18 March 2024

Archives for December 2018

One of the Best Stories of 2018

Cindy Silloway

This is one of the best stories of 2018. Cindy Silloway came to JS much longer than she would have wished, but things turned our really well. It was worth the wait. You will see this message came in more than two months ago; we’ve been super busy with an outplacement project that wrapped up last Friday 20 December.

Congratulations Cindy!

I hope you find the encouragement in Cindy’s letter was worth the wait.

— Dave

– – – – –

Hi Dave,

Well, it is official. I have passed the background check and received the official legal offer. As I know you may want the details, I will be working at Siemens as the Lead Service Contract and Parts Development Support Analyst (could the title be any longer?) at Siemens in Alpharetta. Starting October 22. Salary matches what I was making at NCR. I will need to commute every day for a while, but it will be part virtual once I know the ropes. It was networking that got me the job. The person who originally referred me used to sit next to me at NCR years ago. He was my “dotted line” boss for a time, and I worked many of his projects. The second referral came from a person who worked at NCR, but she knew me from church and Lyndon’s cancer journey. The two came together at the right time. Ironically, the hiring manager had been looking for someone since April!

It seems like a lifetime ago that I ran into Christina Hardman at the Georgia Department of Labor, and she told me I should come join Job Seekers in Peachtree City.

There are not words to express how thankful I am for the help and guidance I received from this group. As you state on your communications, it is one of the toughest spiritual journeys one can face. I am so grateful not just for the lessons, but the friends I have met along the way, and the focused job search devotionals. The community is so blessed to have your dedication to this ministry. Your commitment amazes me.

And as God has a sense of humor; I may have my highest ever HIPPO score this week! This evening, I have a call with a hiring manager to do some remote supply chain analytics, and a referral from a VP at one of the companies I was targeting… I mean really… AFTER I accepted another job?

Hope to stop by Friday with some muffins or something, but no amount of muffins could ever express my gratitude!

God bless,

Cindy Silloway

Forget What’s Past, Strain Toward What’s Ahead

Forget-What-Hurt-You-In-The-Past-Facebook-CoverLet’s forget what’s past and strain toward what’s ahead – brighter days in the upcoming year. Let’s make it a great 2019!

I think it’s really fitting that Christmas and New Year’s Day are only a week apart. Both remind me of new life and new beginnings. Christmas reminds me that through Christ, we are all new creatures indeed. The New Year reminds me that our Lord wants us to strain toward what’s ahead instead of dwelling on the past. You can’t see the new horizons through your windshield if you’re concentrating on your rear view mirrors!

Paul shared with the believers in Philippi that he wanted to rise above his human nature, which was based on works and living according to the law, to faith-based righteousness, which comes from belief in Christ. He says, “But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining on toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:13-14

Paraphrasing Paul, 2018 was a year many of us would like to put behind. We can learn from this verse and forget what’s behind and strain toward what’s ahead. When it comes to our careers, God wants us to learn from the past – to figure out what’s been working and what hasn’t, and to begin implementing change. Above all, He wants us to seek Him and His will for our lives and careers, and to work wholeheartedly as He leads us (see 2 Chronicles 31:21).

The upcoming year will be a good one. There are brighter days ahead. I feel blessed that every time I’ve changed jobs (and careers) I found something better. I hope, expect and pray that for those of you who are reading this and are in transition, you will find God at work in your career in 2018. When you read this newsletter a year from now, you will do so as a JobSeeker alumnus; and you will say, “That was a tough time, but thank God it happened, because look how well things have turned out.”

God bless all of you in the New Year!

Copyright © 2004-2018 / Dave O’Farrell / All Rights Reserved

No Meeting This Week!

christmas_tree_ornaments3x4croppedNo meeting this week, but totally stoked about how many people are landing jobs during the hiring season. I’ve also learned that many others are scheduled for interviews this week, next week, and the first week of January.

Let me know if you’ve landed a job since 15 November.

Very proud of all these people. There is hope for us all. Trust in the Lord. Work wholeheartedly. Trust always.

Praise the Lord. God is good.

– – – – –

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Our next meeting is on Friday 4 January 2019. Our topic will be “Seven Search Strategies and Their Relative Effectiveness.”

In the meantime, be sure to read my Christmas blogs:

He Will Be Called Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace

Something Has Always Been

Christmas from a New Perspective

Are You Melancholy or Merry This Christmas?

Peace and joy,

– Dave O’Farrell
Executive Recruiter, Outplacement Consultant
O’Farrell Career Management

“Atlanta’s most effective career services firm.”

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The Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace

UntoUsAChildIsBorn7For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

– Isaiah 9:6

I realize many of you are experiencing a sense of loss, or loneliness, or hurt, or fear, or frustration, or even desperation on this Christmas Eve.

When the prophet Isaiah wrote the verse above 2700 years ago, he was addressing the concerns of the troubled nation of Israel. Five verses prior he writes: “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress.” He continues to write about those in the midst of darkness, death, burdens and oppression. Then he offers his message of hope.

Hope is available to all of us through the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Receive wisdom from the Wonderful Counselor. Tap into the power of the Mighty God. Lie in the arms of the Everlasting Father. Feel the love of the Prince of Peace.

I encourage you to attend a Christmas Eve service this year.

May the love of the Holy Child of Bethlehem abide in your heart, and may the Prince of Peace fill you with hope and joy in this Christmas season. Amen.

Copyright © 2003-2018 / Dave O’Farrell / All Rights Reserved

Christmas from a New Perspective

If you are unemployed at Christmas for the first time this year – or for the first time in many years – I suppose you’re looking at Christmas from a new perspective. (If you’ve had any other major life events this past year, you’re looking at Christmas from a new perspective too.)

When your life and career are rockin’ and rollin’ along it’s easy to say something like, “Money is nice, but it’s not what makes me happy; I could live on a lot less.” Or maybe something more like this: “Being a manager in a well-known company and having over 20 years of service is nice, but it’s not what makes me happy; I would be content no matter what my circumstances.”

Now that you’ve hit an inevitable bump in your life and career, maybe those words don’t ring so true anymore. If they don’t, I encourage you to listen to the disquiet spirit within you to figure out what it’s saying. The message is important; it’s up to you whether you listen and take heed.

When I hit a rough spot in my life and career, my prideful self gets dashed against the rocks and pounded by the waves. I learn not only to look at Christmas from a new perspective, but at all of life from a new perspective. I am being transformed by the renewing of my mind. (Notice the present tense here; I have a long way to go.)

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what’s God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Romans 12:2

The pattern of this world is “success.” The world measures success in titles, degrees, income, houses, cars, toys, vacations, children and spouses. In Joy That Lasts, Gary Smalley describes how his life changed when he hit a rough spot: “For the first time I began to realize my major mistake: I was expecting to find fulfillment in people, places, possessions and position.”

The pattern of God’s kingdom is “significance.” Life is about moving from success to significance. It’s about moving from the sinful, human nature that is within all of us – toward a higher, Godlier nature. I wrote this a few years ago when I was struggling with this issue:

Christmas isn’t about the money we spend; it’s about the time we spend with God.
It’s not about the gifts we give; it’s about the love we give to one another.
It’s not about preparing our homes for guests; it’s about preparing our hearts for Christ.

– – – – – – –

Arriving at Christmas without a job is one more mile on your journey of faith, one more step in your sanctification process, one more call from God asking you to allow him into your heart – or into the deeper recesses of your heart. In Ephesians 4:22-24 Paul said, “Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Here are three quick points from Paul’s words above:

1. Put off your old self.

He lists deceitful desires elsewhere in his letters; they include: anger, greed (which he says is idolatry), selfish ambition, lust and envy. (These five desires are selected from Galatians 5:19-21 and Colossians 3:5.) Referring to these desires in his song, “The Change,” Steven Curtis Chapman sings, “I got this way of living that I have to die to every single day.” Chapman says that even though he’s a Christian, he still has to suppress his human nature every single day.

2. Adopt a new attitude.

Be less like Eeyore…

You may have to fake it ’til you make it, but put on the best attitude you possibly can (except with God and about three close confidants). Nobody wants to hire Eeyore, so stop acting like him and start acting a little more like Tigger. Follow Paul’s instruction in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

3. Put on the new self.

… and more like Tigger.

Here’s where the growth occurs. God speaks to us through our feelings. If we are experiencing negative feelings, he is showing us an area for growth. As we grow we become more like Christ, as Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” As we grow we are transformed in Christ’s likeness.

Christmas is about God’s presence in our lives. He sent his Son, born a lowly birth, to live and die as one of us, a perfect example for all mankind. Take the three steps above; you will begin to experience God’s peace and feel his presence in this Christmas season. Here are two final words for this week from Paul:

“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” – Romans 8:5-8

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 15:13

See you on Friday at JobSeekers, where life and joy and hope and peace and power abound.

Copyright © 2005-2018 / Dave O’Farrell / All Rights Reserved