Saturday, February 07, 2009

Everything is Fine

Two weeks ago, I called a friend. Immediately, I knew something was wrong. She denied it and tried to make small talk. We have been friends for a long time and I know probably all of her secrets, but I played along. A few minutes into the conversation, she burst into tears and said she couldn’t talk right now.

Every few days since then, I have called her and slowly she divulged all the different issues bothering her. Mainly, she was worried that her career had taken a nose dive. For the past seven years, she has been working for the devil-incarnate. I have been hearing some rather extreme horror stories since she started. The whole thing finally blew up and she is suddenly without a job in a time when the economy is frightening. On top of that, every shot she has had turned sour as soon as they checked with past employers (we all know which one). I am actually listed as one of her references, because she assisted me with Marketing at a company where we worked together. I have yet to receive a call.

I gave her a few words of advice, but nothing very helpful. Two nights ago, the answer suddenly came to me. I knew exactly who she should work for and no other references besides mine would be necessary. Yesterday, after I made a few calls, she was offered a dream job working from home. Maybe I shouldn't say "dream job," she isn’t making an ideal salary to start off. However, by the end of the day, she was walking on sunshine. She went from the depths of despair to the highest of highs.

I have been thinking about this situation since then and I realize that opening up to others and networking can really work miracles. You never know who will be your link in the chain. For a while, I didn’t even realize that I was that link for her. This world really is small. Now, I just have to take my own advice and stop keeping all my problems bottled up. ...we'll see.

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