First Job Exit Gifts
In my last post, I reviewed the mechanics of the first reentry job. Here, I’ll focus on the crucial takeaways, the things each background-challenged person receives when they successfully complete their first gig. These benefits are available to anyone, especially the other two groups I mentioned frequently: those just beginning their work journey and those transiting to an entirely new career. However, the stakes are higher for challenged job seekers because starting (again) from scratch is so tricky and fraught with all sorts of hurdles directly tied to recidivism.
The Exit Gifts
To be clear, these are earned parting gifts gained through planning, effort, and actualization. Those receiving see themselves as Free Agent pilots of their own vessels, Sellers of Service delivering exceptional work, and effective operators in the Marketplace. These gifts are therefore expected because obtaining them is part of a process that each person has put in motion, leading directly to the achievement of their longer-term work goal.
Validation
A sense of achievement, personal satisfaction, and self-worth attained through doing.
Positive Work History
The paragraph that can (now) be added to a resume and listed on an application.
People Connections
Work-related contacts that will provide references and otherwise assist the reentering person in moving to their next employment role.
These are what reentering people lack as they begin their work journey and what they will need to continue. They couldn't be more crucial to success. A positive first-job experience will provide many more benefits, but these are the nuts-n-bolts requirements for continued momentum and forward progress. Getting them comes via a plan, a well-thought-out Job Search Objective, and practical implementation.
Winging it and shotgunning applications won’t cut it, nor will the tendency (manifested by many reentering) to avoid personal contact. Some people make it on their own, but most don’t. Reentering people need others as helpers in getting a foot in the door and supporters and advocates from inside once they’ve gained an initial first-job foothold.
Success rarely “just shows up” or happens by accident. It comes from doing things right at every step of a deliberate process. It’s hard work and requires commitment, determination, and lots of support. I wish it were easier, that fairy dust could be sprinkled around, and all would work out, but that’s magical thinking.
Diligence and effort lead to good places. Follow the game plan, and good things can and will happen.
Onward!