SECOND CHANCES

Just as GOD is patient and forgiving, He wants His children to be patient with and forgiving of others. "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" (Colossians 3:12). GOD gives us second chances daily, and therefore according to scripture we must give the same to others. The magic question is, do you really? Do you believe in second chances? Have you EVER given someone a second chance? If so why or why not? Temporarily keep those thoughts to yourself and come along with me on this second chance ride as I wish to share a recent experience.

In addition to our Biblical instruction, society says we should give people a second chance. Somehow, I’m beginning to ponder it. Last week, an individual within my network reached out to me seeking a job. Regrettably, per I recruit in IT and his expertise fell in another industry, I had nothing to offer him. However, it was something about him……something in his voice stood out about him. So, I opted to learn more about his employment and career desires and goals. The gentleman spoke rather candidly so the story goes:

During his YOUTH, he committed a non-violent crime resulting in a felony record. Although now an adult, he’s kept a clean work history for almost 20 years now; often working 2 jobs at a team to make ends meet.

He even showed me his application history with numerous companies. As we engaged further, I learned he’s been accepted in an online certification class that will aide him in the Production/Warehousing and Assembly industries he wish to employ with for making himself more marketable. At this point, I chose to review his LinkedIn profile. I immediately noticed the need for significant changes to make him more online appropriate. Feeling compassion to help, I stated, “There’s no time like the present, so are you ready to strike while the iron is hot?” He said yes, and for the next 3 hours that evening, we messaged back and forth via LinkedIn and I instructed him exactly how to update his profile in real time. There’s no doubt, looking for a job IS a job! It can be long and grueling; especially when receiving constant electronic e-mail rejections and sometimes when a person reach out to you/us they’re doing so as a last ditch effort of seeking help.

The said encounter left me wondering……………..

ARE WE TRULY GIVING PEOPLE A SECOND CHANCE?

((Close your eyes and briefly meditate, let that question sink in and think about it sincerely))

ARE WE TRULY GIVING PEOPLE A FAIR SECOND CHANCE?

When I think about second chances two well known quotes readily comes to mind:

“The best gift in life is a second chance.” ~Unknown

 “Take a chance, because you’ll never know absolutely how great something can turn out to be” ~unknown

Taking into account the ever changing economy and job market, let’s keep in mind of the major corporate lay-offs; often from the hundreds to the thousands. Let’s NOT beat these people up because they have gaps in their employment history OR haven’t worked in a particular industry in 3 to 5 years. In this next scenario, I’m going to break my very own cardinal rule and use myself as the example by sharing MY story of second chances. I’m a dependent veteran, and for many years (almost 18 to be specific), my professions changed per our different relocations. Sadly, far too many of my fellow recruiters DON’T show the compassion to us dependent spouses when looking at a resume of a steady work history, but yet work history in different or various professions. On paper, this is how I look:

-Mid to late 90’s it’s quite obvious 2 of those professions were my college and straight out-of-college jobs

-From there, I worked almost 9 years in big box retail Management and as a corporate HR and Education Trainer until a corporate downsizing occurred become my 1st layoff.

-The 2000’s got a lil tricky for me per my then spouse was making his way up the ranks within the Air Force, thus resulting in us moving around a bit, and essentially crippling my career because my professions changed per the availability of jobs within the geographic locations we were at (also, keep in mind, I’m juggling 2 kids and often became the head-of-household when my spouse deployed).

-By late 2000’s I encountered what would become my 2nd layoff hence the mortgage bubble that affected those of us in the mortgage and banking/finance industry!

~Finally, employment stabilizes again, and I’m doing GREAT until 2015. While residing in Texas during this period, the Texas Oil/Gas/Energy sector tanked from the drastic drop in crude oil prices triggering major corporations to lay-off in catastrophic numbers causing a residual affect within other industries. By February 21, 2015 I’d now experienced my 3rd corporate lay-off!

Texas, known for “Big Oil” is actually STILL recovering from the 2014/2015 recession as the local economy continues to show slow progression. I can’t begin to tell you during these various periods how often it was said to me, “You have good experience, but you haven’t done this line of work in a while.” You can imagine me sitting there saying in my head, “It’s like riding a bike, once you know it, you know it. You may wobble a little bit at first (learning curve), but with dedication and the right training it’ll come back better than ever.” I won’t pretend I didn’t find this process frustrating, because admittedly I did. Especially when living in areas/cities not military friendly (meaning near a military base). Regrettably, such cities offer little to no support for transitioning military personnel or their dependents. For instance, when residing in Houston metro, the closest military installations are 3+ hours away (San Antonio, TX or Killeen, TX), minus the various National Guard Units in the immediate vicinity. However, they neither are set up to accommodate such a service to dependents. I pride myself on enforcing second chances, because of my very own experiences. In turn, I equally appreciate my current employer for giving me a second chance, because the last time I’d worked in HR and Recruiting was in 2006, but yet they had enough faith in me and my talents that they took a chance on me and soon-to-be a year later, I’m still here!

My encounter with the gentleman sparked a resurgence of my belief in second chances. Rest assured, in the world in which we live today, as the gentleman and others are reaching out to US for H-E-L-P, it could just as easily be one of us on the other side of the desk in the not-so-distant-future. As a recruiter, amongst many recruiters within my connections as well as LinkedIn as a whole, I challenge you to challenge yourself…………give a FAIR second chance to somebody. I strongly urge my fellow recruiters, HR personnel, hiring managers, as well as my entire LinkedIn network, to:

                                        PLEASE GIVE SOMEONE A SECOND CHANCE

If you accept my challenge, please comment below so that I can pair you up with someone within your industry/profession.

Written by JK Bridges, LDP, CTC