"When the Odds are Stacked Against You"
Contributed by Buffy Filippell, SAEM guest blogger and TeamWorkOnline Founder Week of August 19th
Why do we love sports? It's because what appears to be an inevitable loss just may not be so inevitable. There's always hope. "It's not over until...."
I went to the Cincinnati Western and Southern Tennis tournament Saturday to watch some tennis and see two former TeamWork hires, Ina Broeman, retired sponsorship executive; and tournament director and finalist of TeamWork Online’s Best Boss competition, Vince Cicero. I witnessed an incredible, life-reminding, semi-final match.
The New York Times described the match this way, "The 6-foot-10 Isner, best known for his booming serves, was a point from defeat midway through his semifinal match against del Potro, but he benefited from his opponent’s nerves. Del Potro was ahead by 5-3 in the second set and had match point on his serve, but he double-faulted. Isner then earned his first break point of the match, and he converted it with a backhand winner."
This was just one of the on-the -ropes moments in the match. Up in the tie-break, Isner too lost his lead and had to come back twice to win the second set, then was cruising to win in the third when Del Potro refused to be run-over. Isner, exhausted, never say die, finally won.
"It's never over until it's over," Isner paraphrased New York Yankees player Yogi Berra, when asked by the announcer how he willed himself to win. On a single point, one of the participants is pounding his opponent with shots, taking the offensive stretching the opponent side to side. A slight change of pace and the defender seizes the chance to be on the offensive and can win the point!
So when the odds are stacked up against you, how can you turn from defense to offense and win the job?
Years ago we only had a phone. I called the employer I had met every week after my interview. With every call, I moved from 50th to 10th on up the ladder until finally, I was offered a job. We call that persistence.
Andrea Kay who writes for USA Today talks about "Polite persistence can be test for job."
Here are a few of her tips:
Remind employers of your existence and help them see you are worth paying attention to. If you see your application was viewed once and then a second time, with that, I suggest you pounce. Send an email to the HR person or the hiring person and again stress your interest. For sales positions, this is a generally acceptable practice. Reinforce what you purport to be - enthusiastic, competent and want to make a positive impact in the sports industry. This is your career.
If you receive a turn off email, respond politely. I've seen the employer offer someone a job who doesn't work out and he goes back to someone who followed up to the turn off. Sometimes you win jobs because you hung in there the longest.
And go the extra mile. Ryan LaBell, a 2013 graduate of Slippery Rock University, applied for a job with a stadium in Miami. Hundreds applied. He arranged to meet the hiring manager at his own expense. "I'll be there next week, can I meet you? " He did and was offered the job.
Keep trying. Keep fighting. It's not over until it's over, and even then it might not be!