Forget enthusiasm. Just be polite and professional.

So, it’s finally the weekend, your coveted two day stretch between the 5 laborious and exhausting days you spend at work. So what are you going to do? How about call up someone you barely know and, in a roundabout way, ask them for a HUGE favor! YEEAAAH! This ghastly practice is called networking. And while this isn’t the only way to do it, it’s one of the few ways to get in touch with a specific someone you feel could help your situation. So, you suck it up, pace the room, and give them a ring. I had to do this a couple of Saturdays ago, and while this woman (we’ll call her Miss Sprouts) is extremely nice, you may still feel like a filthy beggar soliciting a well-dressed pedestrian on the street. I called Miss Sprouts because I heard she was good friends with the woman who owned an agency I was interested in working for. To make a long story short, I was able to get my resume forwarded to the agency, allotted no face-time, and was ultimately rejected. So while my efforts may seem fruitless, I was able to walk away with one lovely sentiment:

While on the phone with Miss Sprouts, I went off on a tirade exclaiming how I had to get out of my current job lickety split or I was probably going to get booted out on my rump. “I just can’t fake the enthusiasm anymore!,” I said. And that’s when she eloquently replied, “honey, forget enthusiasm. Just be polite and professional.

Ding-Dong! The bells went off and the church choir boomed, haaaallelujah!! in my head. While that’s all common sense to some, for me, it was the Holy Grail in terms of the advice I needed to continue surviving this job hunt thing until something pans out. Because once the enthusiasm went, it was all down hill from there. I’ve spent my entire twenties crawling out of the ashes from all the bridges I’ve burned. I have walked into a building ready for a day’s work and turned on my heel only to walk out in that same minute. I have felt so completely incapable of dealing with incompetent managers and rude customers that I’ve sacrificed job security and my reputation. And while I would still give out high-fives and slap a few asses to anyone else who up and quits their horrible job, I’m well aware that the world doesn’t work like the movie Office Space. For maybe a few more months, I’m going to keep my matches in my pocket, keep the bridge intact, keep networking, and see what happens.

KB Cycler

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