What ironic timing.

On our Garrison Commander's Q&A page, the topic has once again turned to the local job market. People are completely irate that they cannot find jobs here, but the more I look, the more I see that it is a lack of networking. Honestly, it's not even the language barrier. Thak was never asked if he speaks Spanish or not at any point within the hiring process. It did not matter. They loved his experience, and his references did right by him. Then upon sitting down with him, they found they really liked him, too, and that was all they needed to really be sure, and just take the plunge and hire him.

Thak is not better than other people. He'll tell you that. He's worked hard, and has gotten everything he has the right way. He's not a genius, and he's not rich. He's just a guy who works hard for what he wants, and eventually gets it more times than not. The one thing Thak has going for him that most of these other people do not have, is connections. As I said before, the first thing this service manager said to Thak was, "Your resume is very impressive." and the second thing was, "How do you know him?" (in regards to Thak's instructor, who is listed as a reference). As it happens, Thak's instructor is one of the best respected mechanics in town, and there's really not a shop in this part of the state that wouldn't give him a big fat pay raise to have him come work for them. The fact that he not only taught Thak, but thinks highly of him, and vouches for his work ethic, his ability to learn, and how good he is to work with, does a lot. In this town, it is who you know.

A lot of people think that's wrong. Just because Thak knows people, his job search lasts five days, while other people's job searches have lasted five years, and come up empty. I don't think it is wrong, though. It comes down to having some understanding of the local culture. Here, it is totally acceptable to use family connections to get where you're going. It is also EXPECTED that people will hook their friends up with stuff when they can. Consequently, just about every career field here is the same way. If you know somebody who's well connected, and well regarded, you get in. If you don't, then you don't get in. People don't know who you are if you don't have someone local to vouch for you, and if they don't know who you are, they're not going to hire you. It doesn't matter how good you look on paper. I guarantee Thak's awesome resume wouldn't have meant half what it does now, if he did not have the connections he has. It's ok. It's expected here. It's just the local way, and if you want to work in this area, you have to do it their way. The saying is, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." It applies here more than most places.

Honestly, we're really psyched about this next step. Everybody at school is really happy for Thak, and we are still in a little bit of disbelief about all this. I did feel strongly when he applied to BMW that this was the one, but I didn't say anything to him about that because I didn't want to be wrong, and if he got multiple offers (as he did) I wanted him to make his own decision without being swayed by anything. Even so, it is still very surreal that it is actually happening, and that he has actually been hired by a luxury shop. That is basically the holy grail for a mechanic, and it is very rare to get there right out of school, but Thak has done it. A lot of military people are not happy for us (all our civilian people are) but we now have some solid proof that the year and a half that we have spent so far, and the few more months we will still spend, sacrificing so much in the way of time, have been for something worthwhile, and that is amazing. It sounds so simple when we say it. He went to school, he made friends and got to know people, he learned a lot, he became a Master Technician (ok, two more exams for that one.... details....), and he got the job. It all sounds so simple when we put it that way... I guess it really is.

The moral of the story, I suppose, is to go get it if you want it, because it's there. Thak has proven that you don't have to know Spanish. All you have to know is the right people. Meeting people is easier than learning another language, right?