The Rut

Artwork by 731, Bloomberg Businessweek

Having a good education is not all that is required to land a good position. Nor it seems, is experience. While my degrees have resulted in more call backs, interviews, and job offers than at any other time in my life, I am not positioned well (geographically) to secure a good paying job in any reasonable amount of time.

I was lucky enough, however, to land a job soon after arriving back in Rexburg. ArtCo, which has been a community fixture for a few decades, hired me first as a temp in B2B sales of their Holiday card division, then hired me permanently a couple of weeks later. I guess they didn't want to lose me. I was leaving for interviews every other day to find a permanent job. With that little bit of security I began the search for a second "joe-job" to cover the additional costs of living with rent, utilities, and Internet. The motel provided all those costs.

I had several prospects but ended up settling on a delivery driver position with the brand-new Papa John's pizza place just a couple blocks from home. Wage plus tips. Can't beat that, but you sure can beat the hours of a full-time job combined with a part-time gig. This week alone I'll be putting in 63 hours, and I will still fall short of making $2500 per month.

I will continue in this vein with hope for the future as I have been doing since August, that something better will arise.

It is difficult to imagine for a ridiculous amount of people the fact that I and my family of five are living on wages like these. Worse still that an MBA with an excellent GPA is doing telesales and delivering pizzas. But this is the new economy. Networking, certifying, and looking for better positions can literally be a full-time job. People are slow to accept any change, which is a slippery position given this world of continual, and radical evolution. It is my confident prediction that my generation will experience less retirees than any previous generation in America. In other words a large percentage of us will work until we die.

In a recent article by Businessweek it said that 44 percent of graduates in America are underemployed. By the way; those 44 percent do not work full time hours. If you work full time you aren't counted because there is no way for the government to know that you are underemployed.

(From the article): Mario Mendoza says he works as many as 70 hours a week driving a taxi in Miami. The 34-year-old has a bachelor’s in sociology and anthropology and a master’s in global sociocultural studies from Florida International University. He says finding an entry-level job where he could do social or market research would put his driving days behind him. “I’ve applied for many of those jobs. I just haven’t been called up for the position,” Mendoza says. “If you spend so many years in school preparing yourself and studying, you want to use those skills to work, not do something like be a waiter or drive a cab or work at Starbucks.”

I cannot empathize more. But I am not going to whine about it - I am in a city where the only application of a Master's degree is either at BYU-Idaho as a member of the faculty or administration, the government, or Idaho National Labs. Rexburg is a closed economy that rises and falls with the student population so it has a myriad of positions; none of which pay over $10 per hour. I am lucky to be where I am, but I am still looking for something much better.

Anxiously Engaged

 

"You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them." - Michael Jordan

This will be the single most important post I make on this blog, because within it I will share how I have finally achieved what I set out to do here at the TJ Motel. First let me share what working with Paul's Paint has taught me. Then I will apply it to my care, as steward and General Manager, of the TJ Motel.

For five weeks I rose at 5:15 AM, went to work at 6:00, worked non-stop from then until 11:30 where we had our 30 minute lunch, and then proceeded to labor from 12:00 to 3:30, 4:00, and even 5:00. In the hours of labor we did not take breaks. Paul's wage per hour was so substantial that my desire to be that valuable kept me moving a solid 8 to 10 hours per day.

I sweat, I grew strong, I formed new work habits, and I lost weight. And in those five weeks I did not once think of quitting. I was anxiously engaged in the work. I could visibly see the results of my labor. I could determine how much quality to put into the work.

I became faster, more efficient, and finally learned how to communicate effectively with laborers within the construction zone. I did not get in trouble, nor did I inspire a new policy. I was there to do a job, and earn my keep, and that is exactly what I did. Those five weeks with Paul taught me to appreciate the work for the work, and become engaged in doing it well.

When the work became sparse two weeks ago I was back at the TJ full time. Being gone eight to ten hours per day for five weeks let some projects stack up, and for the first two days I had a hard time being the General Manager again.

But I was not discouraged. I knew that if I kept moving, like I did with Paul's Paint, that I would get on top of the job.

And So I Did

As I began putting tasks to rest, catching up on what needed doing I became suddenly, and anxiously engaged in my work. Visibly the quality of the motel improved. The feeling changed in the atmosphere from 'just getting by' to 'this is the place to be.' I had taken my lessons from Paul's Paint and applied them to the TJ.

In other words I was at work to work, and I was at work for the work. My confidence surged as I began to understand what seemed simple to so many others; be there to do the job, do not define yourself or your happiness by it. Rather glean your satisfaction and happiness from your labor. I am confident that I can take any position, work it until I master it, and be happy working. Just working.

There Is A Lie Out There

There is a lie that says you will not be happy unless you are doing something you love. I disagree. I think the job is what you make it. I think you get out of it what you put in. If you put in 80 percent negativity, to 20 percent positive experiences, you are going to hate your job. That's the truth to the lie. The lie is an ill defined assumption.

I have altered my perception of doing what I love, by putting love into what I am doing. I have achieved a higher level of excellence here than I ever thought I could achieve doing a job I was less than thrilled about. I am anxiously engaged in making this business what I want it to be.

Stress And Mistakes

Over the last two years I developed a tick above my right eye if things became too stressful. My right eyebrow would pulse just at the corner of my eye. Thub thub. Thub thub. My tick is gone. I can handle stress and pressure like I've never been able to before.

When I made a mistake in the past it mortified me. It was embarrassing. It caused me stress. I must have had more cortisol in my system than a second-rate professional athlete in the first 13 months here at the TJ. Now I handle mistakes, and confrontation with ease and grace. The veritable school of hard knocks has taught its lessons well, and I am learned.

Most Important

It is true for me to say that some have found my posts a little disconcerting. I have laid bare my mistakes, spoken and unspoken. I have revealed my weaknesses and strengths. I have been open and honest about where I was, what I have learned, and where I am. So let me ask you this; if a politician can come clean about his bad habits - alcoholism, adultery, drug addiction, poor financial discipline, dishonesty, desertion, and draft-dodging - and get elected to offices of leadership within the halls of government, then why shouldn't I be honest about who I am, what I have learned, where I was, and where I have arrived?

It is better that I should learn these invaluable lessons here at the TJ than in my new position wherever it may be.

For Hire

My feelings are that I have grown as much as I can, and it is time to hang this job up and leave. We are going to the Sugar City area in Idaho where I will continue to blog about my work, and career experiences in my new position. If you want a great, well-educated candidate with strong managerial experience, sales skills, and superior customer service skills please check out my personal resume blog at tjustinhaxby.blogspot.com.

Stay tuned!