The Power of Being Helpful
by Angela Loëb
When I first met Jim Adcock more than a year ago, he was standing at the door during the beginning of a Friday meeting of the Launch Pad Job Club. He didn’t know I was the featured speaker but warmly suggested where I could grab some refreshments and pointed out the open seats around the room. I jokingly asked him if he was the hospitality volunteer. He grinned and said, “Sure!”
His nametag read, “Jim Adcock, The Spam Guy.” Naturally, I asked him the meaning. He explained that whenever he emailed his resume, he ran the risk of getting caught in spam filters because of the perceived pornographic nature of the last part of his name. This had apparently happened to him and taught him the importance of following up after sending his resume.
What a great icebreaker! As we continued to talk, he explained that his expertise is in something called SharePoint and that he was in full job search mode.
Displaying a healthy sense of humor, positioning himself right where he would be visible to everyone who came into the room and volunteering as a helper for the meeting – brilliant! My topic that day was about networking, and one of the experts I cited that day was Susan RoAne. I shared with the audience her advice about adopting a “host vs guest mentality” while attending a large event, which means that you should greet people, create goodwill, introduce people to each other, and, therefore, take responsibility for the way you experience the event.
This was Jim all the way, and you bet I pointed out to the audience that he was a living example of the power of being helpful.
In addition to having the privilege of serving with Jim on the board of the Launch Pad Job Club (he joined us this past year), I’ve enjoyed reading his blog, Working it Out. (Except I have to admit that when he posts the techie SharePoint stuff, it’s way over my head!) He recently ran a great series called “Secrets of the Successful Job Seeker.” I strongly recommend you go read it.
In the second installment, Jim proves that he has always known the power of being helpful:
“Just being around and being helpful can be a good tactic. I’ll give you an extreme example, from my own career, many years ago. I wanted to work at a comic book store. So I hung around the store, advised the owner on what titles he should pay more attention to when ordering (correctly), I answered customer questions (correctly), I tidied up the store when something was out of place, and basically was helpful until the owner decided he ought to pay me for my work. I ended up working there for seven years.”
Several months ago, Jim landed a long-term contract gig as a SharePoint specialist for an employer with a good reputation in town. We should consider ourselves fortunate that he continues to share observations, advice and revelations about his personal experiences during what seemed to be a long and intense job search during the height of the recession of 2009. Go read his series today – this is good stuff!
