lives with meaningful opportunities. And when these two parallels are lined up
just so, and I have helped to make an impact on people’s lives, it feels good.
But now.… after a national tragedy such as Sandy, one that
has impacted millions, I sit here by candlelight realizing that even while the
lights and water will eventually come back on, creating “normalcy” again, there
is nothing normal about moving forward. Things
have changed.
For example, in our business, I often hear our industry
refer to potential candidates as human
capital, leveraging the living, breathing, soul-searching people who simply
desire to better themselves with new and lucrative opportunities into generic
corporate capital categories shared by office equipment, and corporate assets,
and computer technologies. Rather than accepting that term (though usually not
using it), you can be sure I will be making a point of gently changing that
acceptance going forward, wherever it is encountered.
Living simply, by candlelight, has an amazing way of
illuminating things.
And in a broader sense, I have come to realize the analogous
nature of this calamity as it relates to the difficult job market our country
has been experiencing for some time. An historic occurrence like Sandy, to be
sure, is painful. And yet, as with the passing of all storms, there will be a
better day. A day when we will rebuild our homes, and our lives. We are always
reminded that it is the positive nature and the eternal fortitude of Americans
that will see us through difficult times. And it’s true.
So when we speak of the difficult job market that we have
experienced together as a nation, the great circle continues. THIS storm will
pass, as well. Yes, in this case, we might need to rebuild our personal
capabilities with further education. We might need to rethink how we view our
professional selves, and how that view is projected both on resumes and in
person. We might even need to relocate for better opportunities.
But if we retain the same sort of courage; of keeping our
eyes wide open rather than shielding us from the pain; of a stubborn refusal to
accept defeat and from that dig down to rebuild ourselves not into human
capital, but living breathing people who WILL make a difference unto others in
our personal and professional worlds, then there is more than hope to keep
alive.
There is the great American Dream. If we all stay together, dreams can come true.
Scott Bandremer
Scott Bandremer
