Article by Wendy McCance
There is so much doom and gloom surrounding the state of the economy. All you have to do is turn on the tv or read the paper and the headlines are all about unemployment rates, lack of decent paying jobs and people losing their homes. I have bought into the idea that things are horrible and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.
Since 2009, both my husband and I lost our jobs to a plant closure, we lost our home to foreclosure and were forced into bankruptcy to save ourselves from having to repay our mortgage on are rental property when our house was severely turned upside down. We still owed $91,000 on a home that was now worth $35,000. It was a horrible time in our lives. We had to start from scratch with 3 kids in tow and look for a new home and a way to make an income again. The worst part was that we had the double whammy of two jobs lost at once.
We managed to get ourselves a new home, went back to school, and found new jobs. The pay at these jobs and any other job we searched out was about equal to that of a kid who had graduated from high school. Trust me, I’ve been there, seen it and experienced it.
I haven’t said too much on my posts about working as a Realtor, I have been writing about the experience in my other blog http://wendyworkinginrealestate.wordpress.com but after some unusual events, I thought I would write about it today.
I have been in the real estate office for about a month. The craziest thing I have seen has been the amount of people buying homes. Honestly, although I have always wanted to be a real estate agent, I have to say I was unsure if there would be enough people buying homes to create a decent living for myself.
Last Friday I was at work and the place was hustling. Every conference room was filled with people signing papers and handing over keys. This went on all day. Realtors were running in and out of the rooms and using the phones to talk with clients about the weekends appointments and showings that were being set up. It gave me such a feeling of relief to see the busy office and the people who flooded the conference rooms. Truly the office was like a turnstile of people coming in and out with no end in sight.
I took that confidence home with me and was talking with my husband about the madness of the day. He has been pretty down these days about the place he works at. He has been at his job for a few years now. He loves what he does, enjoys the people and has learned a lot. The problem is that the business is small and so is his income. He has an enormous amount of responsibility and is steadily getting more and more piled onto his plate. He is burnt out and sees no end to the craziness of the deadlines and added responsibility.
My husband has done a great job of continuing his education. He has taken numerous classes to get into the field he is passionate about. In the few years he has been with his company, he has learned enough that he could easily jump into a job that is more fitting of what he really wants to do.
We talked about what his dream job would be and about putting out some resumes. He mentioned that he had put out several resumes and that no one had called him for an interview. He was also pretty down about the fact that he doesn’t have a Bachelor’s Degree yet. He felt that without the degree, the types of jobs he was looking into wouldn’t be an option even though he has a tremendous amount of experience.
I was still on my high from the confidence I had gained watching all of the people at work signing papers in home transactions and decided I would find him his dream job. I told him to tell me exactly the title of the job he wished to have and that if he filled out resumes and sent them in, that I would find him the jobs to apply for. He was game to try anything, but I think he was just playing along more than anything. He hadn’t found a job that really fit with what he really wanted to do, so how would I? Anyway, he was sure I wouldn’t be able to find him any job where the requirements for applying would meet his background skills and education.
I jumped on the computer and within a few minutes had a job for him. He was stunned and asked how I found it (I’m great at finding what I am looking for on the computer). Another few minutes and I had another job. Within an hour, I had emailed him a page of links. He kept his word and sent out resumes to the companies he had only ever dreamed of working at.
To make a long story short, he has gotten two calls for interviews. The first call was in regards to the first resume he sent out. The job is for a service technician. The position would involve going to different plants and repair and program the robots. He would have to travel 50% of the time. The travelling would be throughout the U.S., Mexico, Canada and Europe. He is hesitant about the travel end of the job because he doesn’t want to be away from the family for too long, but what an excellent opportunity. The second job is for his dream job. The title of the job is robotic engineer. Although the first job is pretty much what he has wanted to do, the second job is exactly what he has been striving for. The company is close by and his interview is this week. I don’t know how this whirlwind of good luck caught up to us, but I think my confidence in what I saw at work played a key role.
I know that there is a lot of devastation throughout the U.S. People are still struggling and it will take a long time before the world looks right again. I hope that in writing this post I might give someone enough confidence that good things can and do happen to make another go of it. The one thing I have learned from the experiences we have faced since losing our jobs is that nothing good will come your way until you believe in yourself and push for what you believe you should have in your life. Wishing you all the best.
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Wendy McCance
To contact Wendy McCance about a writing assignment, interview or speaking engagement, please email her at: [email protected]
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I hope all works out for hubby, how great that you managed to find the jobs so he could apply now it is up to him to shine at the interview…………..fingers cross it goes great and the good luck keeps on rolling
http://jo-annemotherandnanna.blogspot.com.au/
Thanks for your good wishes.
I applaud your attitude and enthusiasm in these tough times. Hope it works out for your husband.
Thanks, me too.
What an encouraging story. I can’t imagine having such trials and surviving. But your family did. My best to you.
Thank you.
I totally believe that we get what we expect we will get. Your confidence carried over into believing that your husband could get a job - and a job he wanted. And it sounds like that confidence rubbed off on your husband, too.
I know many people see this as Pollyanna, or even being in denial. But ask yourself if you would rather moan and groan about how awful the economy is and how terrible that you don’t have a job, or would you rather be optimistic and hopeful that new job is just around the corner? Neither of these attitudes changes the reality of not having a job. But you will feel so much better with the second attitude. Why compound your situation with a miserable attitude?
Look for the positive and you will find it. Look for the negative and again, you will find it.
Yep, I totally agree.
What a great post…especially encouraging for all the people out there in similar situations as you were in back in 2009. Fingers crossed for your hubby’s interviews!
Thanks so much.
I’my crossing my fingers for your husband. I hope all goes well for him. Economies, like the stock market, go up and down. This too shall pass and we will be on the upswing again. The lesson here for all of us is to prepare for the next downturn.
Thanks for the good wishes.