Happy Endings, at least in the workplace

With all the flurries of businesses going out of business, I know a lot of people who've had to look for a new job lately. There have been some good stories to come out of it all; here are a few.

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My friend MlF worked for a company where he was roundly hated and eventually fired. He'd been such a successful and good worker in the past that I don't think he ever believed it was all him. Still, his confidence was shaken. He spent a few months looking for a job. One day at church, during the "Turn around and greet people" part, he said to his friend Rick, "You know, when you were looking for a job, you told everyone you knew. So now I'm telling you that I'm looking for a job." Rick asked for his resume, they had lunch, and now MLF works with Rick.

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Years ago, I worked in a small company just past startup stage. There was a very nice QA manager there, not someone I knew well, but someone I liked. We'd chat occasionally. She had a great reputation as a manager. I still had her email address and she had mine. When I worked in Cambridge, I saw her on the subway platform a few times and finally said hello. We caught up a little and realized we were working in the same building. When my previous company folded, she wrote and expressed her concern, then asked me whether I knew of a good candidate for an opening she had. I recommended someone who had just been laid off, they met, and my colleague got the job. Just last week, they both wrote to tell me how happy they are with each other and with the work they're doing together.

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In November, I received an email from the mother of an old friend asking if I knew of a good candidate for a position she had open. This is usually code for "would you like to apply for this job" except that the job was not a good fit for me. I did have a friend, though, through local artist connections, who hated his job at the time and told me at every opportunity that he wanted out. So I put them together and he got the job. Days later, the same mother-of-an-old-friend posted a job opening that was a good fit for me and I now have that job. And I get to work with my friend-through-artist-connections and my other friend's mom.

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When my last company folded, my friend J was out of a job. Because of special circumstances, a lot of people liked her resume but hedged on the amount of flexibility she needs (their loss, their huge loss). The recruiter who worked at that company is now at a new company, realized that J would be a great fit, and that she was just the person who was needed. J interviewed, and after some mysterious hemming and hawing on the part of the manager, was enthusiastically offered the job and accepted it.


Happy endings all, and also happy beginnings.