I’ve always felt that helping someone get a job was the best thing you could do for them.  Lots of things go into this: teaching interview skills, helping them structure resumes to sell them more effectively, getting them up to speed on a new software package that’s The Hot Thing, providing internship opportunities, even teaching them basic “Dress-for-Success” skills.  All of this takes a lot of time and energy, but that’s okay; this is my personal contribution to the Great Work and I like doing it.  But I have wondered why I do all of this and, over the years, I’ve come up with an answer.

Helping someone find a job gives you a good feeling right away.  Someone comes to you in need, sometimes rather desperate need, and they need to find a job.  You can give them the hand up that they need, put them in contact with the person who needs someone with precisely their skill set, tell them that if they structured their resume a little differently it’d make all the difference.  They take your advice, they get the job they’re after, and voila!  They’re no longer in need.  They feel good and so do you.

Five years later, you’re looking for a job yourself.  And the people that you’ve helped are out in the community working, possibly not at the same job, but they’re launched on their own careers and moving ahead.  The people you helped in the past can tell you about jobs that they now have to offer or positions they’ve heard about from peers.  And if nothing else, they can provide references about what you’ve done for them and others in the past.  That’ll feel good, too.

Fifty years from now, you’re going to be remembered by dozens, hundreds, possibly even thousands of people who you’ve been able to help get a new job, break into a new career, or publish their first book. They’ll remember you fondly for the help you provided without strings, the energy you added to their lives.  That’s immortality.  And it doesn’t get any better than that.

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