Transcript

over and above · Dits & Dahs

Sue: For me, as someone who has been an employee of a variety of companies throughout my music career, as well as always having a side hustle, which I've spoken about in a previous post, I'm at the moment of my life of trying to make that side hustle function as my primary income, which is a challenge. My side hustle has been a variety of services that I provide in the music business that while all are interrelated, they can stand alone. but they are all impacted by what's going on in terms of the economy, as I'm sure a lot of other professions. I'm 64, a heavy ageism in the hiring world. And it's that kind of thing that it doesn't have to be proven to know that it happens, but legally there's no tangible proof that such things are in place other than you understand that when somebody with experience who can function at a variety of vertical levels in an organization and be... perfectly happy doing so is not chosen. You know, the rationale is, well, we found the best candidate for the job and you leave it at that and move on with your life. Confirmation with a woodpecker. Nonetheless, I still have to figure out how to generate the income off my own bat. And so as I work through possibilities, know, the tendency is you want to... tap into your connections to see if they have anything going on. Well, they're all pretty much in the same business. So their scenario financially and whatnot is going to be pretty much the same. They're not hiring freelancers to help or adding staff. And then logically you think, well, I have to go outside of the music business. Now here's what I'm talking about. All the skills that you have, that you've worked on and have crafted with experience in whatever profession you've spent most of your time. Yeah, they can be laterally applied in other professions, but you still have to convince a hiring manager that they should take a chance on you if you're going to be an employee, or in my case, trying to keep my business profitable. It's about getting those clients to agree to do have us do the work. I don't know about you as an employer anticipating hiring staff or hiring freelancers to help on an adjunct basis. I want to get the best person I can with the experience that aligns with what I'm trying to do, right? If I have that kind of choice, I'm never going to consider the person that might aspirationally be the best choice without the direct experience, because I'm never going to get that far down on the list. And that might only be three candidates. So cracking that nut. of gaining the attention of the person in charge of hiring your services or hiring you as an employee for something that you don't have direct experience doing, that's a tough nut to crack. And remember, the people that are hiring aren't necessarily as nuanced in this kind of thinking either. That's not meant to be a derogatory statement. It's more about the reality that you can be dealing with somebody that just... doesn't have a need to look that far. So all they need to do is find the best candidate for the department that they're working with and get that sorted. They don't have to think deeply about the existential questions of somebody completely unknown to them without direct experience is going to be the ideal candidate. You know, it's not as though I carry a badge that says, yes, I have 162 IQ. No, that's not going to make any difference. Doesn't matter that I have worked with alongside Oscar winning, Grammy winning, Emmy winning, notable talent. It doesn't that I graduated college with a nearly perfect grade point average. It doesn't matter that I've done such a variety of things in the music business, which inherently shows my ability to be adaptable in any situation. And then you look at the body of podcasts and videos that I've talked about in various podcasts and videos about being self-aware and being the type of transparent, open thinker. Thinker is probably not the best description other than to say, for lack of anything else, while we understand collectively that our thoughts are not our own, we're just merely the sponge that temporarily takes them in and processes them before moving them through us. Sometimes we pick them up and create things with them. Other times we know that we should leave them be. But nonetheless, we're talking about the type of person that employers don't look at because they're not in the business of doing anything but filling the position as quickly as possible so that that work can continue as affordably as possible. I've succeeded several times. My first non-music job as an adult was being hired by a digital publisher, one of the world's largest educational publishers, to be a part of a team that was editing medical terminology. That was a temporary job that lasted two years and they extended my contract for a few months. That hiring manager was someone like myself. So I know that there are others out there. The practical reality of building a business and income sources when you don't have any income at the moment, as I am, is all about, well, okay, how do you survive? And this is the other thing that hiring managers don't have to, but might consider, is the life experience it takes to survive through a situation where you have no income. How you going to afford to eat? Do you have a safe place to live? How many obstacles are in your way in terms of just the day-to-day existence that exists because you don't have the income to provide? That's a heavy-duty character experiment, isn't it? Because aside from the practical reality of making sure you've got money coming in to take care of your basic needs, you also have to be pretty strong emotionally. and intellectually to discipline yourself in the sense that you are restricting your financial outlays, doing without, eating rice and beans, eating tin fish, supplementing it with whatever you're able to give yourself more food diversity, give you a little morale booster. No, hiring managers don't think about that because they might not have experienced that firsthand in their lives. It's all about compassion, empathy. And I know they'll find their way to me, but you can't get beyond the fact that They look at the salary range for the job that I'm applying to and look at my experience and say, she's overqualified. That's another bias, unwritten bias between that and ageism. It's a challenge that's been put in front of me and many of you without our asking for it or volunteering for it. But nonetheless, we're in that situation and thriving, still need that income. And in my life, given the kind of work I do, I have no reason to retire, nor can I afford to retire. So having a compassionate employer who understands that maybe in the future they might experience some of what I'm going through now and being in a position of being gracious by considering and hiring my talents is a big leap for them. Because you know, in the end, they're looking at if I make the wrong choice on this one, I might lose my job. I get it. lot of people living their lives out of fear. I don't do that. But I've always had times in my life where things out of the blue that are non-music related come across my path. It's just a... unusual place in the world right now, at least in America, because I can only speak about my local situation, that there are a whole bunch of us that are being underutilized, still need to eat. And I also get that by my presence can be intimidating to those who are operating their jobs out of a fear or an anxiety of, for various reasons, doubting energies. The only way you can get beyond that is with kindness and patience. You're going to have to be very patient. They'll get there eventually. But will you survive in the meantime? Of course you will. But you are going to have to learn to cut your expenses. Know that it's a temporary situation to get through it. Hiring managers, that's after you pass whatever resume scanning software and AI has been implemented to weed out everyone else. When I was a hiring manager, the firm was using resume scanning software, but I had the option to look at all of them. which is what I did, and took it upon myself in a few times to write personalized notes to those that were eliminated from the hiring process, knowing that There's a person on the end of that resume. Someone who might be like myself. What I want. Why would I treat anybody less than I would treat myself even though I'm just quote unquote doing a job, moving humans around. All of this blathering is a quick way of just saying that if you're trying to position yourself with a new work situation or venture in your life because you've, well, maybe you've retired and have plenty of years left in you to do your own thing. Just know, I see you. I have compassion and just know that the discriminations you feel are real. They're legit. When you find a hiring manager that's balanced in that way and fair and not just because of your resume, it's a rare experience. I talk a lot about how the energies and vibes that we feel are often things that don't belong to us, yet we feel them. So those discriminations are definitely real as well. Are they actionable? Only if something in material is produced in the process of making that discrimination. But nonetheless, you have to acknowledge that it's real. We are all equal. We might have our customizations that appearance-wise make us unique in the way that others see us. We're all in this together. So to have people discriminating against age or being overqualified is a temporary phase. Still have to survive it. Surviving it is going to mean a lot of different things. but simply about having food on the table and taking care of my knees. Confirmation with the creepers. Those that choose to practice implicit AIDS discrimination. Well, that's what they're going to experience at some point in their life and they will have completely forgotten about their ways. So that'll be a surprise. Unpleasant. So in order to offset that, make good with all of this strife. Learn not to fear, learn not to doubt, take that energy that you're feeling and make something good. In my life, I view that the key to success is simply being able to take a bad thing and turn it good, whatever that is. And if you want to have a listen to what I think is good, hop over to a couple of the playlists, Tiny Affirmations and Osmosis Forations, where I record all of the improvisations that I play, Confirmation with a Duck, and it might not be your preferred taste of music, but nonetheless. If you listen to it with the idea that it is the material transformation, the manifestation of taking bad energy and turning it into good, you'll hear what I'm talking about. As ever, I'm happy to work solo, but working with a team just means that I get to take all that energy collectively and make it even better. Why wouldn't you want that as part of your team for your success? Beautiful. There are humans behind those resumes. As far as I'm aware, you're a human, and that's a good thing. Don't allow others to control you, even if you're in an organization. You're not being a maverick. You're just being you, autonomous you, who recognizes that all of those resumes are autonomous human beings, fully understand what you're doing, and we can all work together. If this resonates with you, I'd be pleased to have your comments. That's cool too. I feel them anyway. It's just that personal acknowledgement that helps channel the energy to the right source to deliver Dharma. Cause that's what we're really all about. Whoa, Mallard flying right in front of me, 832. That's a confirmation if there ever was one. That doesn't happen often. I'm really grateful that you took time to listen. You know, you're sharing your energy with me. I appreciate that. I'm gonna make a good thing from it. How about you? You're gonna reach out? Yeah, you should. Cause anybody that doesn't have me on doesn't have me as part of their team. It's not reaching their highest potential. I'll get you over and above. Thanks for listening. you