Going from Learning to Earning

I majored in Geography by accident. (More about that a little later.) After I retired, I was on a summer vacation trip with a family of four. The parents were former students of mine from 22 years earlier. Their children were in their early teens. We were hiking on a trail in Yellowstone National Park. As her son and daughter eagerly hit the trail ahead of us, the mother turned to me and said, “Wow, Greg. Now I see why you enjoy teaching Geography so much! You get to travel, go hiking, camping, photography, all the things you love to do. You get outdoors in the fresh air and see beautiful places!” I laughed and replied, “Yes, that’s true. But the best part of it is they thought I was working, and they paid me to do it!”

This is the story of my journey to this dream job: getting paid to do what I loved to do. I graduated from a public high school with the lowest GPA possible to still be a “C”. Through my nine years of college education, my grades were never stellar (a low “C” for my BA, a solid “B” for my MA, a so-so “B” before I dropped out of my PhD program). How did I land my dream job? Like most things in life, it’s a mixture of time, money, blood-sweat-and-tears, and a pinch of good luck. OK, OK, maybe more than a pinch. I really don’t know much about the luck part. That’s kind of “other worldly” stuff I don’t even pretend to understand. Come on, I already told you I am a “C” student.

Most college students study hard. They successfully passed numerous exams. They graduated with good grades. Some graduated with honors. They sent out job applications. They got invited to an interview. The interviewer has seen the resume and degree. They’ve read your great letters of recommendation. (Come on, you wouldn’t get someone to write a bad one, would you?) Then comes the killer question. “So, what kind of experience do you have?”

You know they are not talking about your glorious summer trip to some exotic location. Or the thrill you felt meeting the love of your life. They want to know your answer to the Catch-22 question of all time. What relevant work experience do you have for this job? This is the paradox of a newly graduated job hunter. It’s an endless loop. You just graduated. You’re looking for a job. No one will hire you because you have no experience. You can’t get experience because no one hires you. It doesn’t help when the solution they offer you is “Come back and see us when you get some experience.” Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. How do you break the cycle?

My students would ask me how I managed to end up with my dream job. I hadn’t really thought about how I got here. I was busy living life. With their prodding, I started making notes. There’s nothing like perfect 20-20 vision hindsight. I only figured it out AFTER I looked back at my path. I certainly didn’t consciously plan it that way.

Some Background on the US Education System

In 1957, Russia’s Sputnik caused a surge in US math and science education funding. They got mixed results. It seems they overlooked the need for good language skills. Students with poor language skills have trouble reading math and science books.

In the late 1960’s, there was a big push for bi-lingual education. The issue is complex and very convoluted. It was a political football and a big moneymaking opportunity for some. Education became big business. In the end, students (especially non-English speaking children of immigrants) were not well served.

US middle and high schools often teach single subject classes. I call it segmented teaching. The courses are separate and discrete. They tend to lack integration, continuity, and cohesiveness. For example, English teaches English. Math class teaches Math. In history class, you learn history. Science class is about science. It all seems normal. It’s been that way for generations. You can readily adapt Wendell Johnson’s statement “You can’t write writing and you can’t read reading” to segmented learning. Johnson’s point is you must write about something and read about something. For most of us math is used for something other than just solving math problems. This leads to asking, “Can you truly understand science without knowing the history, social conditions of the time, and the geographic setting, etc.?” Interactions and inter-connections simultaneously occurring world-wide. These form the context for all actions on Earth.

Segmentation at the higher level is revealed by the academic vs. Voc.-Tech. dichotomy. Within each realm, there are separate departments. They “fight” over student enrollments. These numbers affect budget allocations, staffing, etc. It sometimes turns into a “mine is bigger than yours” scene. For example, the advent of desktop publishing ushered in a new course opportunity. The bidding begins. Which department should teach it? Business, Art, and Printing Technology departments want it. Funding is limited. No one department can fund it alone. Cross listing the course for credit in different departments is possible. But each department wants it all. Sharing is not conducive to the “mine is bigger than yours” mind set. My point is the students are not well served. This is the cafeteria menu of choices for the education system here. Welcome to the buffet. Seating for how many? This way, please. Then you are on your own.

Education; NOT

The major shortcoming of the US education system is that it doesn’t educate. The origin of the word, from Latin, is to “lead out.” My student experience was just the opposite. It was a pouring in.

Here are the assumptions I made when I began teaching.

1) The word “education” is distorted and applied to be the opposite of its original meaning.

Proof of Assumption 1: The Latin origins of the word education literally means to “lead out.” Yet, the scene in many classrooms is anything but. The school is the fountain of knowledge, and the teachers are the dispensers. The students are empty vessels to be filled at the fountain. Exams are the quality control on the assembly line. Bottling specs called for 100 fluid ounces of filling. A bottle with only 80 fluid ounces = 80% score. Next! [Note: When I started teaching, I used the Socratic method. I wanted to be consistent with the original meaning.]

2) Students don’t know what they don’t know.

Proof of Assumption 2: After a lesson, the teacher asks, “Are there any questions?” Usually there is silence. Was the lesson so clear the students understood it completely? Fast forward to the day the exam results are posted. Any score less than 100% reveals the students didn’t understand completely. Many students told me how many hours they studied for the exam. Their low score pointed to ineffective study methods and learning processes. During class, before the exams, they apparently didn’t know what they didn’t know. They certainly didn’t ask any questions. [Note: When I started teaching, I used a “Learning Log.” Students answered the question “what didn’t you understand about the lesson?” Their responses were the basis for class discussions and chapter reviews BEFORE exams.]

3) The Top-Down hierarchy of the system requires conformity and obedience.

Proof of Assumption 3: Many teachers in the US see the failure of the “standard” curriculum and teaching to an exam. Yet, their hands are tied to make changes. The curriculum is handed down from above. Most teachers are too busy to fight the administration to change the curriculum. When “No Child Left Behind” was announced, my first thought was “Does that mean no child will get ahead?” “Common Core” came down from above. In the classroom, it quickly became the “Common Bore.” Both have since been criticized. There are many who believe these programs failed the students. [Note: My teaching is based on the fact curiosity drives learning. I juggle the students’ curiosity with the required curriculum. Rushing to finish the text by term’s end is a short cut to long-term failure. I focused on the learning processes rather than course content and facts. The processes have a longer shelf-life. I empowered and encouraged students to learn how to learn and to become life-long learners. These would be their best hope to adapt to future changes in their lives.]

My Atypical Student Journey

Like most college students, I went to class and worked part-time. The typical part-time jobs are in retail stores or restaurants, etc. Most of these jobs don’t typically align with most college majors. I needed money. The job had to fit my class schedule. Some employers might be flexible. Doing both is a juggling act that’s stacked against us. Trying to juggle both often means not doing either one very well. In the end, it is a choice of work or school.

I didn’t have a car. I got a job washing dishes in a small family-owned restaurant. It was walking distance from my dorm. (Yeah, yeah. Don’t remind me about stereotypes. Lucky for me I didn’t get a job at a laundry. That might be harder for me to get over.) I didn’t have evening classes. So, that’s when I could juggle homework and work. During exams, it was hit or miss to have enough study time. After a semester of juggling, I quit the job. I had to focus on my studies. But I still needed money.

Good Habits from Home

As a “C” student, I struggled in high school. At home, my mother got me into a daily reading habit. It was, and is, one of the greatest gifts of my life. When I got home from school, I had chores to do. Then homework. When those were finished, I could play until a certain time. Then, my brother and I had to get home and start cooking rice and setting the table. While waiting for my parents, I was told to read an article of my choice from the encyclopedias. (We had two sets.) After dinner and washing dishes, I would show my mother the article I read. She would look it over and quiz me about what I read.

I carried this habit with me to college but with a twist. I struggled with my required courses. (Most of my courses were required.) I had no car and was living in a dorm. To “relax,” I would read things of no consequence. These were things I could start reading, put it aside, and pick it up later or not at all. It didn’t matter if I finished them or not. There was no exam. This exposed me to many different types and styles of writing.

My Parents’ Work Ethic

My parents showed me how to be honest, work hard and pay my own way. They said it didn’t matter about my job status or position in society. Just don’t go into debt. Live within your means. I remember them saying “we don’t care what job you have. Just be sure you do it better than anyone else.” I remember my dad saying, “Your job is to make your boss look good.” He meant an employer can only afford to pay you if the company is profitable. Do your job well so the company makes a profit. That makes your boss look good. Well, nothing is 100%. My dad and I have had ups and downs with different jobs. We both had to work for bosses that “needed improvement.” I found two basic ways to handle such bosses: 1) change your job and hope the new boss is better; 2) get the “not so great boss promoted.” I used both methods. You get the same result. Either way, they are not your boss anymore.

Battling Loneliness

Many students away from home anxiously wait to get mail. The campus post office got mail 3 times a day. Students check their mailboxes often. Each time I went to the post office, I saw many students walking back empty handed. Their long faces of disappointment almost dragging on the ground. I was a prolific letter writer. But many friends were off at other colleges and too busy to write. Back then there was only “snail mail.” It took about 1-2 weeks to get an answer depending on how fast they mailed a reply. Long distance phone calls were expensive.

My empty mailbox was disheartening. I needed a way to fill it. I liked to read two magazines: “Popular Photography” and “Popular Mechanics.” Each had a “Classified Ads” section. I bought a stack of postcards. I scanned through the classified sections and sent a postcard to each place I could get a free catalog. Soon, my mailbox was overflowing with mail. I rarely had an empty mailbox. That was the end of my empty mailbox blues!

Time Management & Work Experience

Remember my dish washing job? Two practical skills changed my job prospects. One was a hobby: photography. The other was a newly acquired skill: cartography (map drafting).

Photography was my high school hobby. At college, I met the older sister of a high school classmate. She remembered I was always taking pictures in high school. She asked if I could photograph her baby. Then I shot some portraits for someone in the dorm to send to his girlfriend. Word-of-mouth brought in more requests for my photo services. I began to shoot portraits and weddings for friends and students. When I had time, I sought work. During exams, I didn’t make any bookings.

Other than earning money on my own schedule, girls were the best bonus. They started calling me at the dorm. One girl asked me to shoot her portrait at her favorite park. I didn’t have a car. I had no way to get there. She offered to pick me up. One afternoon a beautiful blonde in a Mustang convertible pulled up in front of the dorm. She honked the horn and yelled “Hey, Greg!” As I grabbed my backpack and headed out the dorm doors, one of the guys said “Dang, Greg. You have girls coming to pick you up!?!” I laughed and replied, “Sure beats the way you guys try to get dates!” OK, a bit misleading. It wasn’t a date. But I have no control over what other people think, right? [Note: I never dated any of the girls I photographed. It was strictly business. If I wanted to earn money, I couldn’t risk getting a bad reputation. This also added to my ideas used in my paper “Five Steps for Making Good Policies”.]

I was doing black-and-white and color photography. The color work I sent to a commercial lab. The black-and-white I did on my own. The Geography department had a darkroom. No one was in charge. They had no funds to pay someone. So, it was usually a mess. I volunteered to clean and maintain the department’s photo lab. In return, I got the keys and access to the lab 24/7. Now, I had a darkroom. I bought all my own materials and supplies. I could process all the black-and-white jobs at low cost. But this job did not have a steady paycheck. I needed to find another job.

I Finally Find a Major

One day I checked my mailbox. I had a letter from my rich uncle. He warned me I had to graduate in the normal 4-years. If not, he would arrange a full scholarship for me. It was a special study abroad program for students just like me.

I changed my major 7 times in the first two years. I had no clear idea what I wanted to study. How could I finish my degree in two more years? I searched through the college catalog looking for a major that could use most of the courses I had already taken. Geography embraces all life, physical, and social sciences. That covered everything I had taken. It was a “major” but one with a huge “all you can eat buffet” of subjects available. I had found the one major that didn’t narrow down the choices of subject matter. Remember, I went to university to improve my mind; not to get a job. Under the umbrella of Geography, I didn’t have to narrow my scope of learning. Geography gave me a “declared major.” I could finish the major in two years IF I did double summer sessions for the next two years! I had dodged a huge canon ball.

As a Geography major, I had to take a cartography (map drafting) class. It involved cartographic design and drafting in pencil and ink. I had a knack for it. I started drafting maps for graduate students and professors. Other cartography students were doing the same. I was good at this. My proficiency readily combined with precision and accuracy. The others would take twice as long to complete a comparable job and with lower quality. We were paid by the hour. I was making less. Yet my drafting was better. My proficiency was giving me a lower income! So, I changed my pricing method. I charged by the job. I based my pricing on map size and line density per square inch. At first customers balked at the unfamiliar pricing structure. Then they began to realize 1) they often paid MORE for an inferior job; 2) the others took longer to get the job done. Lesson learned: If you don’t value your work, others probably won’t either.

I also used my grade school math to connect the dots to find the “lowest common denominator” among potential customers. It goes like this: 1) Many students tend to wait to the last minute to get term papers or projects done. It’s human nature. 2) All professors are human and had been students. When they have a deadline for a conference or publication, they are racing against the clock. They needed their maps and slides for a presentation done quickly. There were no express or rush services available to meet the need. If that isn’t an opportunity, I don’t know what is. This job was right in my backyard. It was a ready market. And professors had more money to pay in contrast to struggling students.

I had a friend, an older student of architecture. I took color slides of his building design models for his presentation. His fellow students asked how he did the photography. I started drafting maps and doing technical photography with optional express service. From my hobby, I knew how to develop color slides. I had a camera to do the technical photography.

I offered a three-tier pricing structure. 1) Express (24-hr turn-around) for a fee 3X than Normal. 2) The Normal was a 3-4 day turn around. 3) Deferred service (up to 2-weeks) was 25% off the Normal fee. Express and Normal jobs were taken IF my study schedule allowed. Deferred jobs let me clump jobs together at my leisure. Slide processing took 1 hour of darkroom processing regardless of the number of slides (20 or 36 per roll). I could process a maximum of 10 rolls at a time. You can see the advantage of the deferred option. I now had better control over my time for work and study. This also gave me 2 years to get in hours of practical work experience in map drafting and technical photography. Most importantly, all of it was related directly to my Geography major. The biggest bonus: I was getting paid to do what I enjoyed doing.

Getting Practical Geography Field Experience

My skills in technical photography and map drafting were well-known in the department. Most of my life, my friends were older students. At college, I made friends with many Geography graduate students. Most were not proficient in photography or cartography.

These Geography grad students were doing field research. I had no car and little money for travel. I saw an opportunity for free travel with knowledgeable guides! I volunteered to take photos and draft maps of their research at no charge. Soon word was out in the department. “If you need free labor for your project, get Greg. He’s a fool who works for nothing.” To some, “free” meant they could take advantage of me.

I only worked with people on the basis of mutual respect, mutual benefit. But I had two conditions:

1) they take me along on their field studies at no charge to me. They paid for food, lodging (we camped out), and they paid for transportation (they drove). [Note: This approach to life led me to write my paper “Five Steps for Making Good Policies” also published here on Vocal.media.]

2) I keep the negatives and originals, with full copyright ownership. My hope was when they became famous, I would earn royalties on my photos and maps. (Alas, like the best made plans of mice and men, none of them became famous.)

This approach worked well for everyone concerned. Though I was junior to them and had less education, they respected my skills and work ethic. They got free labor, maps, and photo documentation of their field work. I got to travel free in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, and California. I also got to pick their brains about advanced level Geography courses. They told me which ones they found to be good and useful. (And some that were not so useful.) I got advice about courses I had to tough it through because it was necessary though boring. This gave me practical insights to the discipline. Over a two-year period, I also got experience in different specialty areas (e.g. historical Geography, palynology, bio-geography, vegetative mapping, shade mapping, etc.). Lesson: For some things you pay money. For others, you pay with blood, sweat, and tears. [Note: Later in my life, I advised my students to volunteer with a purpose. I gave them specific tools to document their volunteer work. These are detailed in my paper “Re-Inventing Yourself”]

My Education In and Out of School

Typically, students go to school to learn. They pass exams, graduate, and try to get a job. Look around you. Many college graduates are not working in the field of their major. Some can’t find a job and go back to school. I joke with my students: “Some people have more degrees than the average thermometer. But society finds thermometers more useful.” Many have high marks but low ability. When I reviewed my four years of undergraduate training, this is what I found.Career Counseling; Not

Like so many things in life, there are many good ideas out there. Career counseling on campus is a good idea. For me, the problem was not really knowing “what I wanted to be when I grew up.” I never availed myself to career counseling on campus. I was too busy and struggling. I was only a “C” student in high school. I was told, “if you go to college, as a “C” student, you can expect your GPA to drop to a “D.” I am proud to say I was able to finish my undergraduate degree with a “C.” Besides, I was there to improve my mind. Grades (I rationalized), don’t really show what I learned and know. I also wrapped myself in a cloak of great “C” words: Consistent, Competent, Capable, Compassionate, Cooperative, Concise, Clear, Conscientious, etc. I felt there was no shame being in the company of these “C” words.

Now that I had a major, I gave career counseling a shot. Unfortunately, I learned there wasn’t much information about Geography careers. Most of America hadn’t a clue what geographers do. I thought I wanted to teach, but never took education courses. And there wasn’t time for those courses now. I had to finish the Geography major in two years. Besides, I had an odd idea. I wanted to work and gain practical experience before teaching. That meant working and using Geography to earn a living. I wanted to combine theory with practice. Book learning is one thing. Using my learning to earn a living was quite another.

On to Graduate School

As a “C” student, grad school was not on my list of goals. My senior year in college, I had the good fortune to meet a professor on sabbatical leave. He came to study at my university’s Geography department. By chance, we met in the cartography lab. He heard about me from the Geography faculty. He saw my drafting skills and heard of my interest in photography. He asked me where I was planning to apply for graduate school. Before I could answer, he said “before you apply anywhere, tell me. I have NASA funding for a photographic remote sensing research project. I need someone like you to help in the darkroom.” I applied and was awarded full funding for tuition and a teaching assistant-ship. I couldn’t have asked for more. Why not go to school on someone else’s dime?

Another Decision Point

I arrived at grad school. With my minor in Anthropology, they assumed I was a cultural geographer. Anthropology was my minor by convenience. I didn’t consciously choose it. At that time, I was still undecided about “what I wanted to be when I grew up.” The diagram below gives you an idea of the Geography discipline. It includes all life, physical, and social sciences. I wanted to sample more of the Geography buffet. I asked to be a Physical Geography Lab Teaching Assistant. They agreed and made the change. This is an example of an important life lesson: Make a request.

Curiosity in Control

I was past the undergraduate stint of studying REQUIRED courses. Most of them did not really interest me. But I had to follow the curriculum. I had little to no choice. Well, ok, there were choices of sorts. But the menu selection still wasn’t much to my liking. At the graduate level, there were fewer REQUIRED courses and more electives I WANTED to take. My grades rose to a middle “B.” I completed the MA in less than two years! I graduated mid-year. Lesson learned: Study what interests you! As luck would have it, the department was short-staffed. Immediately upon graduating, I was hired as an entry level full-time college Instructor.

More Grad School

I wasn’t planning to do more studies. But I didn’t have any other plan. Since I got my MA on someone else’s dime, I figured to apply for further graduate studies. It would be better to spend someone else’s money than mine. If I got a tuition waiver and funding, I would go. If not, it would be time to get a job. Well, I got into a PhD program. [Note: Because I was employed as a college instructor, my PhD would not qualify me for a new job category. It improved my ability to be a college instructor. This had some tax advantages. That was the law then. It may have changed by now.]

This time, I would venture into the third section of Geography: Techniques. My MA research used black-and-white aerial photography applied to boundary delineation. This is a critical aspect of mapping. In Geography, air photo interpretation was the precursor to remote sensing. I had an idea to extend my MA research to using specialized false-color infrared photography. I wanted to use this to clearly delineate natural vegetation boundaries. I thought 3-years of my life would be enough for the PhD.

But I got in over my “C-B” student head. PhD level work is much more abstract and not as practical (applied) as my MA work. When I started the PhD program, Statistical (Quantitative) Geography was all the rage. Out of the 15 new PhD students enrolling that term, I was the ONLY non-quantitative Geographer. I was also the only grad student doing actual field work. I was outdoors, slogging in the salt marshes, doing field survey work. All the others were number crunchers. Theirs was a world of information survey forms and tabular data from statistical studies. On top of everything, the Head of the Graduate program was a pioneer in quantitative Geography. He couldn’t understand why I had chosen my research topic.

During these three years, I was able to teach two courses for my major professor: Cartography, and Intro to Remote Sensing. I filled in for him for these courses (each was a semester long). I was also offered a part-time Introductory Remote Sensing class for one semester at another local college. I was getting valuable work experience suitable for teaching college Geography.

I Quit the Program

After three years, I had a falling out with my major professor. He thought I needed to continue with him for 8 more years! Three straws broke the camel’s back.

1) I had done some aerial photography for a project of my major professor. It wasn’t one that I was doing for him as part of my pay. He asked a favor to help him out. I took the photos for him. The photos were used in a newspaper article. His name was on the photo credit. Many of the department grad students knew I had taken the photo. Two were in the photo lab when the film and pictures were developed. When they asked him about the photo credit, my professor shrugged it off with “Oh, I forgot.” He never said anything to me about it. I didn’t make an issue of it. But it was a “dot” on his behavior. I am not a mind reader. I believe actions speak louder than words. His act of absent mindedness, discourtesy, or disrespect were disheartening at the least. At the worst, if willful, it was unethical.

2) A few months later, my professor found out I was close to completing my dissertation in the 3-years I had been there. He wasn’t happy. In his office, he told me, “When I was a grad student, I had to eat s—t! Now, it’s your turn.” My mom was a nurse. We were taught not to touch that stuff. It certainly wasn’t for eating! His words were an affront to what I believed about institutions of higher learning. Hazing and adolescent behavior weren’t on my list. My mind connected this with the photo credit incident. I didn’t like what I was sensing. I wasn’t willing to go through 8 more years of s--t. I calmly looked at him and said, “Prof. ---, you are absolutely right. This is your ball, your court, your game, and your rules. But there is nothing that says I have to play here.”

I decided to follow the advice of Sun Tzu: Never fight on the enemy’s ground. I quit. My parents were not happy with my decision. I didn’t talk with them about it until after my decision and action. “You’ve thrown away 3 years of your life!” they exclaimed. “No,” I responded. “What I learned, no one can take away from me. It is better to be employed with an MA degree, than to be an overworked, underpaid, abused PhD wannabe for 8 more years with NO guarantee I will get the degree.” In my mind, being used is not a bad thing. Lu Xun said it is good to be useful. But there is a big difference between being used and being abused.

3) That evening, I was wondering how I would begin the job hunt. I got a phone call from an undergraduate student from the Remote Sensing class. The one I had taught for my major professor. He excitedly asked me if my professor mentioned a job posting for a Remote Sensing Specialist. Nothing was mentioned to me. The student said “That’s odd. Everyone in the department knows you want to work in the private sector applying Geography!” We talked more. He was surprised the professor told him to apply for the Remote Sensing position. “I only have the one course I took from you!” He was interested in surface hydrology. So, he was going for the interview tomorrow. “There’s no way I qualify for the Remote Sensing job. I just want to get in the door to find out about their Hydrology Department. I can mention your name and give them your number if you like,” he said.

In a few days, I got a call to go for a job interview. I didn’t even apply for the job. I went to the interview with the department head and other department members. After the interview, they sent me to a man in the Personnel Dept. Apparently, I should have seen him first. He was upset proper procedures weren’t followed. Exasperatedly he said “Well, I guess the only thing I can ask you now is how much do you want to get started?” I stated a number. He scoffed and shook his head. “We don’t even start our PhDs at that amount, and you don’t even have a PhD.” My reply was simple. “You asked me. I saw the needs of the department. The field is new. I know what I have to offer. You won’t find anyone out there that can do what I do.” I got hired a week later starting at the salary I stated. This closed the door on the PhD chapter of my life. A new chapter was opened. Now I could get some earning out of all my learning. Lesson learned: Networking is better than not working.

Prepping for Job Hunting

[Note: I got my first job in private industry via networking. After that first job ended, I resorted to the more typical job-hunting routine.]

When I started college, the future was unknown. I heard the horror stories of the job hunter catch-22 interview “killer question.” Knowing about the killer question gave me time to prepare. I had to stack the deck in my favor. My mom was a nurse. There’s an old saying “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” For the past 7 years I was stockpiling “the cure,” ounce by precious ounce. My strategy was to have experience BEFORE graduating. Then I would be primed with the answer for “killer” job interview question.

During undergraduate school, I got experience in technical photography, cartography, and diverse practical experience in field work. In graduate school (for both my MA and PhD program), I got college teaching experience. When I quit the PhD program, I got my first private sector job by networking. The 8 years after the end of my first job was a roller coaster. When times were good, I got hired. When times were not so good, I got laid off. The cycle included getting hired, furloughed, re-hired, laid off, etc. I was tossed around on the erratic ocean of the market economy.

During this period, I took the usual job-hunting steps: wrote a resume summarizing my education, knowledge, skills, and experience. As time permitted, I volunteered to get different knowledge and experience to enhance my resume. I did freelance photography and cartography for pocket change while looking for permanent employment.

The process is like fishing. If you don’t go fishing, you won’t catch a fish. On the other hand, when you go fishing there is no guarantee you will catch a fish. You can get all the right equipment, the best bait, find the “ideal” spot, etc. But there’s still no guarantee you will catch a fish. That’s life.

You need to stack the deck in your favor by looking far and wide, high and low, and NETWORK. Sharing job leads is part of networking. This is counter intuitive. My parents taught me to share. I was on good terms with most of my fellow laid-off co-workers. I was single and many of them were married with family. They needed the work more than me. I hoped if they got the job from a lead, they’d remember me. If an opening came up, they’d let me know and put in a good word for me. A few times when this happened, enough time passed that I was in a different line of work. So, it never led to a new job for me. But I still am good friends with these former co-workers. I still live by my words: “It is better to network than to not work.”

Preparation Payoff

My years of preparation worked. Here’s the proof. This is the commonly asked question I got BEFORE they put the "killer" question to me. “Gosh, how old are you? From your application and resume, we thought you’d be much older!”

Getting Off the Private Sector Roller Coaster

I sat on some company hiring committees and was dismayed at the low proficiency of applicants. I had friends who were teachers. Every summer they would invite me to join their trips. I could never seem to time it right. Sometimes I couldn’t go because I was out of work. Other times, I couldn’t synch my vacation with their summer trip. Their summer trips were tempting bait. I started to think about leaving the private sector to become a teacher. There was a shortage of teachers.

I complained to my teaching friends, “What kind of people are you folks graduating?” Their pointed response was, “Why don’t you get off your duff and get into the classroom and do something about it.” The old Catch-22 dragon reared up in my face. How could I get a teaching job without a credential and experience? I researched about getting a teaching credential. I found I couldn’t afford to go back to school for one. But I had the educational requirements to teach adults at the college level. I had teaching experience, but it was over 10 years old. I had to get some current experience teaching adults. So, I began part-time teaching non-credit adult evening courses at local community colleges after work and on weekends.

When I got laid off from my last consulting engineering job, I had a lifeboat ready. I had enough teaching experience to apply for community college teaching positions. It was iffy at best. There were few full-time positions available. Every semester I had to scramble around to different colleges getting one class here and there. I needed a minimum of three classes per semester. Summer classes were a possibility. The regular faculty often wanted summer vacations. I did this for a few years. For two years I taught on US Navy ships deployed overseas. I also taught in China for two years. I returned to the US and dove back into a combination of regular work during the day, part-time teaching at night and weekends. I finally landed a community college tenured faculty position. During the third round of interviews, the clincher for hiring me was the unique combination of 9 years of Geography education, 9 years of applied Geography in private sector consulting, and about 9 years of teaching experience. Most other applicants only had their degrees in Geography and teaching experience.

Closing My Career Chapter

I hope my story of how I went from learn to earn helps. Everyone is different, though we may share some common denominators. Adapt any of my ideas you think may be useful. The post-COVID-19 workplace is unknown. Most of us feel change is in the air. Whatever happens, life-long learning and flexibility will be needed to re-invent yourself. Do your best to balance knowledge, skills, and experience relevant to the job. Looking back at my life, I don’t know I could have planned it better to get my dream job. After 17 years at the college, I decided to retire early. I thought it was to enjoy a smaller pension in good health than to have a bigger pension with poor health. Life is too short to spend it working yourself to near death for a bigger pension.

When I retired, colleagues said, “You are too young to retire. Look around you. Some of these professors were here long before you started!” I laughed and said, “You hired me to teach Geography. I’m not certified in Special Education. I’m not responsible for slow learners.”

After I retired, many friends laughed and said, “You’re busier now than when you were working!” I laughed and told them, “There is a difference between our definitions of the word.” Re-tired to me means to be tired again! Look at my life. I had all kinds of jobs. I got tired of one and got another. Got tired again, so changed to another one. When I finally got tired of being laid off, I got a job teaching.

If you enjoyed this, please share it with others. I appreciate the reads. It encourages me to share other life stories.