When I first got out of college I had no job prospects.
(Networking is not one of my strong suits.)
So I found work the old fashion way.
I xeroxed the yellow pages section for architects, cut the pages into strips, and xeroxed each strip onto their own page. I worked down the list, using the wide margins for taking notes.
Unimaginable brute force in today’s networked environment.
But it worked! I found a small firm that set the trajectory of my career.
Occasionally, I do something that reminds me of that initial job search. Something that requires a deep breath of air and picking up the phone. Again and again.
A few years ago, I led the programming for a major state office building. There’s only one way to call the heads of twenty-three agencies, introducing myself and the upcoming project. Same with advertising a new project for bidders.
No one told me that the relentless job search would come in handy long after I got that first gig, but any work done earnestly can repay itself in surprising ways. Effort done contentiously might not be optimal, but it isn’t wasted.
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Some Links
Having cut current events out of youtube, the algorithm fed this lovely dance video pairing tap dancer Aurélien Lehmann and pianist François-René Duchâble. Which reminded me of this epic challenge scene in Tap with Sammy Davis, Jr.
Matthew Poburyny has just moved to America! He has a distinctive photographic style that harkens to the new topographics and I always savor his contemplations. Plus one of our conversations convinced me to stop listening to podcasts when driving and just observe.
Jo Mortimer just started a newsletter with a series of great essays. One of the agencies I serve is public behavioral health, but as an OPM I only have an abstract understanding of their work. Her creative non-fiction on a former patient makes shit real.
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Thanks for reading!
Justus Pang, RA