Working is a Privilege

So, it's really easy to criticize. Anybody can sit here and write/complain about entitlements, child care, people’s attitude, climate change, the war in the Middle East, etc. So here are my humble solutions to changing the attitudes towards work in getting a job:

As with many government entitlements, they start out with good intentions and devolve to the downside of Gladwell's inverted U. I'm a product of the 60's and, at the time was a great believer in LBJ's Great Society. Like many liberals we all thought "helping the poor" is a necessary idea, but the consequences have been disastrous. I remember working in "projects" when I was a freshman in college at St. Louis University in 1965, thinking that it was so wonderful that the government was building 15 and 20 story "projects" for people who really couldn't afford them. Ten years later they were tearing them down because they deteriorated beyond repair, and we are now in our second and third generation of people who expect the government programs to take care of them. The idea, for instance of unemployment insurance for people while they are looking for a job, seems reasonable to most people, especially those who are gainfully employed. It appears to be the empathetic thing to do. The key is while someone is looking for a job. It turns out, as Gladwell would cite, that unemployment insurance prolongs unemployment. The number of unemployed people who find jobs within 90 days after their unemployment expires is staggering. Unemployment insurance becomes a hindrance rather than a help. So the first thing we should do is decrease the amount and the time people receive unemployment. You would be shocked at the number of people who tell me that they don't want to go on an interview because they can make more money on unemployment than working the job I present to them... not good.  Instead of "unemployment" benefits the government should give tax credits to companies for hiring people who have been out of work for more than six months or a year. Get rid of the word "benefit" and describe unemployment as the "tax" it is and make it clear to people who receive "unemployment insurance" they are really receiving "other people's money". A novel idea would be to "assign" one working person to sponsor another individual who is receiving unemployment insurance and make it mandatory that the recipient of the unemployment insurance report to their "sponsor" every week when they receive unemployment as to what they are doing to get a job. To make it even more personal we could assign a "sponsor" for this who paying into the system about the same amount that the recipient is receiving, as though the employed person is personally "sponsoring" the unemployed one and is demanding accountability.

Unfortunately, our country has developed a societal attitude that work is a right, not a privilege. We all need to develop more of an immigrant attitude.  I really don't need to describe that in detail, because we all know what an immigrant attitude is. Secondly we need to communicate that it's going to be very, very, very, very hard to find a job. It isn't something you simply sign up for like you do with all the other entitlements. Along the same line, people have to realize that they may have to take a pay cut and start out in a lower position than they had before in order to get their foot back in the door. We then need to prepare people for the emotional strain that looking for a job is. I'm always amazed that people don't expect how psychologically difficult it's going be to find a job. Engage in talking to someone who's been out of work for more than a year and you can hear the tension in their voice and almost feel the depleted spirit. People need to be aware that the competition for a job is phenomenal. There are at least 8 to 10 very well-qualified candidates for every job and just because people think they are qualified doesn't mean they are going to get hired or that the hiring authority thinks they are qualified. Looking for a job successfully is a sheer numbers thing. Most people don't try hard enough to get enough interviews, which is the first mistake. Then, when they don't get a job right away, they give up way too easily, quit way too soon and then claim they can't find a job. They claim that there are just "no jobs out there", although it takes an average of 16 interviews to get a job. It takes talking to 10 hiring authorities to get one interview, and it takes 100 calls to speak with one hiring authority. In short, it is very diligent, hard work with tons of rejection and refusal. And lastly in this list is to quit cursing the darkness. Complaining bitching and moaning about the way things are does absolutely no good.

ABOUT TONY BESHARA

Owner & President

Babich & Associates

Tony Beshara is the owner and president of Babich & Associates, established in 1952 and the oldest placement and recruitment service in Texas.  It is consistently one of the top contingency placement firms in the DFW area, and has been recognized as one of the “Best Places to Work in DFW” by the Dallas Business Journal. He has been a professional recruiter since 1973 and has personally found jobs for more than 10,000 individuals.  He sits behind a desk every day, working the phone literally seven hours of the twelve hours a day, making close to 200 calls a day.  He is in the trenches on a day-to-day basis.  Tony has personally interviewed more than 26,000 people on all professional levels and has worked with more than 23,000 hiring authorities.  Babich & Associates has helped more than 100,000 people find jobs using Tony’s process.  Tony is one of the most successful placement and recruitment professionals in the United States. 

Tony received his Ph.D. in Higher Education from St. Louis University in 1973. 

The second edition of his best-selling book,  “The Job Search Solution” The Ultimate System for Finding a Great job NOW!   came out in January of 2012.  He also created a 45 hour online program about how to find a job, www.The Job Search Solution.com . Tony’s second best seller, ACING  The Interview, answers almost any question regarding interviewing in today’s erratic job market.  “Unbeatable Resumes,” discusses resumes for the present, unique employment market. His latest book for job seekers, “Powerful Phrases for Successful Interviews,” published in February of 2014, offers 400 ideal phases for every interviewing situation. His newest book, co-authored with Rich Lavinski, the managing partner of E. 57th Street Partners, “100,000 Successful Hires, The Art, Science and Luck of Successful Hiring” is about the “other side” of the desk… advice for the hiring authority. It, too, is a bestseller.

 He is a frequent guest on Dr. Phil Show, offering Dr. Phil’s guests advice on the job search process.  He is also a frequent guest/expert on various local and nationally televised business shows, including those on Fox Business News. Tony also hosts a daily radio show, The Job Search Solution on KEXB, 620 AM, every Monday thru Friday from 8:00pm to 8:30pm. Tony and his beautiful wife of 47 years, Chris, have four grown sons. 

Interviews & Appearances Contact:

Tony Beshara

Phone: 214-823-9999

Email: [email protected]