by Brooke Allen

I was eight when we got our first television. Although it cost a month’s take-home pay, my parents consumed it sparingly, as if it were candy.

In the eighth grade I became interested in Amateur Radio, and lost interest in TVs configured as receivers, so I took one apart and rebuilt it as a shortwave transmitter. When my friends watched the Flintstones, I talked to people all over the world.

Yet television is insidious and relentless, and by my senior year in high school, my father, mother, sister, and I would spend hours each day sitting together as we drifted apart.

My freshman year at college was 100% TV-free and it felt great. As I flew home for the summer I formulated a speech about how I had no time for television.

Before I could speak, my dad told me the TV was in the barn if I wanted it for parts. My family had figured out what was happening to them. One night after dinner, my mom and my sister watched as my dad took out a .22 and put a bullet through the picture tube.

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Clay Shirky discusses television and brains with time to spare in his book Cognitive Surplus – Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. He says TV claims about 200,000,000,000 brain-hours in the United States each year. He estimates this to be about 2,000 times the effort that it took to build the Wikipedia in all its various languages.

Broadcast television and the Wikipedia are both things your brain can consume, but the Wikipedia is also something you can help produce. And if you do, two things will happen: 1) The world will be a better place, and 2) You will increase your connectedness with others.

In 1973, my girlfriend and I hitchhiked to Appalachia to spend a week with her aunt and uncle, who had surprisingly little news to convey about her childhood friends. “Don’t worry,” my friend said, “we’ll get the low down at the hoedown on the weekend.” It turned out there were no more hoedowns; they had been canceled once Hee Haw went on the air.

Shirky says that when lonely people watch TV, they report feeling less lonely, even though their passivity and the one-way nature of the experience makes them even more alone.

Q. What do people do when they lose a job?

A. They watch more TV. (Click on the graph above to see an interactive version of how people spend their time throughout the day. The big dark red band is TV viewing by the jobless. The tiny orange sliver is time spent working.)

When you lose a job, it is easy to feel useless and disconnected. And yet, watching TV is a useless activity that does not make you more connected – it just makes you feel as if you are.

Instead, do something with your excess brainpower (cognitive surplus). Even if you can’t find someone to pay you right away, I’m sure you can find something you enjoy doing for its own sake.

View the rest of this article for more pictures from people who have better things to do than watching TV all day (such as taking photographs). Copyrights are reserved by all original photographers.

The photo above was conceived of by model Miss LoLo who says, “The inspiration behind it was to display an independence from TV and to motivate people to think outside the idiot box.” The photo was taken by  Dave Wolanski who says, “My50th birthday was a month ago. I can hear the clock ticking and I don’t want my legacy to be that I knew all the quirks of the characters of NCIS, one of my favorite shows by the way.”

Would you go out of your way to take a photograph for a complete stranger for no money?

Eleven people did that for me.

TWICE!

The First Time: I wanted to illustrate an article about my favorite park in Japan so I wrote to people who lived near the park on my favorite social networking site, Couch Surfing, and asked if anyone had a photo lying around. None did, but 11 people went to the park to take pictures just for me. This is free time and generosity at work.

This Article is the Second Time: Zillions of people have posted gadzillions of photos on Flickr, including hundred of smashed TVs.

We asked 12 people for permission to use there photographs for this article and 11 said yes. (Still have not heard from one of them.)

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Ede swares he does not have a gun. However my father did, and Ede has the perfect photo to go with the story of how my dad shot the TV.

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Hopefully Andrina did not waste too much of her day watching this TV.

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Chase says, "The economic downturn may make it hard to find a regular job, but it can also be a great time to go into business for yourself. Invest that time in yourself in one way or another."

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Reed says his brother, his girlfriend, and he found this old TV in the desert and decided to put it out of its misery.

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Jim says, "I find that ordinary television just sucks the intelligence right out of my head. The best use for a TV is as a DVD monitor so that you can at least choose exactly what to put into your mind. Have you heard the Groucho Marx quote about TV, probably from the ealry 1950s? He said, "I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book."

Julia says, "I like watching TV as much as any other teenager, but I don't think that a life should depend on that."

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Whitney and some German friends found this shirt in a store and althought they did not have enough money to buy it, they tried it on in the changing room. "I, however, snuck a photo, SHHH"

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Dustin says, "I'm proud to say I watch zero TV and haven't had cable for multiple years. Life's too short to spend yours watching someone else's."

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You can always find or create a job for yourself if you are willing to change your job, change your location or change the amount you’re asking to a lower amount.

If there is insufficient demand for your particular skills and experience, first you will have to learn to do something else and provide skills that are currently in demand.  Employers don’t care about your past.  They care only about your future and your ability to contribute value to their customers.

You can change your location.  Sometimes you will have to move from one part of the country to another, from where there are few jobs to where there are more jobs.  Many people transform their entire lives by moving from an area of high unemployment to an area of low unemployment.

The third thing you can do to get back into the work force is to lower your demands.  Remember, because your labor is a commodity, it is subject to the laws of supply and demand.  If you ask too much, people will not hire you, because customers will not pay your demands in the price of the product or service that your organization produces. It is not the employer who is forcing this downward revision in wage requirements; it is the customer, through his or her buying behavior.

There is a small, creative minority in America who is never unemployed.  No matter what happens, they always have a job; sometimes two jobs.  If they lose a particular position in one place, they find another position doing the same thing, or something else, somewhere else.  They are fast on their feet.  They move quickly and they don’t accept unemployment as an option.  And they always have jobs.

There are always jobs to be done.  Even in the worst economy, there are always problems to be solved and consumer needs to be met.  For this reason, all long-term unemployment is ultimately voluntary.

There are more opportunities for you to fulfill your dreams and aspirations in the American economy than have ever before existed, or exist anywhere else in the world.  You can be, have, or do anything that you can dream of by preparing yourself for better and better jobs.  It is never crowded at the top.  There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.  Your job is to get good, get better, and then make yourself indispensable.

Now, here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, examine the trends in your company and your career. Determine where the market is going and what you need to do well if you want to be a leader in your field.

Second, be prepared to change your job description, lower your demands or move to somewhere else if necessary so you can get and keep the ideal job for you.

Refuse to put limits on your imagination.

A Review by NSoW subscriber: Ariel Gros-Werter

Charlie Hoehn, in his free on-line e-book, “Recession-Proof Graduate”, outlines how a newly-graduated 22-year-old can become recession-proof, i.e. receive multiple job offers in under a year despite being in a recession.

His plan is fairly simple in essence; reject the old job search methods. Rather, offer “free work” to gain employers’ trust and show your skills, with the understanding that while there is no immediate payoff, you can theoretically do non-paying projects of your choice for companies you like with the hope that after they have come to know and trust you they will create a job for you in their company.

Unlike an internship, Hoehn claims, free work lets you avoid competing with others for advertised internships, and allows you to control your work by offering companies a 1-3 week project that you have thought out for their own benefit. This is ideal for them, Hoehn explains, because they don’t have to think up a project for you or babysit you as you work, and they will accept your idea because there’s effectively no risk on their side – they don’t have to meet you or have you in their office, and since they’re not paying you if they don’t like your work they can reject it and forget it happened.

Hoehn’s idea of free work has both pros and cons. An advantage is that you set your own work schedule (just make sure you complete the project within the deadlines). You choose companies you like, and set your own project parameters so you’re always doing work that’s interesting to you. Furthermore, you will gain great connections and potentially a job if you do quality work.

A negative is that this can be a difficult path; you should only go for it if you can fully commit. Doing unpaid freelance work for months can be difficult. It takes consistent dedication and discipline which is hard for many to sustain without a reward in sight. If you can keep to it, this method may reward handsomely, but before starting on this route carefully consider whether you’re up for the challenge. It can be difficult to focus on unpaid projects for weeks on end when there’s always another job to apply for or other more immediate-gain job-search items on the to-do list.

Additionally, with college loans to pay back, high health care costs, and a desire to immediately move out of parents’ homes to live independently, freelancing for free can be financially draining, while also insecure of rewards (there’s no guarantee you’ll be hired).

Hoehn claims we need to stop thinking we are entitled to a paycheck. I believe that if you are doing work for a company, there should be a benefit, whether monetary or otherwise. You should be willing to work without monetary compensation – not because you don’t deserve it, but because the time working is an investment towards getting a job, gaining experience or a good line on your resume. Hoehn is right that we shouldn’t define work simply as something we do for pay; however when choosing work always consider what benefit you gain, whether monetary, good will, or otherwise.

Free work is much easier to do in some professions and skill ranges than in others. If you are marketing yourself as a website designer, it is simple to send a redone prototype of a company homepage. However, most jobs are heavily administratively-based (in a broad sense of the word) and so are difficult to accomplish without either being in the office or using private company information (which HR may not let you have without a non-disclosure agreement).

Offering to do work for free is a great way to make connections and gain a company’s trust. However, to avoid sounding cocky as if you know what the company needs better than an employee of 20-years, offer your project idea as a suggestion only while putting the main emphasis on helping with whatever will be most useful. This unfortunately may result in not working on projects you are interested in, but will succeed in the main purpose of gaining the company’s favor.

Hoehn is dead-on that as a recent graduate, skills are key. Experience is certainly a plus, because working professionally is different than doing college work, but employers want to see you can work in an office environment at the bottom of the hierarchy. More important than experience, employers want to know you have the skills to do the job and can learn the rest. However, it is hard to prove ability without showing it, so decide which skills you need to prove and figure out other ways to showcase them, be it writing samples or community event planning or designing your own webpage.

It is necessary to have something to show for your job-searching time. I was asked at two interviews, “what have you been doing?” That, I learned, was not just a question of how I pass my time. The interviewer wants to know that I am enhancing my skills and maintaining my focus.

It is even better to have material results of what you have accomplished, both for the interviewer and for your own mental confidence. Nothing is worse than feeling you’ve wasted months with nothing to show for it. Volunteer or learn a language; do something that you can look back on and see results. Better yet, find an activity to do everyday or 3-4 times a week to maintain a sense of regularity in your life.

Hoehn suggests it is cheaper and more useful to skip grad school and gain knowledge from experience or reading. While in some professions having a Masters degree may not be as important as having the knowledge, it may be hard to get the experience needed to gain knowledge without a higher degree. This is also highly dependant on the professional field in question. In some fields, having the degree is less important while in other professions a higher degree is necessary to advance beyond low-level jobs, such as in research and public health.

Hoehn comments on controlling your web presence. Start a blog, create a LinkedIn account and join other groups, anything so that a Facebook page with drunk photos won’t be in the first 3 entries if a potential employer does a Google search of you. If you can’t delete it, hide it. College may be in the past, but it can still haunt you. Having a well-written blog pop up allows you to show off your writing skills while also displaying a human side amidst a sterile job application process. I suggest this be started long before graduation. A blog is most credible when it’s been maintained for months, so start early and cut the dead-time.

Hoehn’s article presents interesting ideas for a recent college graduate. However, his ideas do not apply to everyone. His concept of free work is golden for some professions and skills, but is impractical for others. It can also be extremely difficult to maintain the needed discipline for months. However, offering to work for free is a great way for a recent college graduate to gain a company’s favor. It is one option for a regular activity and something to show for time spent job-searching. Additionally, do things which display your skills, which are often more important than experience. Lastly, control your web presence to present yourself professionally on the internet.

Why is it that lazy people accuse people who are helping themselves of acting out of desperation?

I was waiting for the uptown #6 subway train in New York City when I overheard a conversation between two men in early middle-age; one standing and the other sitting.

The one sitting said “The market sucks; I can’t get a job.”

The one standing said, “I know. I lost my job at the end of 2008 and I couldn’t find anything for nearly a year.”

“Tell me about it. I haven’t worked since then either. At first I wondered what was wrong with me, and then I realized it wasn’t me, it was the economy. It isn’t even worth sending out resumes.”

“I gave up on that too, and if I got an interview, I stopped trying to sell myself. I would just ask, ‘What do I need to know to get this job?’ and usually I didn’t have what they wanted anyway.”

“Me too.”

“Then I asked everyone I knew, and everyone they knew, ‘What’s hot now?’ It turned out, just knowing HTML and Java isn’t good enough. And the big thing is social networking.”

“Don’t worry. It will come back when the economy recovers.” The man on the bench said this in a reassuring tone.

The train came, and I followed them into the car. I had to hear the end of their conversation.

“I’m not so sure. I signed up for this thing called MeetUp, and I found some people who told me about some free classes and study groups.”

“Sounds like a scam.”

“Well, I learned a lot and worked on some projects. I didn’t know anything at first, but it was good just to be with people. It didn’t cost me anything except my time. It took five months, but I landed a job.”

His friend said, “I’m not that desperate.”

When I got above ground, I Googled the definition of “desperate” on my Blackberry, and the first definition was, “marked by despair or loss of hope.” Perhaps our subway rider meant, “frightened and in need of help,” another one of the definitions.

Funny, I find that people who say they are not desperate are the ones who aren’t helping themselves. Could it be that they aren’t frightened enough yet? But, why wait until you’re that far down that road?

And, I’ve noticed that the people I admire the most, especially during hard times, are the people who don’t wait for someone to manage their lives, and who don’t need to be bribed, coerced, or even taught in order to learn or do something new.

And yet, these are the very people who are called “desperate” by the people most in need of help?

And psychologists have discovered that, if you work really hard at improving your circumstances, it is almost impossible to become depressed, and that if you wait until you feel like doing something before doing it, you might be waiting a long time.

Are you doing nothing? Or doing things that don’t work, time after time? I don’t want to tell you what to do, but I don’t think that your situation will be improved by accusing people who are doing something of only doing it out of desperation; at least not before consulting a dictionary.

But if you’re reading this, you’re already doing something, so I doubt I’m referring to you.

- Brooke Allen

David said, “Every day, I want working here to be your best option.” David is the founder of the company I work for, and we were discussing what would go into my employment contract. It is standard, in this industry, for people in my position to have two year non-compete clauses, which mean that if I quit the job, I could not work at what I do for two years.

I did not want to have such a clause, but the amazing thing was that David did not want me to either. He and I both knew how important it is to know that you choose to do what you do, not that you are doing it because you have no choice. That conversation took place 15 years ago. I’m still here, and happy, even though I have never worked at a place where it is easier to go somewhere else.

Most people aren’t bound by a clause in a contract. Their constraints come from an inability to create choices for themselves. Or, they can’t see the options staring them in the face. During hard times, they will take the first job that comes along because they feel they have no choice. When times get better, they will jump at the first opportunity to jump ship, without doing the due diligence it takes to determine if they will be better off. Finally, they have a choice, so they feel compelled to move, discounting the value of the choice to stay put, or mustering the courage to ask for something better of from the boss.

The ironic thing is that almost all employers require that you be good at finding a job before they will hire you.

The difference is that, I don’t require you to be good at it before we first meet.

I went to a jobs fair, not to find work, but to interview HR people and recruiters to learn how to better help NSoW readers.

I asked the head of HR for a large firm, “What do you look for in a job candidate?”

“I want a well formatted resume, and their cover letter must be well written. They must be good at presenting themselves in a positive light. They must know all about our business and our needs. They need to look sharp; dress for the part. They need to be personable; at ease in the interview.”

“They need to be good at finding a job.”

“Correct.”

“And they have to know how to sell themselves?”

“That’s right.”

“Is it a sales job?”

“No. We’re hiring engineers.”

“But I don’t get it.” I was astonished. “Most good engineers I know are nothing like that; they are introverts, they don’t look you in the eye, they don’t have a business sense, they can’t sell for beans, and they dress like slobs. They have spent their time honing their engineering skills, not their people skills. And the last thing I think you’d need your engineers to be good at is finding someone else to work for.”

Suddenly he remembered he had to do something else, and the conversation came to a screeching halt.

I bet if I hired engineers the way he does, I wouldn’t get the best engineers, I’d get the best people at convincing me they are. And, they will leave because it is easier for them to convince someone else somewhere else, than to actually be a good engineer for me.

So, before I hire you, I want you to be good at most of what I need you to do. And be a good enough student to learn the rest. If you are good at finding a job, I won’t hold it against you, but if you aren’t, let’s work on that.

First you need to be good at creating choices before you and I can determine if working for me is your best choice.

But there is another reason to be good at it.

The skills you need to be good at finding a job are skills you need to be maximally effective at doing the work I want you to do.

Let’s take networking, for example. Most “networkers” give networking a bad name. When they lose their jobs, your acquaintenances suddenly want to become your best friends. They will have discovered a fascination with how well your children are doing. Yet, if they land a job by December, they won’t return your Christmas card.

That’s not what networking is all about. It is about making deposits in the Karma Bank. It’s about being useful to others, and not keeping score. And, it’s about asking for help, but only from people who can give it, in a way that doesn’t piss them off, and that allows them to bow out gracefully. It’s about being someone people want to spend time with, not about spending people’s time.

Almost all the people I know are interesting, and charming , and will help you if they can. But when they become unemployed, they withdraw and become depressed and are of little use to anyone. Or they become self-centered, shallow, and pushy – in short, they become their own worst image of a bad salesman. Both these reactions are natural, common, and forgivable. But would you want to hire someone like that? I don’t.

Most employers want to hire you only if you are currently working somewhere else and already doing what they want done. They do this because they they think that if your boss wants you, they probably do too. They also do it because the employed come with less expressed baggage than the unemployed.

But there are downsides for me in hiring someone currently doing what I want.

I like to feel that working for me will be a step up for you. If you are coming from the unemployment line, that’s easy. And if you don’t work out, I want to be able to send you back, without you being worse off. Few employers will t take you back, but the unemployment line will.

Also, if you want to work for me doing the same thing you are unhappy doing for someone else, perhaps the problem is that the work and you aren’t a good fit. Or it once was, but now it is time to move on to something new.

In conclusion, you don’t need to be good at creating choices for yourself right now, but I would like you to be by the time we both have to make a decision. You don’t need to be already doing what I need you to do, but if you learn much of what the job entails between now and when I make a decision, I won’t hold that against you. In fact, if you can learn things quickly, it is evidence you’ll easily learn the rest after I hire you. If you learn things with a spirit of adventure, and because you have a love of learning, and not just because I said so, then you are much more likely to be the kind of person I, and others, want to hire.

My approach might seem upside down and backwards, but there is a certain logic to it, and it works for me. It might work for you too, and reap benefits even if I don’t hire you. If I don’t choose you, you will still have given me something very valuable; a choice. I hope I can show you how to create choices too.

- Brooke Allen

PS: Someone just wrote to ask if this some kind of come-on, and if I’m going to try to sell training to you. The answer is: absolutely not. I do not charge the people who work for me to learn things – I pay for their education. And if someone wants to learn something from me before I hire them, I do not charge for that either. I always wanted to be a teacher, but it doesn’t pay nearly as well as running the business I run with the well-educated people I’ve hired.

by Steve Amoia

When I think about my first job, it taught me lifelong lessons. All of us have to start somewhere in the world of work; however, many of our first jobs are not mentioned on resumes, C.V.’s, or applications as we gain professional experience. We may feel that they don’t relate to our current objective. Or they may age us out of the hiring decision. We remember what we were paid; however, don’t always recall the important lessons that have no price tag.

I was a high school freshman, and summer vacation was approaching. My parents told me about a new restaurant that was looking for help. I was not quite 15 years of age. With the exception of cutting grass, raking leaves, shoveling snow, and a three day stint in my uncle’s car wash (which was curtailed due to my age for insurance reasons), had never had a job.

First Interview

The establishment was called the “Chinese Village Restaurant.” I could see the “Help Wanted” sign hanging prominently on thefront door. My mother dropped me off, and said just to be myself. The restaurant was empty of any customers, and the lighting was very dim. The carpet was red and black, and I could see some construction going on in an adjacent room.

I was approached by a gray haired woman. She looked both tough and gentle.

“How can I help you? I saw the sign in the window, and I would like to apply for a job as a busboy. She smiled and looked me over. I was short for my age, and weighed 120 pounds (54 kg).

“Have you ever worked in a restaurant before?” No Ma’am.

“What is your name, young man?” Steve.

“Okay, Steve, I am Mrs. Thom. Margaret Thom. That guy peering through the kitchen windows is my husband, George Thom. My children also work here. David is a manager, and Joyce is a waitress.”

She kept looking me over.

“You look real young and small, Steve, how old are you?” She then pointed to a silver tray stacked with dishes. “I want you to pick that up, and carry it back to my husband in the kitchen. Can you do that for me?” Yes, ma’am, I can do it. So I proceeded to pick up the tray, incorrectly as I would soon be told, and struggled to carry it the roughly 75 feet (23 meters) to the kitchen area. Where I would soon meet Mr. George Thom. He was a very tall man to me (about 6’2″ or 1.89 m) with a broad smile.

The kitchen area was very bright and immaculate. All of the cooks were Chinese men. The cuisine and language were Cantonese. Mr. Thom was standing against a work table.

“What is your name?” Steve.

“Okay, Steven, (he never called me Steve) you seem like a hard worker. We need to teach you how to carry heavy trays. You’re a little small (he chuckled) but I think you have a strong spirit. Now go back and talk to Mrs. Thom.”

She was waiting at the cash register. I saw a few of the waitresses reading Chinese newspapers at a side table, but they didn’t look at me.

“Your pay will be the minimum wage plus tips. You will also get a meal every night. No jeans, tee-shirts or sneakers. I will provide a red jacket for you. Come in on Friday at 4:30 p.m. and bring your Social Security card.”

It was one of the easiest and toughest interviews that I ever had. No application. No illegal or non job-related questions. As Nick Cordodilos of Ask The Headhunter® states, they made me do the job in the interview.

Life As A Busboy

My first night was difficult. I was very nervous, and the restaurant was busy. I was trained by the head busboy, Chris, who was 18 and recently graduated from high school. Chris was very patient with me. He taught me how to “bus” a table, and then change the table cloth and arrange the silverware, napkins, and how to serve water glasses correctly. He also showed me the correct way to lift a tray, using your legs, and then to balance it with one arm.

“Call Mr. Thom ‘Uncle George.’ If a tip is left on the table, clean the ashtray, and put it in there. Don’t ever remove the money unless the waitress gives you permission. Keep the water glasses full. Do that without asking the customers. Smile. If they ask you to take an order, tell them their waitress will be there very soon. We don’t take food orders, but sometimes carry out the meals from the kitchen. At the end of the shift, the waitress will give you a tip for helping her.”

In a few weeks, Chris was promoted to waiter. Actually, he was the only one among about six or seven servers. Mrs. Thom was very organized. She created “stations” of tables. I noticed that a server would be assigned to the same station for each shift. I asked Mrs. Thom about this, since some stations had larger tables. Which I noticed left better tips.

“Steve, I try to spread out the work, and also give them their preferences. Especially to ones who have worked for me awhile. Some like the larger tables because the pace is slower. Others like the two-seaters against the wall that turnover quickly. The stations with larger tables usually go to the most experienced person. It usually works out, tip-wise, at the end of the night, to be about the same.”

Work Tips That Became Lifelong Lessons

At the time, I focused more on the tips in my pocket every night, along with my weekly pay packet. What could a 15 or 16 year old learn about the world of work by cleaning and setting tables? I was too young to realize how much Mr. and Mrs. Thom taught me by their customer service focus, ethics, management styles and work ethic. As I became older, this job and the Thom’s became a point of reference. They would become a measuring stick for every job and boss I would ever have.

Lessons Learned

• There was a clear division of labor at the Chinese Village. Mrs. Thom’s domain was the dining hall, and Uncle George ruled the kitchen. With rare exception, they never impeded upon each others domains.

• Restaurant work is physically and mentally draining. Your mistakes always have an audience.

• Smart managers correct you in private, but praise you in public.

• Respect and competence are not always shown by titles or age. Even busboys can learn how to lead others and set a winning example.

• You don’t have to like people to work with them.

• Different cultures can co-exist if they make the effort to understand each other. I learned a few words in Cantonese to make my brief stays in the kitchen more enjoyable. You would be surprised how a simple “thank you” is received.

• People can be competitive or mediocre. Some aspire to be the best busboy, cook, server or hostess. Others feel entitled to a free meal just for punching the clock on time.

• If you don’t serve the customer, someone else will.