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I haven’t felt this way about a job since my first flight in a helicopter. I feel like I’ve been spending the last three years running in a hamster wheel. I graduated from Davidson, I felt charged to spend my life making a difference. Every day I would do something to change the world. Davidson doesn’t just fill your head with knowledge. It uses that knowledge to teach you about the world. You leave Davidson with a sense that you are going to save the world: cure cancer, win a Novel Peace Prize, reverse global warming. I knew that the first 4 years of my professional life would be in a fulfilling career. The Army gave me that sense that I was doing something important and that I was doing my part to make the world better. Of course, I didn’t have any control of what causes I participated in, but I could be an ethical, just leader and take care of my soldiers. When I got out of the Army, I had this fresh chance to save the world. The options seemed limitless. I was psyched to start my first job in sales, and I felt like I was selling equipment that could improve someones life. After a few months on the job, though, I felt like the only thing that was driving me was the money that I could make. The positive impact the equipment could have on someone became a background reason. I felt pressured to do anything to make the sale, and that pressure made it more and more difficult to get out of bed every day. I had a morbid measure for how important my job really was: if I were to die tomorrow, would anyone in my professional life miss me? When Gandhi or Mother Theresa died, they left a gigantic void behind them. Would my clients be able to save lives if I were not around? The truth was that I was exceptionally replaceable. I vowed right then and there that I wouldn’t take a job just for the money every again. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not too idealistic to think that having no money is honorable. I like making a comfortable living and I like contributing financially to my family, but earning money can’t be my only driving force for taking a job. I have to believe in and enjoy what I’m doing.
My job with Alliance might sound like a ho-hum job, but I feel like I’m doing something important. Every day, I get to preach the gospel of JMOs, or Junior Military Officers. I get to talk to Fortunate 500 companies and let them know about this underrepresented group of talented individuals. These are guys and girls who chose to serve their country after college in our all-volunteer Army. These individuals decided to use their talents in a positive way. They are now at a point in their lives where they want to make a difference in the corporate world. They are educated, intelligent, driven, focused, disciplined team players who have received the world’s greatest leadership training. Why wouldn’t you hire them? I feel very passionate about this group not because I was one, but because they deserve a shot. They took the road less traveled and should be rewarded for it. In this economy I hear over and over again that there are 500 applications for every job. If a JMO put his/her resume in for a job, they wouldn’t make the cut. They have amazing skills and are quick learners, but the HR website buzzword finder can’t pick that up. You need to interview these guys face to face to see their immense value. If I can just get a company to a conference, the candidates will do the rest.
See how I get worked up about these guys? I could sing their praises for ever. It is 1230 and I am wide-awake. I’m going to snuggle up with my beagle and watch some bad television. Hopefully the whines of the contestants on “Make Me a Supermodel” will lure me to sleep.
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