Our office is back off the road a bit, located behind a car dealership and another building not really seen by anyone from the street. You have to be looking for us to find us, so we strategically do not get a lot of foot traffic. Today was different though. As I was finishing a call with a candidate, I heard our front door open and didn’t see or hear anyone but I knew somebody was there. I got and peeked around the corner to confirm my suspicions and there she was, this nice, out of work looking lady with an arm full of resumes ready to hand out to someone willing to listen. I ended my call and went to approach her where she immediately went into her story about her husband that lost his job 20 months ago which took them from Austin to Arkansas for a new job, only for that one to end recently and they in turn decided that Austin was where their hearts were so they returned; a husband, wife, two children (teen agers) and two dogs. They returned to an area where they had grown up living in a modest 2500 sq ft home only to now, move into a 2 bed 2 bath 985 sq ft apartment complex. She told me they were happy though and making it, she was just looking for a job. All of them were, the husband had just accepted a position making 10 hr and was thankful for that and she and the two boys were determined to find work as well, so they could pitch in. She was amazing, often turning beet red in the face as if almost to tears. I was unsure how much or what to do, knowing darn well I had no client that was looking for an individual with her background or her two boys. I was also very busy and didn’t really have time to sit around and listen to her story, especially one that was not going to make me a dime. What to do? What to do? So…

I decided to spend some time with her and explained that when you are out of work - your job was “to get a job” and that you needed to get really good at that… quickly! I knew I could help her with that if nothing else. Walking through strange office complexes dropping off resumes was definitely one way to be active in her job search but I felt I needed to remind her that she wants to make sure that she doesn’t confuse activity with productivity. Because she had only been back in Austin for a few weeks, her Center of Influence had taken a hard hit. Where and when to network with others was not something she was really in tune with right now. Then I thought to myself, what she was doing today, right then at that moment was exactly what she needed to be doing and where she needed to be doing it! She was in my office – Networking with me, a RECRUITER in Austin with a contact list full of influential folks all across this fantastic city. She’d done her part – I just needed to do the right thing!

It felt great when she left with a phone script I provided her of what to say, a spreadsheet of who to call with their titles, numbers and email addresses. I didn’t make any money putting her to work but I gained a lot from the time I spent with her. There’s probably not a system, metrics or an ROI Calculator to figure out what the value gained today was or will be but that’s not important. She left my office motivated, excited and she felt good about her prospects. To me, the impact; that impact we can have on those looking for help is priceless! Do something for someone today – regardless of the payoff. Just do the right thing…