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I met William at the coffee shop the day after he returned from his Christmas visit with his sister and family.  I took my morning walk and dropped in for a coffee and there he was.  He had a pleasant visit with his sisters and their children and grand children.  He had the usual story about the awful plane ride from California to Georgia.  I had wondered how that would go for him, since I made the reservations for him on-line.  No more of that.  It is time for William to learn how to do these things for himself.

A job won’t come easily to William

I asked William how his trip to the VA hospital went and he said it went well but he was unsure of what appointments were made.  I agreed to meet him again the next day to go over the paperwork from his hospital visit.  William did not take his cell phone with him and it was not charged up when he returned.  I checked out his email and there was nothing posted.

There were two appointments that he missed while on Christmas break, but he could not hear the messages well enough.  Why he did not take his phone with him was a puzzle.  I guess he gets so few calls that he only uses it to make calls.  The paperwork gave instructions on how to register for email from the VA, so we went on-line and filled out the questionnaire.  I learned something that shocked me.

Twenty years more work experience!

William is not 59; he is 79.  I got a clue about his age when talking with him; he mentioned that he was getting a Social Security Check.  That led me to asking him if he was on disability.  No he was not on disability; he had been receiving checks since he turned 62.  So I asked him how long he had been receiving checks and he answered, “For a few years.”

I did not want to press him further on the issue, but the questionnaire demanded his birth date.  So, what he was hiding came to the surface.  He is much older than he looks and the fact that he is receiving Social Security benefits makes his job situation much less critical than I thought.  I thought that William “needed” a better job.  Now I know that William “wants” a better job.

Don’t keep your advocates in the dark

I had a blunt conversation with William.  I require “rigorous honesty,” if I am going to be his career coach.  He agreed that he was not being completely “transparent” with me.  I have some suspicions about other “facts” about William.  I do not question his Microbiology degree and work history, but his living conditions bother me.  I suspect that he is living out of his car.  He clothes are always dirty and his car is an awful mess.  He must sleep somewhere other than his car on occasion, because he told me he wanted to sleep in before we met.

Job seekers need to be honest in interviews

As a career coach, I am not surprised when people give me misinformation, but it makes my job harder.  Job seekers will not be able to hide information from potential employers; not in today’s modern age of information.  William needs to get ready to interview.  To interview well he needs to be able to hear well or not be afraid to inform the employer about his hearing disability.  Secondly, he cannot hide his age, they will research his education and employment history and it will be apparent.  These two issues cannot be hidden, so William needs to face the issues and turn them to his advantage.

We are on the verge of a Stage One job search, but first William has to become fully “transparent.”