The story goes that in the 1982 World Series of Poker, Jack Straus, pushed his chips in the pot and then lost the hand. As he got up to leave, he found that he had left a single chip under a napkin on the table. With that one chip he made a comeback and went on to win the Main Event Tournament. Thus the legendary term, “Chip and a Chair” was coined. Today you can hear this phrase in poker rooms throughout the world when a poker player is down to his/her last few chips but not out.
This week at our Tuesdays with Blossom meeting, Patty brought to our attention a segment that aired on 60 Minutes called “Platform to Employment”. The segment was about a Connecticut based organization, that addresses the need for long term unemployed workers to return to work and the need for employers to recruit skilled workers.
Part of the segment tells the stories of several individuals whose unemployment compensation had expired without finding work. Some lost their homes, sold their possessions, moved in with relatives, and worked part time and odd jobs just to survive. The Platform to Employment program helped prepare and match these workers with companies that need their skills. It was evident these people where down, but The WorkPlace program provided them with that one chip to help bring many back to work.
You can read more about this at http://platformtoemployment.com/ and see the 60 Minutes’ segment there.
Last week, I had my first informational interview. The person I was networking with was very generous of her time and her professional assessment of my work history and skills. Her comments caused me to start thinking differently about my core competencies. She proposed I present my experience and abilities in a different format in order to clearly allow a perspective employer to understand me better. She even provided my liaison with names of other professionals for me to seek advice and potential opportunities.
In today’s economic environment looking for work is emotionally challenging to say the least. Personally, I have my good and bad days. On those bad days I certainly feel down and sometimes even out, but then on the good days, I know under my napkin is at least one chip.
Posted by Joanne
Yes good days and bad days. Today is a hard day today.