The Big Three

Today I applied for 37 jobs via email. This is the quantity method of application. Yesterday I went to the big mall of my city, where the second Secondchance is located. I went to see the other guy who ran my old program. I've probably said, maybe multiple times, that he transferred to this location, and I didn't want to go all the way out there just to see him without knowing whether or not he'd be there, because that'd make me look desperate. But yesterday, my old employment counselor told me he works all day, every day there, so I decided to go for it.

I'd never been in that office before, but they have the same job binders, so I burned through both of them, recorded every opportunity I was qualified for, and threw them down today. There's 9 more I can only apply for via fax, so I'm going to hit my local Secondchance tomorrow to send those off.

That reminds me... What's the point of fax? It seems to me to be exactly like email, except you can't respond to it or know if they've received it. It seems like the method company's use when they want to have complete control over the process, except oftentimes it's given as an additional means of application. Why would I choose to use fax when there are other options?

As a general rule, in-person applications are best, then phone, then email. The more personal the encounter, theory is, the more likely the employer will consider you dedicated, the more of yourself you can display, and the more memorable your application will be.

On the other hand, the less personal, the more quantity of applications you can shell out at a time. It's higher convenience. This is the quality vs quantity conflict.

But a fax is just as impersonal as email, and fax machines are harder to come by then computers, and it gives you less control.

Anyway, yesterday, I did manage to see the guy I was trying to see, but I also met the third member of the Big Three. The two guys who ran W2W are the first two... Partway through my program, a third person with a position akin to there's was introduced. My impression was that it was a pretty big deal. As I understand it, usually two are stationed at the location near me, and the third stays at the big mall.

The program was still new at the time, so it used to be that one stayed at the mall and one over here, but once the program started, it took two to manage it. So this guy I went to see today transferred over to where W2W was, and that left the mall with no one of that caliber. So they had to introduce a new guy.

He's been on the team for over a year now, and I'd met him before, but I never made the connection. I should have, though. The way he speaks, the way he holds himself, how he responds... It's obvious that he's greater than a normal human being.

Not in any kind of arrogant way, mind you. It's not like these people are trying to stand over you. Just the opposite, in fact. They're always getting on your level. But they are truly great beings.

Of course, I don't have the connection with him that I do with the other two, since I don't have a history, but I can see from meeting with him, that he is worthy of his position.

I don't even know exactly what their position is. Apparently they get paid pretty bad, have to worry about getting laid off, they aren't employment counselors, they aren't job-finders, they're not secretaries, and the program is a branch thing that came late in the game... They don't seem to be in any position of authority over their peers, either. They can and will do any and all of the tasks I listed, but they seem to have no official title.

I had a teacher like that. Except she wasn't really a teacher. I respected her a lot, and I owe a lot to her, too. Maybe these are just people that ascended their official position and became something greater.

Anyway, this guy I went to visit, he seems to be doing well. It's sad that he can't do the program now, but he looks like he's where he should be. This office was where he started, and it's the place he looks most at home in. This is his "turf".

He said that my beard was "character defining". All three of them like my beard.

My goal is to be as cool as these Three by the time I'm their age, or the age they were when I did my program. I've got about a decade. No way I'll manage it.

When I was there, a person with a developmental disability and a small child came in. That's right, why should there be some kind of segregating place for intellectually disabled people, when there is a cool, open-minded place like this? And screw Kids Can Play, or Fun Zone, or whatever it's called. If I was a kid, 2ndchance would be where I'd want to be, too!

At one point, they stepped out, and said I was in charge. I don't know how true that really was. I felt enough in charge that if someone came in, looked confused, and started to walk out, I would have told that person that they would be back shortly. Maybe not in charge enough to pick up a phone...

Despite the passionate urgings of the other members of my circle of wisdom that I should have taken the CWY opportunity, these three were much more open-minded to the idea of me sticking around for my family.