Your Unemployment Story on LinkedIn, BusinessInsider and More: Counterproductive?

 The supposed wisdom of crowds can generate horrific outcomes. Think back to investor enthusiasm for dot.coms. 

Well, currently, the herd instinct seems to be pushing the jobless to post the stories of their (ineffective) searches on high-profile platforms ranging from LinkedIn to BusinessInsider.

With a great deal of compassion I approached one of those LinkedIn posters. I shared my own 1987 layoff story. Then I indicated I would be interested to know eventually if this outreach turns out to be counterproductive. The response was immediate: They were worried about the same possible outcome. 

My hunch is that for the snippets of sympathy the jobless receive there can be a tragic cost: the optics that go along with not being in the winners' circle, even if temporarily. Our economic system is capitalism. Winning is everything. Do that and all is forgiven. The classic example is Mike Milken. Post-prison he won big in how he did philanthropy. 

The manner in which these stories of joblessness are positioned and packaged remind me of the 1950s popular TV series "Queen for a Day." The audience voted on who presented the best depiction at being a loser in our society. That "winner" brought home some goodies. Even though a child I got it: How degrading. Why trade human dignity for a bit of material relief. My immigrant family held on to their sense of self. All of us next-generation went to college. 

A number of former stars come to me for a complimentary coaching consultation because their strategies haven't panned out. Those include sharing their sad story. That had planted the seed of my reflection about how this now-popular sharing is putting posters three steps backward, without even one step forward.

A step forward would be to establish a position of strength.

That's the way the world works. And it's embedded in how successful trial attorneys operate. Take, for instance, Paul Weiss partner Brad Karp. Everything about his MO is to put together a position of strength. A SuperLawyers article features how Karp will stay up all night hunting for that best-way-in for approaching a client's problem. That problem Karp frames as a business, not a stand-alone legal, issue.

One objective of that position of strength is to attract the attention, then the support, of those who could help. That's networking, of course. At its brittle core networking is about trading what's of value. That could range from access to power to a vote to facilitate someone's being admitted to a country club. 

Horrors. Nothing in those sad stories indicate the posters have anything of value to trade for assistance in a job search. Get it: There's no position of strength. Expert in networking, public affairs leader Bob Dilenschneider hammers:

"Start the relationship off with a deposit, not a withdrawal."

Back in the early 1990s, when power was still in the closet, Dilenschneider detailed the moving parts of the networking Favor Bank. People will size up that you're losing power if you're making too many withdrawals from that Bank. 

A solution for the joblessness self-defeating ritual is this: Don't do it. Or if you're doing it, stop. 

Instead take an inventory of what you can trade. You might find value. 

For example, you're an alum of a prep school. Potential allies want to get their offspring into that school. Describe your points of leverage. Offer to coach for the interview.

You had worked at such-and-such a professional services firm. Offer to brief the AI startup who they can pitch to and how. 

You have time. Tell your overwhelmed neighbor with the monster job you can take over some of the caretaking. Be specific. Rides to the dog groomer. Companionship for grandma. 

In coaching we learn most from our clients. Those who got back in the game fastest never lost their hold on their human dignity. I pass that finding along to new clients. 

Career Paths? So Over. It’s about Earning a Good Living. No matter what.

Complimentary consultation. No Pressure. Street-smart Guidance. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.





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