Don't Give Up

I began thinking about posting this based on an entry in Jason Alba's Jibber Jobber Blog. He comments on not losing sight of what is important in your personal life when in a job search or for that matter under any kind of serious stress. It reminded me of the perspective you gain from seeing others go through problems and how they handle them.

Last time I was in London, I spent a very long afternoon at the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms underneath the Houses of Parliament. Churchill had this underground bunker built during WWII to manage the war effort while London was being bombed. If you ever have the chance to go, do yourself a favor and go there, spend the afternoon and drink it in. There is more to learn about how we got to where we are today and what it takes to stand for and maintain the values of our culture than in any classroom I have ever been in.

We most often think of Churchill through the lens of history as the much regaled, gruff Prime Minister of England, who led them with inspring speeches promising nothing but "blood, toil, tears and sweat", but he is an excellent role model for the job seeker as well.

He had excellent family connections, an illustrious early career beginning as a journalist and winning his first seat in Parliament in 1900 at 26. He had much political success including First Lord of the Admiralty, but his great goal of Prime Minister eluded him and in 1929 at age 55 he was out of office with no hope of return, then lost his fortune in the crash of 1929. He thought that all was lost - but did not give up. These times are chronicled in a great series by BBC entitled "The Wilderness Years" Instead he developed a second career as a writer, speaker and commentator, spending a great deal of time in America and warning everyone who would listen about the threat of Nazi Germany. His determination is evident in his quote: “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

All over 50 job seekers should take a page from this book and use their skills, talents and sagacity to find work - rather than just a job.