A GREAT TEACHER MAKES AN INCEDIBLE DIFFERENCE

If you are lucky - one or two teachers made a positive impression on your life that you still feel today - if you are very lucky you got that from 3-4 teachers. If you're incerdibly lucky like me, you had many positive impressions and one of those people was as special as Alta Blakely, one of my English teachers. Ms. Blakely read a story I wrote about life as a freshman, being a stranger in a strange land, and her feedback was so powerful, so insiteful and telling, it was if she had known me for decades, and in truth it was only my second week in her class. I did everything possible to get into all of the mini classes she was teaching, but I was finally successful in getting her for a class on the Old Testament. Several religions were represented in the class and she encouraged us all to bring our own Bibles - it was one of the best classes I ever had. It influenced me to go to Loyola, a Jesuit school that enphasizes Theology and Philosophy in it's curiculum. During that last year at Kenwood, there was a teacher's strike. It began as we were preparing for AP exams, final college exams and college essays. It was an incredible hectic time and the school was closing on us. Who knew when the school would re-open and who knew if we would have enough time to meet our deadlines. Ms. Blakely stood by us, saw the broader picture and told us that no matter what happened with the strike, we still needed to stand up and be counted among the other students who were applying for college that year. She opened her home to us for classes to make sure we had the necessary preparation. That strike seemed endless, but it made me aware how easily we could be pawns in a game of political one upsmanship. If you want to make sure your interests are taken care of, you must always speak up. That strike and others like it helped me choose Human Resources as a profession. I've always admired Ms. Blakely's courage in working with us when many of her colleagues felt that she shouldn't do anything that may hurt the strike. I was one of a small group of my classmates who went to visit Ms. Blakely every year we could to thank you for her selflessness.
I'm sad to report that today I learned of Ms. Blakely's passing. She was a courageous defender of the right. The memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 21st at 3:00 pm. Its my hope that you will join me there to say our final good byes to a woman who helped us to become the people we are today.
Alta Blakely

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Blakely, Alta Marie Age 92, 60-year resident of Hyde Park, former English teacher at Hyde Park High School and Kenwood Academy, died January 4th in her Montgomery Place apartment. Preceded in death by 1st husband, Thomas Farr, 2nd, Robert Blakely, brother Richard Eckhoff. Survived by her children Cara Farr (husband Roger) Keller, Raye Farr, Stanley (wife Cecilia) Farr, grandchildren Dan, Mark, Greg, Karen, Zac, Ariana, Rachel, & Thomas, nine great-grandchildren, sister Eunice Ericsson & brother Philip Eckhoff. Active in the Hyde Park Historical Society, she was also known for decades of involvement as active citizen, election judge, Midland Author's participant, member of United Church of Hyde Park, & quilt show director. Her memorial service, public welcome, will be at her church, 1344 E. 53rd St. 3:00 P.M. January 21, followed by a social hour. In lieu of flowers, consider Doctors without Borders, doctorswithoutborders.org, her church, or American Lung Association .

Don't Be Afraid of The Headhunter

This morning I was driving to work and Otis Redding’s song “Sitting On the Dock of the Bay” came on the radio.  It’s about a man who travelled from the Deep South to San Francisco to start his life over.  Frustrated and unemployed (not entirely at the whim of others) the man finds himself sitting idly.  As I listened to the song all I could think was this is a very timely song – that’s exactly what’s happening now with people – they’re looking for a job but they have about as much focus as a baby sitting in a butterfly preserve. You’d almost think that they were waiting for a job to come up and knock on their forehead and say “let me in”.  This is too important a task to leave to chance – in America if you don’t work, you don’t eat. Let me encourage you not to give up.

Right now I am working with friends who are trying to fill jobs. They are searching for a few hundred people who are dependable, intelligent, outgoing, and capable of putting themselves out there to make a difference.  Many, many, many years ago I was a headhunter, and I was so young I had no idea what I was getting into.  The thought of calling a complete stranger to ask if they would like to explore another job opportunity seemed like it would be as easy as picking apples off a tree – not so. 

You have a client who knows exactly what they are looking for and you have an entire city filled with at least a few people who can do it.  What would you do if someone asked you if you would like a new job that paid more, offered better benefits and promised advancement and a better life for you and your family?  I was shocked to learn that most people would say “No, thank you.”  Some even said “Hell, no!” and hung up the phone. I couldn’t understand for the life of me why anyone would do that, but as I grew in the profession, I learned.

Some people are so scared or reticent to make a decision that they won’t leave a job no matter how bad it is.  Some have such a fear that reaching out for something that may be a perfect fit is too good to be true. Some are just so afraid of being rejected or being humbled by the process of finding the perfect job that they won’t take the steps necessary to make their lives better. Some people have literally never had a single job that someone else didn’t get for them. Let me tell you something, in the immortal words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, you have nothing to fear but fear itself.

A recruiter has called you about a job and you are frightened to express interest.  Are you concerned that your boss sent a spy in to test your loyalty?  Don’t be – most managers are too busy fielding their own headhunter calls to be worried about whether you’re getting one.  Ask the recruiter to call you at home and make a connection.  You’re afraid that headhunters are just trying to get your hopes up to dash them to the ground – well let’s take a look at this  - you’re told about a job – ask for the headhunter’s info and call them back – it’s usually legit if they give you a phone number.  You don’t want people to know that you’re looking but in the meantime you’re hocking  everything you own – baby, don’t step on your own feet – there’s no shame in looking for a job – right now every other person you know is looking for a perfect fit. Why should you be left behind??? What if you never had a job that someone didn’t get for you – that’s actually quite common – we all have to crawl before we can walk – just don’t hold onto railing too long – you’ll lose faith that you have anything to bring to the table.

Most headhunters get referrals from your friends and colleagues. We keep up with them – I used to have 1,000 phone numbers in my contact drawer, and I was trained in the old fashioned way of doing business – I always called 20 people a day just to see what was going on in Chicago.  Don’t be afraid to give a referral – you might get a referral to your dream job in return.  Good luck on your search!

Let's Get Rid Of SAT and ACT tests

Yesterday “60 Minutes” showed Alison Stewart’s interview with a teen-aged boy who made thousands taking the SAT and ACT for other high schoolers. The boy spent his Saturday mornings taking the test for people and upping their chance of getting into the college of their choice. It was a sad story because the kid got so carried away with his scam that he never thought about the fact that he was stealing (well, at least borrowing) someone’s identity, forging their signature, and creating a baseline of achievement that they themselves could never maintain.  The young man involved is now in college reportedly. 

Alison had some great questions for the boy about how he found out – his parents got a call saying there was a warrant for the boy’s arrest – that’s got to put a crimp in your weekend, right?  I had a few questions that Alison didn’t get around to - who paid for the attorney – did you make enough to pay for one yourself?  Were you charged as an adult or a child?  Did you lose the right to vote?  The kid didn’t seem to be particularly bummed out about this situation – how will he feel about telling his children that he did this one day?

The kicker for me was that the rep for the Educational Testing Service took no ownership for having such a lax method of verifying the identity of the people who take the tests.  If anyone can take these tests – then there are either two answers – 1- offer the tests at the school as the PSAT is offered to help confirm the identity of the child taking the test or 2 – use thumbprints, cornea scans, or other security measures to confirm the identity of the student.  The test is utterly meaningless if anyone can take the test for anybody.  It’s bad enough when superstar high school athletes are sending people to take their tests (sorry, I had to take that shot) but now we have to accept that every Tom, Dick, and Joshua is emptying out their bank accounts to do the same thing – yuch!  I realize this isn’t anything new, but for goodness sakes – next year they will have temp services sending out people to take tests – pitiful! Anyway, I love Alison Stewart and I loved the interview – check it out on line.