Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Some people

You know, I work with people for a living and I run into all kinds. Tonight I had a follow-up appointment with a woman who has been particularly difficult to advise - I'm the third advisor in our office to develop a relationship with her because she's difficult. The reason she is difficult to work with is because she seems to be lacking several necessary skills, primarily she is missing the "reality" skill. Now, I'm happy to ignore reality as much as possible, especially when it's negative. I often choose to not know where most of my food comes from so that I can actually eat a meal. I am happy to pretend Wal-Mart doesn't have terrible business practices when I need contact solution because it's the cheapest in town. I am happy to believe the weather won't change mid-day and I will be warm enough in just my little cardigan sweater and skirt. Let's just say, I understand this woman's denial of reality and refusal to acknowledge the reality. Yet, that doesn't make my advising appointments with her any easier. The last time she was in to see me I asked her to do x,y,z regarding the revision and formatting of her resume. I explained why she needed to change a,b,c and how it would help to make her more competitive in an extremely tight job market (she's looking to stay in our area). Tonight when she came in I was looking forward to reviewing her updated resume but as soon as she handed it to me my heart fell. She had not done x,y,z and she had not changed a,b,c ... she had completely ignored all the guidelines and suggestions I offered and created something entirely different that I won't even list with the Roman Alphabet because it was so far from what she needed to have done. So, again, I explained to her the above and walked her through the guidelines and sent her on her way with instructions to schedule another appointment with me to go over her, hopefully, revised resume. The real problem is this: she is a free spirit, she has been a professional artist for most of her professional life and is transitioning, and is having a difficult time fitting into the "box". The box is directly contrary to the essence of her being and I respect that but...as much as we all hate to do it, sometimes you have to play the game by their rules to get to where you want to be.

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