You Are a Solution Seeking Problems

Bad Attitude: The great job-opportunity killer. Bad attitudes can kill your chances of finding work before you even start looking. I’ve seen it happen. It’s like witnessing a slow-moving, subconscious train wreck. The following is a conversation I’ve had that illustrates just what I mean.

Job Search Candidate (JSC): My wife and I are going to a party and there will be an influential Chicago politician there.

Me: Sounds like fun.

JSC: He is connected to all sorts of hiring authorities. Does it make sense for me to approach him?

Me: (Slight pause as I process the implications of his request. I’m thinking, “What sort of party is it?” etc., when he speaks up once again.)

JSC: But it probably doesn’t make sense. He must get hit up all of the time.

That’s not what I was thinking, but that is what burbled up unbidden from his subconscious depths. When he said it I heard the groaning sounds of straining metal and the loud impact of collisions as his career train jumped the tracks.

He was revealing the attitude of all-too-many job seekers. “Why would someone want to talk with me? After all, I’m just like everybody else in my situation, out of work and seeking a job. I’m a time drain, an energy drain. Speaking to me bums people out.”

This attitude can be expressed as follows: I’m a problem, seeking a solution. I’m a social cripple seeking disability assistance. I’m a beggar seeking charity.

Tom Payne, who volunteer coaches at the Career Transitions Center of Chicago and at the Elam Davies Social Services Center

But, some may argue, doesn’t this attitude reflect reality? Yes, to a degree it does. The person was, and is, out of work, and is in need of a job. But there is another reality and we must embrace it instead of overlook it. This person had incredible skills and talents. As I was coaching him, and giving him instruction on how to structure stories that highlighted his achievements, I was genuinely impressed by his accomplishments. In other words, he was a solution that should have been seeking problems to solve for hiring authorities.

The mindset of “I am a problem seeking solutions,” turns the jobseeker into a negative force. Yes, he does drain people of their energy and time because he is not offering anything or giving anything, he is only seeking to take what others do not have to offer. But if he was a positive force, someone who was seeking to give to satisfy a need, he would become a much more interesting and approachable character.

Imagine him walking up to this influential Chicago politician and saying, “Hi Joe, my name’s Jack and I need less than a minute of your time. I’m trying to find companies who have the following problems. They need top-producing engineering talent that graduated from the finest engineering schools. They are looking for people that have successfully tackled projects that no one thought could be completed on time and on budget. I’m looking for companies who are looking for leaders who build teams and coach people to make them more productive. Do you know of any companies like that, or could we continue this discussion some time next week at your office? It will take 15-20 minutes, tops.”