Friday, October 23, 1998

A New Approach To Job Hunting

Four months ago, my wife and I moved to Nashville from Orlando where I had been working for Disney/MGM Studios. Since that time, I had been searching for a video production job opportunity in the Nashville area. I had been doing freelance work here and there, but finding "the job" was not going as well as I had envisioned. I had talked to nearly every video production company, producer and director in Nashville and had not been offered anything.

On a recent volunteer job that I took, a fellow named Charlie, a guy that I had briefly met only once before asked me if I would be interested in being a road manager for someone. I told him that it all depended on the circumstances and who it was that I would be managing. Our meeting was so brief that I didn't give it another thought.

A few days later, Charlie called me and told me who it was and asked me if I would be interested in talking to her manager. I said I would. Later, Mike, the manager, called to invite me to her next event. I went and had a brief 5-minute meeting with them both.

The next day, Mike, called to arrange a time to get together for an interview. It seemed that we all had pressing events and our schedules were not working out very well. After reluctantly deciding on a late night meeting, we hung up.

It was time to write my check for next months rent so I sat down and filled in the amount. After I subtracted the rent from the register, I noticed that I only had $208.36 left. Out of desperation, I threw up a “flare” prayer, "God, how are you going to provide the money for next months rent; and what about food and bills?”

A few minutes later, Mike called back and said, "I had a long talk with [the performer] this morning. She said that she feels like she doesn't need to interview you."

My heart sank. I just knew that this was going to be another one of those conversations that ends with, "I'm sorry. Your credentials looks pretty impressive, but we just don't need you right now." My thoughts drifted back to Mike as he continued, "She was so impressed with you and your family last night that she told me to call you and hire you on the spot."

The only words that could come out of my mouth were, "Your kidding...your kidding!" I couldn't speak. Tears filled my eyes as I realized how much God cares for me. God provided the perfect job through a guy I didn’t even know, with a lady I had never heard of before, with no interview, in less than one week!

Paychecks: an Exchange of Value for Value

Having managed and supervised people for many years now, it is evident to me that the concept of "value for value" is not clearly ...