Article : Transcript of Video

Hi,

For all of you that watch this, thank you.

Though it may seem obvious, I am Dan, yes, the same one in the profile photo but that was taken at my wedding and you are seeing me after two kids so...you know how it goes.

When I came on Linkedin a few months ago, updated my profile and decided to start posting, I really didn’t know what to expect. I was at the end of my rope having been without a job since May and I didn’t know what other options I had.

I have been so thankful to find that there is an amazing community of recruiters and career coaches, resume writers, trainers and experts that seem to have joined together to be part of a team.

Every post I am seeing there are 15 to 20 other people mentioned asking for them to chime in and that is just awesome.

After seeing all this, I decided to do an experiment, I wanted to write a series of 14 articles providing both an insight into my life but also to share some of the knowledge I have had in roughly 20 years as a professional across three industries.

Part of the experiment was just to test myself. It has been a decade since I wrote every single day. I wanted to see if I could come up with both the content and quality to provide something beneficial. I also wanted to see if I still enjoyed it.

I decided to do it in article form. In Journalism we have something called the inverted pyramid’ method which basically means that you put the most important information on top and then the lesser details as you go down. I am not an inverted pyramid writer. I am a feature writer. I like to tell stories and give examples to give my readers a visual in their head. Articles allowed me to do this.

Today being the last of my articles, I realized a few things.

1. People are way more eager to read posts that are not in article form. My standard non article posts gained WAY more readers than any of my articles.

2. I was surprised at which of my posts gained the best responses. It was the ones I did off the cuff like providing the names of people I admire or about how I write recommendations for people that really took off.

I am not saying I am upset by that but it provides a valuable lesson.

3. Writing the series proved that I still love writing and that this platform has allowed me to do what I love most...which is helping people.

My entire life, my willingness to help others has come across with mixed reviews. Some really appreciated it but others thought it was weird or wondered if I was being genuine or not. I think that society is so focused on the idea that we have to do everything ourselves, that when someone offers to help they are taken aback. I am guilty of it as much as anyone.

I’ve had numerous people connect with me, I see their ‘opentowork’ and I put them in contact with a recruiter I know. I always get a message along the lines of, ‘wow, I didn't expect that. I know you are searching for work too.’

Yeah, I am so what? Does me still being without a job negate my ability to help? Sure, I have had difficulty in finding a job in my field. That doesn’t mean my network won't be able to help someone in a different field than mine.

Look, if we are competing for the same position am I as likely to help? Probably not, just being honest.

My parents at a very early age ingrained in me the ideal that the greatest show of a leaders strength is in their ability to take as much joy in the success of their colleagues as they do in their own.

I have never forgotten that, it is part of my who I am and probably my favorite part of who I am.

With that, if you are watching this, and haven’t read my articles, I encourage you to do so. There are some good ones in there. While this is the end of my first article series, that doesn’t mean it will be the end of my posts.

I want to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to enter your lives in even a small way. I look forward to connecting and conversing more with whomever wants to.

Stay safe and healthy and please let me know how I can help you.

Dan