Tiny actions can have big reactions

So a business associate asked me the other day, why I share so many recruitment posts from companies here on LinkedIn? Am I doing recruitment? What experiance to I have? Why do I even bother as it adds no value to my business?

I told him that I remember the day when I was retrenched from a company that I worked for the day before my son was born (2008 financial crisis). I was depressed, had no hope and left like a failure at a time that was meant to be a joyous celebration in a young mans life. How was I to support my son when I could barely afford to support myself? I was despirate and did not know what I was going to do.

I heard about this new free service offering called called LinkedIn where recruiters and companies and Hr professionals find candidates based on their resume and work experiance. at first I was sceptical saying this is not how recruitment was done, back then the newspaper and recruitment agencies were the only way one could find work. I decided to give it a try embracing new technologies and out of the box thinking, signed up and uploaded my CV.

At first the going was slow, I dont know what all the hype about this platform was about, I had no contacts and zero presence. I started reading business news articles and becoming informed on the going ons in business. I started engaging in disscussions and sharing ideas on topics that were of interest to me. Suddenly I started to form connections. To my supprise one of my contacts started asking me about what my eperiance and interests and about my views on a particular company I had commented on in one of the discussions. As we reverted back wards and forwards they asked me if I would be interested in applying for a position that was available there? Without hesitation I said yes and submitted my CV. The interview was in 3 days.

I scrounged together all I could afford to buy myself some nice clothes for my interview, I managed to find a decent suit in an end of range sale in a prominent retail store - I just had enough. I had bet everything I had on this one opportunity.

I arrived for my interview 1hour 30 mins early as that was the the only time my lift could drop me off. I patiently waited until the time of my interview. It felt surreal to think I had an interview through having a conversation online. I was nervous, but my interview went well. This was a pivotal turning point in my career as well as my life, I got the job, and it was all due to oportunity presented through networking due to someone elses online post.

Why do I share job post when they have nothing to do with me, my business or even my industry? I too want to give others the same chance to change their lives like I did mine. One simple act of kindness takes me a few seconds to do, to potentially change someone elses life forever. What matters to me is that I made the effort to pay it forward in the hope that I too can give someone who needs the break, a chance to change their lives.

#payitforward #givebackhoweverIcan